The ladder of inference pdf files

Ladder of inference and protocols for skillful inquiry handout 1 communication tools to support effective community planning conversations. The ladder of inference problemsolving training from. The ladder of inference describes the thinking process that we go through, usually without realizing it, to get from a fact to a decision or action. The thinking stages can be seen as rungs on a ladder and are shown in figure 1. The ladder of inference teaches you to take a few steps back in the reasoning process, allowing you to remain objective and not to immediately jump to conclusions. This image helps us to understand that we all start on even footing, and then each of us goes up our own internal ladder. The ladder of inference explains why most people dont usually remember where their deepest attitudes came from. Using the ladder of inference you cant live your life without adding meaning or drawing conclusions. The ladder of inference is typically thought of as something you climb up. The ladder of inference helps us understand how the human mind goes from taking in data to making meaning about the world to then taking action on that meaning. The ladder is made up of 7 rungs or stages that outline the rapid process our minds go through to make conclusions and take action in a given situation. It can support us in ensuring common understanding. The data is long since lost to memory, after years of inferential leaps.

The ladder of inference helps us monitor our thought processes as we analyze data. To understand the thinking process we go through when making a decision and practice identifying when our internal processes may prevent us from taking rational action. First proposed by chris argyris, way back in 1970, the ladder of inference is a way of describing how you move from a piece of data a comment made to you, or something that you have observed to happen, through a series of mental processes to a conclusion. Professor kathryn parker boudett explains how to reduce jumping to conclusions, especially in an educational context, by using the ladder of inference developed by. Using the ladder of inference teaches you to look at facts unbiased and not to judge too soon. The ladder of inference is a useful tool that provides a framework to structure some of our communications and connect people. Each rung of the ladder is dependent on the rung before it.