Pragmatics of Critiquing

摘要

As part of the Technology Investment Fund Project entitled CoA Critiquing System for the Improvement of the Military Estimate Process, this report aims at providing insight into the critiquing problem from a human factors perspective. Drawing on studies from the fields of philosophy (logic and argumentation), linguistics, psychology and sociology, critiquing is studied in this document along three dimensions: (i) as an argument; (ii) as an interpersonal and social practice; and (iii) as a mental process. As an argument, critiquing is analyzed as both a premise-conclusion structure and a dialectic exchange. Critiquing and critical discussion are studied with respect to principles and models of argument and argumentation. Next, critiquing as an exchange between intentional individuals is viewed from the perspective of the critic and the receiver. Attitudes that can affect the perception and the effectiveness of criticism are discussed in the light of psychological and socio-cultural factors. Finally, under the topic of critical scrutiny, the dynamics of critiquing as a mental process are rendered explicit through the description of the concept of critical thinking and its use in decision-making contexts where it targets reasoning biases. A description of critiquing systems illustrates the critical mechanism as applied to the human-computer setting.