In psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, the four stages of competence, or the "conscious competence" learning model, relates to the psychological states involved in the process of progressing from incompetence to competence in a skill

Skill

A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...

.

History

Initially described as “Four Stages for Learning Any New Skill”, the theory was developed at the Gordon Training International

Thomas Gordon (psychologist)

Dr. Thomas Gordon was an American clinical psychologist, colleague of Carl Rogers. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in teaching communication skills and conflict resolution methods to parents, teachers, leaders, women, youth and salespeople...

 by its employee Noel Burch in the 1970s. It has since been frequently attributed to Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow

Abraham Harold Maslow was an American professor of psychology at Brandeis University, Brooklyn College, New School for Social Research and Columbia University who created Maslow's hierarchy of needs...

, although the model does not appear in his major works.

The Four Stages of Learning provides a model for learning. It suggests that individuals are initially unaware of how little they know, or unconscious of their incompetence. As they recognise their incompetence, they consciously acquire a skill, then consciously use that skill. Eventually, the skill can be done without consciously being thought through, and the individual is said to have unconscious competence.
Several elements, including helping someone 'know what they don't know' or recognize a blind spot, can be compared to some elements of a Johari window

Johari window

The Johari window is a technique created by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955 in the United States, used to help people better understand their mental instability...

, although Johari deals with self-awareness, while the four stages of competence deals with learning stages.

The Four Stages

1. Unconscious Incompetence

   The individual does not understand or know how to do something and does not necessarily recognize the deficit. They may deny the usefulness of the skill. The individual must recognise their own incompetence, and the value of the new skill, before moving on to the next stage. The length of time an individual spends in this stage depends on the strength of the stimulus to learn.

2. Conscious Incompetence

   Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, he or she does recognize the deficit, as well as the value of a new skill in addressing the deficit. The making of mistakes can be integral to the learning process at this stage.

3. Conscious Competence

   The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires concentration. It may be broken down into steps, and there is heavy conscious involvement in executing the new skill.

4. Unconscious Competence

   The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it has become "second nature" and can be performed easily. As a result, the skill can be performed while executing another task. The individual may be able to teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned.

Fifth Stage

The model is expanded by some users to include a fifth stage, which is not part of the original model from Gordon Training International

Thomas Gordon (psychologist)

Dr. Thomas Gordon was an American clinical psychologist, colleague of Carl Rogers. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in teaching communication skills and conflict resolution methods to parents, teachers, leaders, women, youth and salespeople...

. The exact composition of this stage varies between authors. Some refer to reflective ability, or "conscious competence of unconscious competence", as being the fifth stage, while others use the fifth stage to indicate complacency.

See also

• Dunning–Kruger effect
• Illusory superiority
  Illusory superiority
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• Decision theory
  Decision theory
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  , including grand strategy
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  :
  • Unknown unknown
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  • Known unknown
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• Motivation
  Motivation
  Motivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
  
  
• Transtheoretical Model
  Transtheoretical Model
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• Solution focused brief therapy
  Solution focused brief therapy
  Solution focused brief therapy , often referred to as simply 'solution focused therapy' or 'brief therapy', is a type of talking therapy that is based upon social constructionist philosophy. It focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem that made them seek help...
  
  
• Psychosocial development
• Kübler-Ross model
  Kübler-Ross model
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• Formula for Change
  Formula for Change
  The Formula for Change was created by Richard Beckhard and David Gleicher, refined by Kathie Dannemiller and is sometimes called Gleicher's Formula...
  
  
• Learning styles
  Learning styles
  Learning styles are various approaches or ways of learning. They involve educating methods, particular to an individual, that are presumed to allow that individual to learn best. Most people prefer an identifiable method of interacting with, taking in, and processing stimuli or information...
  
  
• Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives
  Bloom's Taxonomy is a classification of learning objectives within education proposed in 1956 by a committee of educators chaired by Benjamin Bloom who also edited the first volume of the standard text, Taxonomy of educational objectives: the classification of educational goals...
  
  
• Theory of multiple intelligences
  Theory of multiple intelligences
  The theory of multiple intelligences was proposed by Howard Gardner in 1983 as a model of intelligence that differentiates intelligence into various specific modalities, rather than seeing it as dominated by a single general ability....
  
  
• Dreyfus model of skill acquisition
  Dreyfus model of skill acquisition
  In the fields of education and operations research, the Dreyfus model of skill acquisition is a model of how students acquire skills through formal instruction and practicing...