Abbott’s Pie Test - Critical Thinking for Field Research

I baked a cake. Did I bake a pie?

Answer the question in your mind.

Most people say “no” as a pie is not a cake. However, this is a basic response that betrays the lack of investigative skills and thus can lead to bad thinking, which leads to bad assessments, and bad actions.

Imagine seeing a box near where the cake is cooling. You ask what’s in the box, and I reply that it contains the cookies I baked earlier.

I baked a cake. Did I bake a pie?

It is true I baked a cake. However, now you have context that I also baked cookies recently. Maybe I baked a pie, too, today. It’s up to you to ask if I baked a pie today, or ever. Never was a timeframe defined. If for whatever reason you cannot ask another question, you can refine your answer that I was baking multiple items while being unsure if a pie was included recently.

By observing and asking follow on questions to statements, you can gather more information that will lead to better thinking and actions.