In 1985, Gary and colleagues Roberta Calderwood and Anne Clinton-Cirocco developed the Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model to explain how experienced fireground commanders could use their expertise to identify and carry out a course of action without having to generate and analyze a set of options.

 

The most critical assertion of the RPD model is that people can use experience to generate a plausible option as the first one they consider. The RPD model stemmed from Naturalistic Decision Making research and continues to be used today to study how experts make decisions across a variety of domains.

 

For additional reading on the RPD model, click here.