Etiological analysis as an approach to the detection of association networks in the case of a shortage of external information

An approach to the enhancement of mental alertness in order to extract implicit knowledge and convert it into new information is considered. The approach is based on multifaceted analysis of certain objects, situations, problems, ideas, or confusions that appear to be important for a person or a legal entity. The distinctive feature of the approach is the formulation of a large number of “relevant” statements at the initial stage. Each of these statements is used to construct (1) a set of ”factors,” or statements that express the causes, the pretexts, and the conditions (including starting and boundary conditions) and (2) a set of “effects,” or statements that present the consequences, the results, the conclusions, novel requirements and/or suggestions concerning the conditions of implementation, etc. Each factor and effect is subsequently considered as a statement that requires analysis of the same type as the primary statements. The procedure is repeated until the factors and effects that were detected become limited by factors that are not amenable to further analysis or effects that can be regarded as boundary effects relatively to all other effects. The analytical procedure has been validated and is used to solve diverse tasks of pedagogics, to resolve conflicts, and to conduct research.