Four stages of competence

In psychology, the four stages of competence relate to the psychological states involved in the process of progressing from incompetence to competence in a skill:


 * 1) Unconscious incompetence: the individual neither understands or knows how to do something, nor recognizes the deficit or has a desire to address it.
 * 2) Conscious incompetence: though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, he or she does recognize the deficit, without yet addressing it.
 * 3) Conscious competence: the individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration.
 * 4) Unconscious competence: the individual has had so much practice with a skill that it becomes "second nature" and can be performed easily (often without concentrating too deeply). He or she can also teach it to others.