Anderson, David F. with Terrence A. Maxwell, George P. Richardson, Thomas R. Stewart, "Mental Models and Dynamic Decision Making in a Simulation of Welfare Reform", 1994
ua435
This paper is the second in a pair presented in this volume. The first paper presents a theoretical view of mental models appropriate for carrying out empirically-based research on system dynamics modeling interventions. Mental models consist of three types of measurable sub-models – end models, means models, and means-ends models. The means-ends models may be thought as containing either detailed “design” logic or much more simple “operator” logic. This paper presents an empirical test of the impact of interventions intended to improve design versus operator logic for 53 participants in a dynamic learning laboratory with a task centering on implementing welfare reform over a simulated twenty year period. Results suggest that providing managers with high level heuristic results from modeling interventions is necessary condition for achieving improvement in system performance. Focusing on operator logic is key to improving managerial performance of dynamic tasks.