Wang, Sy-Feng with Showing H. Young, "A Preliminary Experiment on Examining Thinking in a Meta-Dynamic Decision Making Environment", 1992
ua435
For system dynamicists, it is important to understand how humanbeing solving problems and making decision in the real world. However, how humanbeing solving problems and making decision in the dynamic causal feedback environment are still not well understood both in psychology and in system dynamics. This paper is a preliminary study which attempts to deal with issues of problem solving, thinking strategy and pilot knowledge in a so called meta-dynamic decision making environment. The task was a computerized beer game modified from the board type beer game. Experiment results showed that there existed a goal-strategy dynamics in human problem solving. The thinking strategy contained both “structure-understanding” and “non-structure- understanding”. The pattern’s pilot knowledge from previous trials had influence on some subjects’ decision making. It’s possible influences in real world are discussed. Finally, from experiment results, two general problem solving processes ( the servomechanism process and cybernetic process) are proposed. Implications for system dynamics management flight simulator and systems thinking are also discussed.