INFLUENCE OF EXPERIENCE ON INFORMATION-GATHERING STRATEGIES

Decision making and situation understanding are related to information-gathering strategies used by experienced, intermediate, and novice decision makers. Differences according to level of experience were predicted for seven strategies. These predictions were tested in a process-tracing experiment employing a submarine search scenario. The subjects were three groups of naval officers ranging in experience from former commanding officers to students in the first course for potential submarine officers. Differences were found among the groups in use of information-gathering strategies, situation understanding, and decision accuracy. The results are discussed in terms of the influence of experience on the decision process and implications for decision aiding.