Cue utilization and strategy application in stable and unstable dynamic environments

We took a novel Empirical approach to investigating dynamic decision making behavior by examining the profiles of individuals' information sampling behavior and strategy application under conditions in which the control task was unstable as well as stable. Participants were presented with a dynamic system which they interacted with by intervening on three cues in order to reach and maintain a specific outcome (goal). The system was manipulated so that in the Stable condition participants controlled an outcome that fluctuated steadily overall trials, and in the Unstable condition the outcome fluctuated erratically over trials. In general, unstable fluctuations in the outcome led people to sample all the cues most of the time, even those which had no effect on the outcome. In contrast, under Stable conditions people were more conservative in their cue sampling behavior. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to previous work on dynamic decision making and the Monitoring and Control (Osman, 2010a, 2010b) framework. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.