
Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series
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Date
4-1-2011
Abstract
Tools have long been available for improving decision making, yet people who have knowledge of these tools seem reluctant to use them. I consider multiple reasons why this might be so and consider multiple solutions, then present what I believe to be the world's most user-friendly decision aid, which is now nearly ready for beta testing and available at no cost at http://wisedecider.net.
Wise Decider is believed to be unique in having the following features:
- A creative thinking guide and a critical thinking guide that provide context-sensitive advice for problem structuring, evaluation, and implementation.
- A decision table with cells in which objective descriptions of outcomes can be represented as text and subject evaluations of these outcomes can be represented as shades of gray.
- Rows in the decision table that can be re-ordered to explore different orders of preference for alternatives and columns that can be re-ordered to explore different ways of thinking about values.
When additional funding becomes available, Wise Decider is planned to have the following unique features, as well:
- Automatic quantitative checks on problem structuring.
- Table-coloring, where white and black represent the best and worst outcomes in the table, rather than the best and worst outcomes on each value.
- Automatic sensitivity analysis.
- Automatic identification of value asymmetry for identifying win-win trades in conflict resolution.
One currently unsolved problem, which I look forward to discussing, is how best to deal with risky decisions without losing user friendliness.
Biographical Information
Barry F. Anderson is Professor Emeritus, Decision Psychology, Portland State University (andersonb@pdx.edu). He earned his B.A. at Stanford University in 1957 and his Ph.D. at The Johns Hopkins University in 1963. Barry worked at the U of O from 1963-68 and at PSU from 1968-99. Courses taught include Personal Decision Making, Decision Psychology I, Decision Psychology II, Decision Psychology Laboratory, Conflict Resolution, Cognition, Bioethics, and Psychological Methods.
Subjects
Decision making -- Psychological aspects, Decision support systems, Decision making -- Social aspects, Decision making -- Computer programs
Disciplines
Categorical Data Analysis | Psychology
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/31162
Recommended Citation
Anderson, Barry F., "Building a Decision Aid Right-side-out" (2011). Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series. 52.
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/31162