Collaborative Research: Individual Differences in Decision-Making Competence

每天，人们都面临着各种各样的决定，比如选择洗发水、股票、医疗和朋友。 当人们还没有通过试错学会做什么时，他们需要一种做出有效决策的一般能力。 随之而来的技能包括从世界中提取相关信息，在特定环境中应用一般价值观，以及将这些部分与连贯的决策规则整合在一起。 研究经常发现这些技能的不足之处。 虽然对一般认知过程的兴趣转移了人们对个体差异的注意力，但人们在这些技能上确实存在很大差异。帕克和Fischhoff（2002）利用这种表现变异性开发了一种决策能力（DMC）测量方法。 七个任务，利用上述技能，管理的受访者正在进行的纵向研究。 业绩正相关的七个DMC任务，表明一个共同的核心能力。 一个单一的DMC评分与智力，认知方式，风险行为和社会/家庭影响的措施密切相关。 虽然CEDAR研究证明了DMC的潜力，但它受到一些仪器问题和所用样品特殊性质的限制。 目前的研究包括四项研究，将进一步完善七个DMC任务。 每项研究都根据最近的理论发展和改善整体规模属性来解决个人决策技能。 此外，这些研究还为解决个别任务领域内的科学问题提供了机会。这种将实验室结果与“真实的世界”行为联系起来的做法本身就没有得到广泛的追求。 它提供了一个机会，以澄清决策研究结果的有效性，以及阐明的基本理论。 这项工作有应用程序的个人作出更好的决定，在制定法律的和医疗决策的能力，以及在竞争环境中的相对表现的培训。

Every day, people face decisions in domains as diverse as the choice of shampoos, stocks, medical treatments, and friends. When people have not learned what to do through trial and error, they need a general ability to make effective decisions. The attendant skills include extracting relevant information from the world, applying general values in specific settings, and integrating these pieces with a coherent decision rule. Research has often found deficiencies in such skills. While interest in general cognitive processes has diverted attention from individual differences, people do differ substantially in these skills.Parker and Fischhoff (2002) used this performance variability to develop a measure of decision-making competence (DMC). Seven tasks, tapping into the above skills, were administered to respondents from an ongoing longitudinal study. Performance correlated positively across the seven DMC tasks, suggesting a common central competency. A single DMC score correlated strongly with measures of intelligence, cognitive style, risk behavior, and social/family influences. Although the CEDAR study demonstrates the potential of DMC, it is limited by problems with some of the instruments and special properties of the sample used. The current research includes four studies that will further refine the seven DMC tasks. Each study addresses individual decision-making skills in light of recent theoretical developments and improving overall scale properties. In addition, these studies provide opportunities for addressing scientific questions within the individual task domains.This connection of laboratory results with "real world" behavior is an exercise itself that has not been widely pursued. It provides the opportunity to clarify the validity of decision-making research findings, as well as shed light on the underlying theory. This work has applications to the training of individuals to make better decisions, competence in making legal and medical decisions, as well as relative performance in competitive environments.