Collaborative Research: DRMS:Group cognition, stress arousal, and environment feedbacks in decision making and adaptation under uncertainty

为了解决复杂的问题，例如地下水的可持续利用，不同的人必须在不确定的环境中合作共享资源。本项目提出并测试了压力、认知、资源丰富度变化和群体决策之间相互依存的模型。该模型通过研究压力（生物学）和资源（环境）如何影响群体决策，为群体决策科学做出了贡献。该模型试图解释为什么在不确定的环境中，一些不同人群的群体能够联合起来并有效地管理共享资源，而另一些群体却失败了。项目成果通过为不同团队构建工具，培养系统思维，管理共享资源，并随着时间的推移改善合作，为面临气候变化、公共卫生和国防等复杂挑战的决策者提供信息。该项目还扩大了在线教育和系统思维技能的参与范围。本项目开发并测试了一个嵌入式自适应能力模型（eACM）。eACM提出，群体持续解决复杂问题的能力取决于个人认识到资源系统中关键挑战的能力，以及对这些挑战采取联合解决方案的能力。eACM通过群体语义过程将资源动态与身心系统的个体变异相结合。当群体对他们的环境产生理解并形成共同的合作行动计划时，就会产生意义制造。该项目通过行为实验和压力操纵来测试eACM。群体决策系统动力学的形式化模型有助于推广实验结果。该项目通过将认知研究与战略决策中的压力唤醒研究结合起来，突破了理论的界限，为适应性团队的生物学和认知基础提供了更综合的解释。该项目的成果提高了不同学生和团队的在线教育和系统思维技能。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

To solve complex problems, such as the sustainable use of ground water, diverse people must cooperate to share resources in uncertain environments. This project proposes and tests a model of the interdependence between stress, cognition, changes in the abundance of resources, and group decision-making. The model contributes to the science of group decision-making by investigating how stress (biology) and resources (the environment) impact how groups make decisions. The model seeks to explain why some groups of diverse people coalesce and effectively manage shared resources in uncertain environments, while others fail. The results of the project inform decision-makers faced with complex challenges related to climate variability, public health, and defense by building tools for diverse teams to cultivate systems thinking, manage shared resources, and improve cooperation over time. The project also broadens participation in online education and systems thinking skills.This project develops and tests an embedded Model of Adaptive Capacity (eACM). The eACM proposes that the capacity of groups to continually solve complex problems depends on the ability of individuals to cognize key challenges in a resource system and to converge on joint solutions to those challenges. The eACM couples resource dynamics with individual variation in mind-body systems through the process of group sensemaking. Sensemaking occurs when groups create an understanding of their environment and form joint plans of action for cooperation. The project tests the eACM through behavioral experiments and manipulation of stress. Formal models of the systems dynamics of group decision-making aid in generalizing the results of the experiments. The project pushes the boundaries of theory by converging the study of cognition with the study of stress arousal in strategic decision-making, generating a more integrated explanation for the biological and cognitive foundations of adaptive teams. The results of the project enhance online education and systems thinking skills for diverse students and teams.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.