Expert decision making

The purpose of this paper is to outline the key aspects of how experts make decisions. The central theme of the paper is that decision making in dynamic settings is perceptual rather than conceptual. In high stress, time-pressured, high stakes, or uncertain environments, the decision maker rapidly assesses the situation and implements a workable course of action. This is referred to as a recognitional approach to decision making. This is in contrast to the view that decision makers gather all the available information, conduct exhaustive, concurrent analysis of the available options, and then choose the optimum solution. This analytical approach also suggests that the reasons for nonoptimal decisions are based on human biases and heuristics. These lines of decision-making research have implications for both the design of, and training for, complex systems. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the pertinent literature and to serve as a resource for further exploration into the implications for decision aiding, decision support, and complex system design. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Syst Eng 2: 32–45, 1999