Comparison of Naïve Decision Aides for Time-Pressured Degraded Environments

Abstract

Decision accuracy often suffers when missing information and time-pressure are introduced, and there is little consensus on how best to support decision making in these conditions. In this study we compare two naïve decision aides which aim to improve decision accuracy in two environments biasing towards Take-the-Best and Weighted Additive decision strategies. The first support aide slowly acquires missing information for the participants and the second aide provides option suggestions based on estimates of missing information. We found that while both decision aides were able to significantly improve decision accuracy, the aide which provided option suggestions outperformed the decision aide which acquired missing information. We also find that both decision aides have unique mediating effects on the presence of information imbalance.