Effects of Information Availability on Command-and-Control Decision Making: Performance, Trust, and Situation...

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Cognitive Psychology
• Decision Science

Background:

• Increased information is often linked to better situation awareness (SA) and decision-making in networked settings.
• However, performance can degrade if information volume or presentation is not task-relevant.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of increased task-relevant information on human decision-making performance, SA, and trust.
• To examine how information volume and reliability affect these factors in a simulated command-and-control (C2) environment.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments using a simulated C2 task.
• Experiment 1: Varied information volume for individual decision-making speed and accuracy.
• Experiment 2: Varied information volume and reliability for paired participants, assessing decision-making, SA, and trust.

Main Results:

• Increased task-relevant information volume did not enhance task performance in either experiment.
• In Experiment 2, higher information volume decreased self-reported SA and trust.
• Incorrect source reliability information negatively impacted task performance and SA.

Conclusions:

• Simply increasing information volume, even if accurate and relevant, does not guarantee improved decision-making.
• Excessive information can impair SA and interpersonal trust within C2 teams.
• System design must consider human cognitive limits for effective information presentation in C2 domains.