Applying insights on categorisation, communication, and dynamic decision-making: A case study of a 'simple' maritime military decision

Edmunds, C.E.R; Harris, A.J.L; Osman, M

Abstract

A complete understanding of decision-making in military domains requires gathering insights from several fields of study. To make the task tractable, here we consider a specific example of short-term tactical decisions under uncertainty made by the military at sea. Through this lens, we sketch out relevant literature from three psychological tasks each underpinned by decision-making processes: categorisation, communication and choice. From the literature, we note two general cognitive tendencies that emerge across all three stages: the effect of cognitive load and individual differences. Drawing on these tendencies, we recommend strategies, tools and future research that could improve performance in military domains ? but, by extension, would also generalise to other high-stakes contexts. In so doing, we show the extent to which domain general properties of high order cognition are sufficient in explaining behaviours in domain specific contexts.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Mar 22, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 27, 2025
• Journal: Review of General Psychology
• Print ISSN: 1089-2680
• Electronic ISSN: 1939-1552
• Publisher: American Psychological Association
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10892680221077242
• Keywords: uncertainty, category learning, dynamic decision-making, communication of uncertainty
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13780802
• Publisher URL: http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/15008/