Cognition and Decision Making in Complex Adaptive Systems

This book will explain the role of human behavior research, from both a historical and modern perspective, in improving objective, measurable performance outcomes, to include safety, strategic decision making, and organizational performance. It will include a brief history of the development of the scientific method, in general, and of the disciplines of cognitive psychology and human factors, in particular. Emphasis will be given to common misconceptions of scientific research that can impact interpretation and application of research findings. The book will build upon resources developed through my 25 plus years of combined applied research and graduate teaching. In addition to over 16 years teaching graduate students, my professional background includes over 10 years of applied research in cognitive psychology and human factors in aviation safety, as well as the design of cockpit information systems to enhance human decision making. Moreover, the foundations of these systematic approaches already have proven success records and have expanded outside the field of aviation (e.g., emergency, and operating room team decision making). The book builds upon empirically supported foundations of human cognition, but with a focus on applying this knowledge in a manner that can improve human decision-making in order to enhance safety and performance.  It includes explanations of how the human mind processes information, including differences in novice versus expert information processing, and tools to combat various cognitive biases. All of this is explained within the framework of complex adaptive systems. Complex adaptive systems are the key to understanding the nature of multivariate research and systems engineering approaches, and so the book will include chapters on the roles of uncertainty and complexity within scientific research. Contemporary, real-world scenarios, such as related to COVID and crowd behavior, will be examined within the context of cognitive science, human factors, and game theory. Finally, the book will offer tools that are rooted in empirical research and demonstrated within the context of contemporary, real-world scenarios, with a focus on improving organizational effectiveness through improved strategic decision-making and the development of learning cultures within organizations. The book is intended for an educated and curious audience, but one that does not necessarily have a strong foundation in the sciences. This book is for anyone who gets frustrated with seemingly contradictory results in the scientific research, and wishes to dive deeper into the complex, multivariate, interactive nature of research, without necessarily needing a formal background in research methods and statistics. The ideal reader would be the person that considers him or herself a curious, thinking person, but who may not have the background on or familiarity with the terminologies and applications of general or specific research methodologies. The intended audience includes those who respect history and science, desire to understand the workings of the human mind and the interactive nature of social behavior, but also want practical tools and applications to effectively manage themselves and others from a systematic perspective in order to enhance organizational safety and performance. In short, it is applicable to both formal and informal students of the behavioral sciences who are in a position to apply the research to policy and practices within organizations.