CODEM: A Microworld Platform for Research, Training, and Assessment in Complex Problem-Solving

Abstract: Complex problem-solving (CPS) skills – the ability to comprehend, manage, and adapt to complex, evolving situations – is essential in the 21st-century workplace. However, empirical evidence shows individuals are limited, computationally and cognitively, in managing complex systems (e.g., delayed feedback, nonlinearity, and conflicting goals). Traditional cognitive tasks are deemed too simple and often fail to capture these properties, whereas field studies lack control over conditions and measurement. Microworlds offer controlled complexity: they can reproduce properties of complex systems but remain tractable for systematic manipulation and data collection. We wish to present and demonstrate CODEM (COmplex DEcision Making), a microworld platform designed to simulate complex dynamic systems at different levels and trace the cognitive processes underlying CPS and decision-making. CODEM serves as a testbed where one can build environments with customizable variables, feedback loops, semantics, and opacity. The platform provides performance (e.g., comparing human goal attainment with random simulations), cognitive process-tracing (e.g., use of heuristics) and behavioural (e.g., structural information seeking) logs, intelligent tutor extensions (e.g., for system thinking training), and multiplayer options for collaborative problem solving. CODEM has three key applications. First, as a research tool, it enables systematic study of CPS and decision heuristics under complexity. Second, as a training and awareness tool, it highlights pitfalls in reasoning (e.g., most individuals assume linearity and neglect delayed effects) while promoting system thinking and metacognitive strategies. Third, as a personnel selection tool, it holds promise as a measure of the capacity to manage complexity beyond general intelligence. Results from a series of experiments showed that participants perform poorly on CODEM complex scenarios, often close to or even below chance levels, despite the presence of system thinking behaviour. These results are in line with the view that complexity poses a dire cognitive challenge, highlighting the need for tools to assess, train, and support CPS.

Keywords: Complexity, Cognitive training, Microworld

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1006959

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