Dealing with Dynamic Systems:... 25
1. Introduction
Studying complex problem solving by means of computer-simulated
scenarios (“microworlds”) has become one of the favorite themes in German-
speaking countries for researchers who are interested in the psychology of
thinking. Instead of studying problem-solving behavior in restricted situa-
tions (such as “Tower of Hanoi” or “Cannibals and Missionaries” tasks; cf.
Greeno, 1974; Jeffries, Poison & Razran, 1977), the new approach focuses
on semantically rich domains that provide a touch of reality that was not
inherent in previous research (see also Bhaskar & Simon, 1977; Broadbent
& Aston, 1978; Mackinnon & Wearing, 1985). The main reason for shifting
the emphasis to simulated real-life situations was to attain new insights into
processes of thinking and action regulation under high cognitive and
emotional load. Following the pioneering work of Dietrich Domer (Univer-
sity of Bamberg, FRG) in the mid-seventies, several new scenarios have been
developed and applied in correlational as well as in experimental studies (for
a review see Funke, 1988). For instance, in a computer-administered micro-
world called “LOHHAUSEN,” a subject has to take the role of an omnipotent
mayor of a little town (Domer, 1987). In other work, a subject plays the role
of a manager of a little shop or of an engineer in a Third World country
(Putz-Osterloh & Lemme, 1987). In general, the new approach deals with the
exploration and control of complex and dynamic systems by human individu-
als. According to Domer, subjects must satisfy the following requirements:
(1) they must deal with the complexity of the situation and with the connec-
tivity of the variables involved; (2) they must deal with the intransparency or
opaqueness of the situation since typically not all information that is needed
is available; (3) they must deal with dynamic developments of variables
which change their states autonomously and make it necessary to anticipate
trends; and (4) they must deal with multiple goals some of which may
contradict others (e.g. as a manager: pay high wages due to the trade-union’s
request and at the same time maximize the company’s profits).
Despite 10 years of research in the area, there is neither a clearly formu-
lated specific theory nor is there any agreement on how to proceed with
respect to the research philosophy. Even worse, no stable phenomena have
been observed. Merely some rather general observations concerning some
kind of breakdown of the cognitive system in cases of information overload
have reliably been reported. Also, questions concerning the influence of test
intelligence on complex problem solving have been answered ambiguously.
Therefore, the main concern of this article is to explain a systematic
research strategy for studying how people deal with dynamic systems, and to
illustrate the usefulness of this strategy with the help of experimental data.
The paper will describe my own approach to studying complex problem
solving which I conceive of as a dynamic process of knowledge acquisition
and knowledge application in an information processing human. In Section