ABSTRACT
During the last 10 years cognitive psychology in West Germany developed a special interest in research into the problem solving behaviours of individuals whose task is to operate a complex, dynamic system. The basic research strategy in this domain of cognitive psychological research is the use of computer driven microworld systems as an experimental instrument. Such systems are described with respect to attributes like complexity, dynamics and connectivity. Implemented on a computer, the systems are conceived of as instruments that allow the systematic study in the laboratory of processes of human decision making and problem solving in dynamic task environments. The subjects’ tasks in these experiments can be categorized either as ill-defined or well-defined problems. Illdefined tasks refers to experimental settings where the subjects are instructed to operate the system, but they are not provided with any details about the goal states they have to reach. As well-defined one can describe those tasks where subjects receive instructions about specific system states that have to be reached or to be kept during a certain time interval or during a number of trials, when operating a specific system.
