ABSTRACT
One of the hallmarks of naturalistic decision making is that in naturalistic environments the decision makers are seldom left completely to their own devices. Often aids are provided to support the decision-making process. These aids can range from policies and guidelines that constrain the decision space to highly prescriptive approaches that attempt to direct all aspects of decision making. One aiding approach that has evolved has been to provide preplanned diagnostic and response strategies that are intended to be followed "verbatim." Examples of this approach include checklists, paper-based procedures, and conventional expert systems that are used to guide performance in applications ranging from flight takeoff, to maintenance tasks, to emergency management (Mosier, Palmer, &. Degani, 1992; Roth, Bennett, & Woods, 1987).
