A prototype computer game has been developed to help improve decision making skills in all aspects of our lives. Supported by the EPSRC, a team at Queen's University Belfast has developed a prototype that could be built on by commercial games manufacturers and turned into an e-learning or training tool for professionals in all walks of Alternatively, some of its features could be incorporated into existing computer games that have a strategy element. The team has explored whether people can be trained to make better decisions by improving their ability to recognise and make allowances for their subjective opinions and biases, and to 'factor in' accurately their uncertainty over a decision's likely outcome. You're late for a train. Will you be able to catch it if you run? Or will that result in the stress of wasted effort? To maximise your chances of reaching the right decision, you'll need to take into account all information available to you.
But it also helps if, using this information, you try to make an appraisal of your chances, which will be more accurate if you take into account how you tend to interpret such information, based on previous experience. For example, maybe you know whether you tend to be over-or under-confident in similar situations. In the same way, the prototype game teaches people to take their uncertainty into account and learn from experience when faced with simple choices. In the future, games of this type could be used for both educational and entertainment purposes by public and private sector decision-makers and by private individuals in order to enhance their decision-making abilities. Over 500 members of the general public, as well as many students from Queen's and Dundalk Institute of Technology, have already tried out the prototype. The results are currently being assessed to establish the extent to which it has taught them to make better decisions.
More information:
http://quiz.worldofuncertainty.org/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120100945.htm
More information:
http://quiz.worldofuncertainty.org/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120100945.htm