A Simulation of Information Load and Its Affect on Tactical Decision Making

This thesis examines the problems associated with the abundance of information generated by decision aids, and utilizes James G. March's model of organizational decision making as a medium to examine information. The emphasis is on choice situations resulting in 'flight', 'oversight' , and 'resolution' conditions and how the related provisions of information load prejudice the above-mentioned conditions. The foundation and the resultant perspective of this thesis is predicated upon a survey of over fifty government funded studies on decision making, tactical decision aids, tactical information requirements analysis, modeling criteria, organizational behavior, and the influences they have on choice outcomes. The intent of this research is to provide a more realistic depiction of information usage by simulating the effects of various levels of information load on the choice process. This study recognizes information load as a condition which affects Naval tactical decision processes and hence has applicability, at least by association, to TDSS(Tactical Decision Support Systems) design