PROCESS MODELS OF DECISION-MAKING

Process-tracing approaches to the study of decision making usually inv olve analysis of verbal protocols or information board measures. This article draws a parallel between the decision-making research and the general field of problem solving with respect to the analysis of think -aloud protocols. A literature review is given of the types of analyse s used in studies on decision making in which think-aloud protocols we re collected. Results indicate that only four of the twenty-three deci sion studies involve the construction of process models such as are co mmon in problem-solving research. Possible objections against think-al oud data are discussed and the construction and use of process models in decision-making research is illustrated by means of an information display board task in which subjects were asked to think aloud. Simila rities and dissimilarities between decision making and general problem solving and their implications for the construction of process models are discussed.