A development of collaborative human-computer systems for active decision support

Summarizes a high-level conceptual model of collaborative human-computer systems and describes an empirical study based on the model. The model is the first step in integrating many different ideas and approaches for research in active decision support systems. The development of the model is based on the premise that the designer of such systems must address two fundamental issues: how a collaborative system should behave in order to be effective, and what characteristics of humans and computers will promote increased joint effectiveness. The model integrates research from several areas including MIS/DSS, problem-solving, and cognitive systems engineering, in order to identify some key issues and provide guidelines for new research. The constructs of cognitive coupling and cognitive fit are developed in this paper. Preliminary findings of an empirical study that was designed to study the effects of different types of cognitive fit are presented