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A Developmental Study of Cognitive Processes in Decision Making: Information Searching as a Function of Task Complexity

This study examined the development of information search behavior in decision making. 75 subjects, aged 12 to 23 yr., made choices among 3 or 6 alternatives described by 6 or 12 features and displayed in matrix form. Before making their choices, subjects freely examined feature information about the alternatives by peeling off stickers that covered the information in matrix cells. Analysis indicated that age was unrelated to the number of information cells examined but was related to order of examination. Haphazard searching through the matrices decreased significantly by age 14, and a search pattern related to a choice process of “elimination by aspects” was clearly detected by age 16. Developmental and methodological implications of the results are discussed.