DUAL-METRIC MEASUREMENT OF THE IMPACT OF COMPLEXITY ON DECISION QUALITY

ABSTRACT Both sophisticated and unsophisticated subjects were provided either a simple or a complex cue set at random on which to base decisions. A dual‐metric approach that consisted of measuring interrater consistency and cross‐item variance for each subject category was used to compare the decision quality of the subjects. Although complexity and decision quality were inversely related, the sophisticated subjects performed relatively better using the complex cue set; the unsophisticated subjects performed better using the simple cue set. These findings support the notion that decision‐maker and task compatibility are important to the assessment of decision quality.