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Title:
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SYSTEM THINKING: BASIC TESTS |
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Author(s):
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João Ferreira Dias , Carlos Capelo |
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ISBN:
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972-8924-05-4 |
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Editors:
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Kinshuk, Demetrios Sampson and Pedro Isaías |
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Year:
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2005 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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System thinking; System Dynamics; Strategy Lab. |
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Type:
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Short Paper |
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First Page:
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395 |
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Last Page:
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400 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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Previous behavioral research has found that decision makers are very susceptible to the dynamic complexity of the decision context. One explanation is that the mental models people use to make their decisions are deficient; even people form adequate mental models, they seem unable to correctly infer the dynamic behavior of the system. Following previous studies to explore human understanding of systems thinking concepts we conducted a research with two different groups - one, academic; the other, professional. The results were compared with similar tests. Our experiences confirm a generally poor intuitive understanding of the basic system thinking, even when subjects have background in mathematics. Participants understand the dynamic behavior badly. It appears they have a weak intuitive sense of how a flow accumulates a stock over time. Some errors are systematic and violate basic system principles like conservation of matter and consistency between net flow rate and stock trajectories. |
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