KABOOM: an agent-based model for simulating cognitive style in team problem solving

The performance of a design team is influenced by each team member’s unique cognitive style – i.e., their preferred manner of managing structure as they solve problems, make decisions, and seek to bring about change. Cognitive style plays an important role in how teams of engineers design and collab...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDesign Science Vol. 5
Main Authors Lapp, Samuel, Jablokow, Kathryn, McComb, Christopher
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2019
Subjects
agent-based modeling
Agent-based models
Behavior
Cognition & reasoning
Cognitive style
Collaboration
Communication
Computer simulation
Design
Designers
Engineering
Hypotheses
Innovations
Optimization
Organizational aspects
Problem solving
simulation
Social interaction
Specialization
Studies
Teams
Teamwork
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Summary:The performance of a design team is influenced by each team member’s unique cognitive style – i.e., their preferred manner of managing structure as they solve problems, make decisions, and seek to bring about change. Cognitive style plays an important role in how teams of engineers design and collaborate, but the interactions of cognitive style with team organization and processes have not been well studied. The limitations of small-scale behavioral experiments have led researchers to develop computational models for simulating teamwork; however, none have modeled the effects of individuals’ cognitive styles. This paper presents the Kirton Adaption–Innovation Inventory agent-based organizational optimization model (KABOOM), the first agent-based model of teamwork to incorporate cognitive style. In KABOOM, heterogeneous agents imitate the diverse problem-solving styles described by the Kirton Adaption-Innovation construct, which places each individual somewhere along the spectrum of cognitive style preference. Using the model, we investigate the interacting effects of a team’s communication patterns, specialization, and cognitive style composition on design performance. By simulating cognitive style in the context of team problem solving, KABOOM lays the groundwork for the development of team simulations that reflect humans’ diverse problem-solving styles.
ISSN:2053-4701
2053-4701
DOI:10.1017/dsj.2019.12