THE THEORY OF COGNITIVE FIT - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 125

present the extension of the theory to more complex tasks (Vessey, 1994) because it is clear that
that material is relevant to many of the papers we analyze here, yet that paper has received signif-
icantly fewer citations than that presenting the basic theory. We next present the methodology
used to determine studies for further examination and the way in which we classified those stud-
ies. In the next three sections, we present and evaluate studies identified as testing the theory of
cognitive fit, extending it to new domains, and extending it to new dimensions of fit, respectively.
We then present a number of recent extensions to the model of cognitive fit itself and to the situ-
ation in which the concurrent solution of two tasks is essential to problem solving. In the latter,
dual-task, situation we further distinguish between problem solving in well- and ill-defined tasks.
Finally, we discuss the findings of the study and present the implications for future research.
THEORY
Although, as noted above, the theory of cognitive fit was conceived as a general theory of prob-
lem solving, it was formally developed and justified using the numerous studies on graphs versus
tables conducted over decades prior to the 1990s. We therefore present the theory and its impli-
cations within that context. We first present cost-benefit theory as the overall framework for the
theory of cognitive fit, followed by the theory itself. We then highlight the fundamental aspects of
the theory as applied to both simple and more complex tasks.
Cost-benefit theory is a framework within which decision making can be examined rather than a
theory that presents well-articulated relationships among variables. In order to apply it to decision
making using graphs and tables, we distinguish between strategy and process. Both are dynamic
descriptions of decision making. We use the term “strategy” to describe a general approach to deci-
sion making that involves a number of steps or sub-tasks: Thus it most often describes a macro
approach to solving a problem. We use the term “process” to refer to a specific approach or a micro
operation that aids in accomplishing the task: Processes are used to address each of the sub-tasks
that comprise the strategy. A major thesis of the theory of cognitive fit is that behavioral decision-
making research has ignored the role processes play in the effectiveness of a particular display for-
mat (see, for example, Kleinmuntz and Schkade, 1993).
Cost-Benefit Theory as the Theoretical Framework
Researchers in behavioral decision making have observed that decision makers change strategy in
response to what appear to be quite minor changes in the task and its environment. According to
cost-benefit theory, decision makers trade off the effort required to make a decision vis-à-vis the
accuracy of the outcome (Beach and Mitchell, 1978). Cost-benefit theory has been applied exten-
sively to choice tasks.
A number of factors may influence the error and effort required to make a decision and may
therefore induce decision makers to change strategy. These factors are usually characterized as relat-
ing to “task” and/or “context.” According to Payne (1982), task variables are those “associated with
the general structural characteristics of the decision problem.” Those task variables most often
examined in choice tasks are: (1) response mode (i.e., whether the task requires judgment or choice);
(2) task complexity (number of alternatives, number of dimensions, and time pressure); (3) problem
representation; and (4) agenda effects. Task variables have been shown to influence effort. Context
variables are those related to the actual values of the objects under consideration. The most common
context variables investigated are: (1) similarity of the alternatives and the overall attractiveness of
the alternatives; (2) the variance in probabilities; and (3) the presence or absence of alternatives that