Solid Earth Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/se-2019-70 Manuscript under review for journal Solid Earth Discussion started: 5 April 2019 c Author(s) 2019. CC BY 4.0 License. How can geologic decision making under uncertainty be improved? Cristina G. Wilson1,2, Clare E. Bond3, and Thomas F. Shipley4 1Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA 2Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA 3Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Kings College, Aberdeen, UK 4Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA Correspondence: Cristina G. Wilson (
[email protected]) Abstract. In the geosciences, recent attention has been paid to the influence of uncertainty on expert decision making. When making decisions under conditions of uncertainty, people tend to employ heuristics (rules of thumb) based on experience, re- lying on their prior knowledge and beliefs to intuitively guide choice. Over 50 years of decision making research in cognitive psychology demonstrates that heuristics can lead to less-than-optimal decisions, collectively referred to as biases. For example, 5 the availability bias occurs when people make judgments based on what is most dominant or accessible in memory; a geosci- entist who has spent the past several months studying strike-slip faults will have this terrain most readily available in her mind when interpreting new seismic data. Given the important social and commercial implications of many geoscience decisions, there is a need to develop effective interventions for removing or mitigating decision bias.