The objective of this research is to provide the knowledge base to improve the capability of emergency response organizations to improvise. The need for support in improvisation in the form of training and real-time decision aids is well recognized. The theoretical bases for this project will be a decision logic which models cognitive processes in improvisation as evinced, for example, in documented cases of emergency response. In the first of three experiments, the efficancy of the decision logic will be assessed with respect to its ability to support decision makers in fashioning improvisations which are relevant to a task in real-time provlem solving. For the final experiments, the logic will be embedded in a decision support system and tested in two separate gaming situations, one in Eurpoe and one in the United States. The principal contributions of this research will be in providing (1) guidelines as embodied in training materials and a decision aid for preparing emergency managers in improvise, and (2) a decision support system for the processof improvisation in emergency response.
