Information Acquisition and Mental Models: An Investigation into the Relationship Between Behaviour and Learning

A cognitive learning perspective is used to develop and test a model of the relationship between information acquisition and learning in the executive support systems (ESS) context. The model proposes two types of learning: mental model maintenance in which new information fits into existing mental models and confirms them; and mental model building in which mental models are changed to accommodate new information. It also proposes that information acquisition objectives determine the type of learning that is possible. When ESS are used to answer specific questions or solve well-defined problems, they help to fine-tune operations and verify assumptions—in other words, they help to maintain current mental models. However, ESS may be able to challenge fundamental assumptions and help to build new mental models if executives scan through them to help formulate problems and foster creativity. Thirty-six interviews with executive ESS users at seven organizations and a survey of 361 users at 18 additional organizations are used to develop scales to measure the model's constructs and provide support for its relationships. These results support the model's prediction that mental model building is more likely with scanning than with focused search. ESS also appear to contribute to mental model maintenance much more often than they do to mental model building. Without a clear focus on mental model building, it seems that business as usual is the more likely outcome.