Reducing the influence of irrelevant information on experienced decision makers

In this study two training procedures designed to reduce the adverse influence of irrelevant information were tested for their efficacy. One training procedure involved a lecture (paralleling typical classroom experience), while the other involved interaction and practice (paralleling typical laboratory experience). In a pretest, irrelevant information was shown to influence the judgments of 12 experienced student soil judges. The judges were then given lecture training; this was found to be of minimal help in reducing the influence of irrelevance. Next, the judges received the interactive training and that had a significant impact. In addition to reducing the influence of irrelevance, the interactive training also improved the accuracy of the judgments. In a followup study, five of the soil judges were reevaluated over a year later; the training appeared to have continued impact. Implications and extensions of the training procedures to other areas are discussed.