Complex decision making experimental platform (CODEM): A counter-insurgency scenario

The complex decision making experimental platform (CODEM) is intended as a shareable research tool to stimulate multidisciplinary research on complex dynamic situation management and as an environment for training and testing cognitive readiness. The experimenter can set general parameters, configure the interface, specify the model, insert events and define the resources and capabilities of each player using the scenario development tool. No programming skills are required. Task complexity can be varied by introducing feedback loops, delayed effects, time pressure, situational uncertainty, adjusting model transparency and changing the relationships between system elements. CODEM creates detailed logs of events and actions essential for cognitive process tracing and the evaluation of decision making effectiveness. The first task designed with CODEM is a counter-insurgency scenario in which a coalition force seeks to stabilize a failing state. A genetic algorithm is used to estimate the best strategy in that scenario for comparison with human results. An adversarial version also allows insurgents to be controlled by a human opponent (or a red team) rather than an artificial agent. CODEM can be used as a cognitive engineering testbed and as a training environment for improving decision making and adaptation skills in complex situations.