Seite - 111 - in Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics - Knowledge Base for Practitioners

, - 3 & 3 & & 4 , - . & 9 . # . & : 7 3 & # / 4 2 2 ; ,4 < -# ' =) * '1) 0 3 3 [3] 2 & # 1.1. Theoretical background of boosting According to the boosting framework, the human mind is malleable. The boosting framework acknowledges the bounds of the human decision maker, such as its vulnerability to cognitive biases and errors in e.g., risk assessment. Yet, it aims to identify existing competences and ways to foster them, for example through improving skills or knowledge, or by providing decision tools. Boosting’s view of the human mind is “… that of an adaptive toolbox of ecologically rational heuristics.” [3, p. 980]. The theoretical background for boosting is derived from various insights in decision making [e.g., 7]. At its core is the assumption that people’s cognitive processes adapt to experiences and that they can rapidly learn to overcome potential errors. Several research traditions provide support for this idea. First, several scholars in decision making argue that human thought is based on experiences and subjective probability. That is, learned patterns may match emerging situations and thereby trigger behaviours that are relevant and useful in that situation [7]. Second, heuristics can be used as tools to make decisions, even under uncertainty. These heuristics help people to make smarter decisions because they are (generally) adaptive within the situation. These approaches largely converge with a Bayesian approach to decision making, in which people use priors (based on previous experiences and/or learning) to predict their environment (e.g., anticipated outcomes and associated experiences in a challenging decision task they are M.deVriesetal. /FosteringSharedDecisionMakingwithHealth Informatics Interventions 111