Resource type
Publication year

Information foraging

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Information foraging
Abstract
Information foraging theory is an approach to understanding how strategies and technologies for information seeking, gathering, and consumption are adapted to the flux of information in the environment. The theory assumes that people, when possible, will modify their strategies or the structure of the environment to maximize their rate of gaining valuable information. The theory is developed by (a) adaptation (rational) analysis of information foraging problems and (b) a detailed process model (adaptive control of thought in information foraging [ACT-IF]). The adaptation analysis develops (a) information patch models, which deal with time allocation and information filtering and enrichment activities in environments in which information is encountered in clusters; (b) information scent models, which address the identification of information value from proximal cues; and (c) information diet models, which address decisions about the selection and pursuit of information items. ACT-IF is instantiated as a production system model of people interacting with complex information technology.
Publication
Psychological Review
Volume
106
Issue
4
Pages
643-675
Date
1999
Language
en
ISSN
1939-1471 0033-295X
Library Catalog
APA PsycNET
Rights
(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved
Citation
Pirolli, P., & Card, S. (1999). Information foraging. Psychological Review, 106(4), 643–675. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.106.4.643
Field of study
Contribution