Cheryl A. Bolstad

Shared Mental Models and Shared Displays: An Empirical Evaluation of Team Performance:

This study experimentally tested the use of shared mental models and shared displays as a means of enhancing team situation awareness (SA). Teams were tested using a simulation that incorporated features of a distributed team architecture. As hypothesized, the presence of shared displays and shared mental models improved team performance. However, the mechanism whereby the shared displays aided performance was not direct as expected. Teams were slower when given a shared display initially. After the shared display was removed, performance exceeded all other conditions, however. The combination of non-shared displays and no mental model was highly detrimental to performance. Teams who experienced this condition first were unable to ever develop very good performance. Overall, we found that effective team performance could be enhanced by providing teams with sufficient information to build a shared mental model of each others tasks and goals, either through direct instruction, or through provision of shared displays. It is believed that the shared displays helped to build shared mental models which boosted later task performance.

The Effect of Task Load and Shared Displays on Team Situation Awareness

In this study, we empirically tested the effects of two types of shared displays and varying workload levels on the formation of team situation awareness (SA). Results support the use of certain types of shared displays for enhancing team performance. The way in which people use shared displays is actually quite complex and related to the workload level. The use of an abstracted shared display was found to be beneficial for enhancing team performance/while the use of shared displays that completely duplicated the other team members displays were found to be detrimental. Under low workload levels, no performance enhancements or problems were found associated with either shared display type. In high and moderate workload conditions, the significant benefits of the abstracted shared display were most apparent. Changes in team interaction style were found to accompany the use of the different types of shared displays. This study supports a model of Team SA and expands on previous research on shared displays.

Collaborative planning and situation awareness in Army command and control

We conducted a theoretical investigation of a complex command and control (C2) operation—the manoeuvres planning processes in Army land-battle situations, to improve understanding of how technology can best be designed to support planning and course of action development. We drew upon results from cognitive task analyses and interviews with subject matter experts and insights gleaned from observations of Army training exercises and experiments to make inferences on the C2 activities carried out in preparation for tactical manoeuvres. In this paper, we summarize several critical human factors issues associated with planning in a rapidly evolving environment, as identified in our investigation, and describe system design concepts aimed at addressing these challenges to distributed collaborative planning of C2 activities. We conclude with implications for the application of these findings to other C2 domains.

Situation Awareness Oriented Design: From User's Cognitive Requirements to Creating Effective Supporting Technologies

Situation awareness is a fundamental construct driving human decision making in complex, dynamic environments. By creating designs that enhance an operators awareness of what is happening in a given situation, decision making and performance can improve dramatically. The Situation Awareness-Oriented Design process provides a means to improve human decision-making and performance through optimizing situation awareness. This method has been used to develop and evaluate system design concepts in aviation, medical and information intelligence operations. It features three main components: SA Requirements Analysis, SA-Oriented Design Principles, and SA Measurement and Validation. This design process is user-centered, and derived from a detailed analysis of the goals, decisions and situation awareness requirements of the operator derived through a Cognitive Task Analysis methodology called Goal-Directed Task Analysis. The development of tool suites for supporting high levels of situation awareness in military command and control are presented to illustrate the use of the SA-Oriented Design process for translating the results of cognitive task analyses into to user-centered system designs.

Tools for Supporting Team Collaboration

Collaboration plays an important role in team tasks. Teams are also functioning more often in a distributed fashion. If individuals are to work efficiently in a distributed fashion they will need collaborative tools and systems to exchange information and most importantly Situation Awareness (SA). Little guidance exists as to which tools are appropriate for collaborative tasks or situations. The present paper presents a taxonomy of collaboration and, based on this taxonomy, information is provided on which classes of collaborative tools and techniques are most useful for different types of tasks and situations.

Measuring Shared and Team Situation Awareness in the Army's Future Objective Force

A simulation exercise was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a new Army force structure called Objective Force. This paper will describe how shared and team situation awareness (SA) were measured and analyzed in this experiment with regards to how well the new force structure supports both SA at the individual officer level, within teams and across teams. Shared and Team SA were measured using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT).

Using Goal Directed Task Analysis with Army Brigade Officer Teams

A greater understanding of team cognitive processes can be facilitated by identifying the individual goals of the team members and their situation awareness (SA) requirements. In some environments, such as military operations, the shear complexity, size, and composition of the team make this research quite challenging. Using a form of cognitive task analysis, we have developed an approach to address some of these team issues. In this paper we discuss the use of goal directed cognitive task analysis (GDTA) to obtain an accurate depiction of the SA requirements and key goals for several brigade officers. We further discuss how this information is being used to address team issues such as designing systems for enhancing team performance and decision making with Army brigade officers.

Choosing Team Collaboration Tools: Lessons from Disaster Recovery Efforts

Extraodinary situations, such as natural disasters, teach us the importance of matching communication support tools to the task.

Predicting Cognitive Readiness of Deploying Military Medical Teams

Cognitive readiness can be defined as “possessing the psychological (mental) and sociological (social) knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that individuals and team members need to sustain competent professional performance and mental wellbeing in the dynamic, complex, and unpredictable environments of military operations.” Determining if medical personnel are cognitively ready to perform their job poses a considerable challenge to the research community both in terms of understanding what is meant by being cognitively ready and in terms of developing methods to actually assess it. Accordingly, as part of a government-sponsored research program, we set out to gain a better understanding of what is meant by being “cognitively ready” for military medical teams as well as develop a tool for predicting cognitive readiness. In this paper, we describe the design, development, and initial user testing of our Medical Cognitive REadiness Survey Tool (M-CREST).

Improving Situation Awareness through Cross-Training

This study investigated how cross-training, particularly in a leadership role, may assist individuals in better understanding the task requirements of their fellow team members, and, thereby, increase their shared situation awareness. Data was collected from a training exercise at the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency. Participants were assigned to one of 4 teams (Navy, Army, Special Ops, or Joint Service) and completed a simulated exercise designed to mimic real life events in a recovery center. Each player was rotated though the various positions and teams such that everyone had a chance to be a team director (lead person) and a team member in each of the 4 teams. Situation awareness was measured during the exercise using the SAGAT technique. Overall, results suggest that cross-training may lead to improved situation awareness. Participants, on average, exhibited greater situation awareness following experience in the director role than prior to director experience.