Kristin N. Saboe

Measuring Implicit Traits in Organizational Research: Development of an Indirect Measure of Employee Implicit Self-Concept

Values, attitudes, and goals are often automatically activated, yet organizational research has relied predominantly on techniques that measure these phenomena at explicit or conscious levels. In this study, the authors validated an indirect measure designed to assess employee self-concept at implicit levels. Because self-concept is believed to operate primarily at implicit levels, it was hypothesized that an indirect measure would be an effective predictor of work criteria. The criteria examined were task performance, citizenship and counterproductive behavior, and the quality of supervisor—subordinate relations. Consistent with predictions, the indirect measure—a word fragment completion task—contributed more to the prediction of criteria than the direct measure— self-report survey items with summated rating scales. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for the use of indirect measures in applied settings.

Managing workload in human-robot interaction: A review of empirical studies

Working with artificial agents is a challenging endeavor, often imposing high levels of workload on human operators who work within these socio-technical systems. We seek to understand these workload demands through examining the literature in major content areas of human-robot interaction. As research on HRI continues to explore a host of issues with operator workload, there is a need to synthesize the extant literature to determine its current state and to guide future research. Within HRI socio-technical systems, we reviewed the empirical literature on operator information processing and action execution. Using multiple resource theory (MRT; Wickens, 2002) as a guiding framework, we organized this review by the operator perceptual and responding demands which are routinely manipulated in HRI studies. We also reviewed the utility of different interventions for reducing the strain on the perceptual system (e.g., multimodal displays) and responses (e.g., automation). Our synthesis of the literature demonstrates that much is known about how to decrease operator workload, but there are specific gaps in knowledge due to study operations and methodology. This work furthers our understanding of workload in complex environments such as those found when working with robots. Principles and propositions are provided for those interested in decreasing operator workload in applied settings and also for future research.

Behavioral Health Leadership: New Directions in Occupational Mental Health

The impact of stress on mental health in high-risk occupations may be mitigated by organizational factors such as leadership. Studies have documented the impact of general leadership skills on employee performance and mental health. Other researchers have begun examining specific leadership domains that address relevant organizational outcomes, such as safety climate leadership. One emerging approach focuses on domain-specific leadership behaviors that may moderate the impact of combat deployment on mental health. In a recent study, US soldiers deployed to Afghanistan rated leaders on behaviors promoting management of combat operational stress. When soldiers rated their leaders high on these behaviors, soldiers also reported better mental health and feeling more comfortable with the idea of seeking mental health treatment. These associations held even after controlling for overall leadership ratings. Operational stress leader behaviors also moderated the relationship between combat exposure and soldier health. Domain-specific leadership offers an important step in identifying measures to moderate the impact of high-risk occupations on employee health.

Autonomy and Automation Reliability in Human-Robot Interaction: A Qualitative Review

The effectiveness and reliability of automation aids are critical topics in the area of human-robot interaction (HRI). As more tasks are subsumed by robots and autonomous systems, it is important to examine the relationships between these entities and their human operators. Research to date has covered various manipulations of autonomy, but this broad body of research is in need of focus and consistency. The current study presents a qualitative overview of research regarding levels and reliability of autonomy/control and the effects they have on important HRI-relevant outcome variables. Results indicate that autonomy and automation aids operate uniquely for different tasks, and that there are many complex factors that can affect not only performance but also usability, confidence, and safety. Unresolved issues in the field and challenges and opportunities for future research are also presented.

The Impact of Insufficient Sleep on Combat Mission Performance

ABSTRACT A significant concern for the U.S. military is the inability of service members to obtain sufficient sleep during combat deployments as it directly affects the health and readiness of the force. The performance deficits that result from sleep loss are well known, and the implications of such deficits include increased risk for accidents and mistakes. This study assessed the relationship between average daily sleep duration and combat mission performance. Anonymous survey data were collected from U.S. Army combat platoons deployed to Afghanistan in 2013. Participants reported getting between five and six hours of sleep per day, and 14.6% of soldiers reported accidents that affected the mission, with half of these (51%) attributed to sleepiness. A logistic regression showed a significant association between the number of hours of sleep and the incidence of accidents or mistakes that affected the mission. In addition, 34.1% of soldiers reported falling asleep on guard duty, which was also significantly associated with the number of hours of sleep per day. This is the first report to our knowledge on the relationship between sleep and performance in a deployed environment and confirms that soldiers obtain significantly less sleep than the recommended seven to eight hours per day.

Examining the Unique Mediators That Underlie the Effects of Different Dimensions of Transformational Leadership

Although transformational leadership has been found to relate favorably to various work outcomes, past research has predominantly focused on overall transformational leadership rather than its dimensions. We addressed this shortcoming by examining how two dimensions of transformational leadership—providing support and emphasizing group goals—relate to follower organizational citizenship behavior and turnover intentions via leader–member exchange and employee commitment. Survey data were collected from 107 triads (employees, supervisors, and coworkers) employed in various organizations and industries. We supported our theoretical model in which the relation of providing support with organizational citizenship behavior is mediated by leader–member exchange and supervisor commitment, whereas the relationship of emphasizing group goals with turnover intentions is mediated by organizational commitment. These findings indicate that the dimensions of transformational leadership operate through unique channels. One implication for leadership development is that, depending on what outcome is desired (e.g., strengthening commitment to the leader vs. the organization), training can be tailored to target the most relevant dimension (e.g., providing support is more important for cultivating commitment to the leader vs. the organization). We discuss these and other implications of our findings.

Workload in Human-Robot Interaction: A Review of Manipulations and Outcomes

The current study reviews the relationship between manipulations of teleoperator workload and task outcomes, using multiple resource theory as the underlying framework. Results indicated that controlling more than two platforms is detrimental to many performance indices (reaction time, error rate), but overall productivity improves. For studies that manipulated workload for a single robot task, visual demands were a limiting factor, and interventions which reduced visual demands improved performance. The review concludes with guiding principles for managing workload and improving teleoperator performance.