Michael G. Samet

Summarizing Military Information: An Application of Schema Theory

This study was conducted to support the development of guidelines for summarizing tactical intelligence data. Sixteen staff officers were asked to read a description of a tactical scenario and to examine 30 enemy situation data (ESD) messages describing the beginning of an enemy border crossing and attack. Each officer summarized the intelligence in preparation for a briefing, and these summaries were evaluated by five knowledgeable military analysts. Collectively, the evaluators favored summaries presented in conversational style, with hard facts and an interpretation of what the intelligence implied. A more specific two-dimensional outline for summarizing was derived by applying recently refined principles of schema theory to the contents of the summaries judged “good” by the evaluators. It was suggested that these prescriptive norms provide the basis for the development of guidelines for staff officers to enable them to produce more useful and effective intelligence-message summaries.

A Human Performance Evaluation of Graphic Symbol-Design Features

16 subjects learned each of two tactical display symbol sets (conventional symbols and iconic symbols) in turn and were then shown a series of graphic displays containing various symbol configurations. For each display, the subject was asked questions corresponding to different behavioral processes relating to symbol use (identification, search, comparison, pattern recognition). The results indicated that: (a) conventional symbols yielded faster pattern-recognition performance than iconic symbols, and iconic symbols did not yield faster identification than conventional symbols, and (b) the portrayal of additional feature information (through the use of perimeter density or vector projection coding) slowed processing of the core symbol information in four tasks, but certain symbol-design features created less perceptual interference and had greater correspondence with the portrayal of specific tactical concepts than others. The results were discussed in terms of the complexities involved in the selection of symbol design features for use in graphic tactical displays.

Information Seeking with Multiple Sources of Conflicting and Unreliable Information

The effects of information conflict, the frequency with which the information is updated, and the reliability of the information sources upon information seeking and decision behavior were studied. Sixteen U. S. Army enlisted men performed a computer-controlled task in which they had to request updated enemy-position reports from three information sources to determine which of eight locations was the target of a gradual enemy advance. Forty problems, presented twice each, were arranged in two within-subject factorial designs-with source reliability varied between and within problems, respectively. Subjects were permitted to make up to three decisions on each problem, with correct decisions rewarded and incorrect decisions penalized according to a non-linear payoff function. Results from analyses of variance indicated that less information was sought prior to an initial decision (a) for higher than for lower reliability conditions, (b) as update frequency decreased, and (c) as degree of conflict increased. When all sources were of higher reliability, accuracy of decisions was higher; but, in general, accuracy was complexly affected by conflict and update frequency. These results were discussed in terms of the cost of requesting information and the probability that an update would contain accurate information. Information sampling and decision latencies as well as other indices of performance were also evaluated and discussed.

Quantitative Interpretation of Two Qualitative Scales Used to Rate Military Intelligence1

Thirty-seven intelligence officers completed two replications of tasks designed to investigate their subjective, quantitative interpretations of the source reliability and information accuracy (plausibility) rating scales. In judging a report, subjects were influenced much more by the accuracy rating of the reports content than by the reliability rating of the reports source. The mean probabilities assigned to the truth likelihood of reports described a linear relationship between rating level and probability for each scale. Most subjects were unable to treat reliability and accuracy independently; for these subjects, the higher a reports reliability rating, the higher the accuracy rating expected, and vice versa. Subjects were relatively consistent in their interpretations, but marked differences between subjects were observed. Structural inadequacies of the scales are pointed out and the development of a single-dimensional, quantitative scale is recommended.

Information Seeking with Input Pacing and Multiple Decision Opportunities

Forty-eight college students performed a task in which they had to request updated enemy position reports from three information sources to determine which of eight locations was the target of a gradual enemy advance. Eight different problems, presented twice each, were arranged into two factorial designs. In Design FP, the effects of pacing rate, pacing variability, and the number of decision modification opportunities were evaluated. In Design SP, information requests were self-paced rather than forced-paced; the effects of the number of decision modification opportunities and basis of payoff were studied. Results indicated that (a) self pacing and fast forced pacing resulted in more information seeking and greater accuracy than did slow forced pacing, and (b) increased opportunities for decision modification generally decreased the accuracy of, and confidence in, first decisions. The rate at which information was presented was more important than whether it was provided automatically or upon request.

Personalized versus Fixed Formats for Computer-Displayed Intelligence Messages

An experiment was performed to evaluate the usefulness of an option for users of an automated information system to construct their own preferred formats for receiving intelligence messages. It was hypothesized that such an option would enhance the acquisition and comprehension of intelligence data from each message. The results indicated that users who personalized the format arranged the message elements in an interpretable manner, and they took fewer notes during the subsequent paced presentation of messages in their individualized formats than users who received the messages in a reasonable, pre-experimentally fixed format. In addition, the users with personalized formats learned more from viewing the messages, independently of notes, than did the users with the fixed format. These data suggest that the personalization of the message format was useful and led to improved subjective organization of the intelligence data.

A Selective Callup System for Managing Tactical Information on Graphic Displays

The cluttered appearance of graphic tactical displays makes the rapid extraction and comprehension of information difficult. The objective of the present research was to design, demonstrate, and evaluate a selective callup symbolic display system to support tactical decisionmaking. Marine Corps officers who provided the better solution to key tactical problems were found to use the selective callup option more systematically than those who performed poorly. The systematic selection sequences were used to model the cognitive processes employed by the officers who preformed well. From these sequences, initial procedural guidelines were derived for generating displays that would be most useful toward answering key tactical questions. Officer opinions uniformly favored the selective callup option.

Notetaking and comprehension for computer-displayed messages: Personalized versus fixed formats

An experiment was performed to evaluate the usefulness of an option for users of an automated information system to construct their own preferred formats for receiving intelligence messages. It was hypothesized that such an option would enhance the acquisition and comprehension of intelligence data from each message. The results indicated that users who personalized the format arranged the message elements in an interpretable manner, and they took fewer notes during the subsequent paced presentation of messages in their individualized formats than users who received the messages in a reasonable, pre-experimentally fixed format. In addition, the users with personalized formats learned more with the fixed format. These data suggest that the personalization of the message format was useful and led to improved subjective organization of the intelligence data.