Paul M. Salmon

Distributed situation awareness in dynamic systems: theoretical development and application of an ergonomics methodology

The purpose of this paper is to propose foundations for a theory of situation awareness based on the analysis of interactions between agents (i.e. both human and non-human) in subsystems. This approach may help to promote a better understanding of technology-mediated interaction in systems, as well as helping in the formulation of hypotheses and predictions concerning distributed situation awareness. It is proposed that agents within a system each hold their own situation awareness, which may be very different from (although compatible with) that of other agents. It is argued that we should not always hope for, or indeed want, sharing of this awareness, as different system agents have different purposes. This view marks situation awareness as a dynamic and collaborative process binding agents together on tasks on a moment-by-moment basis. Implications of this viewpoint for the development of a new theory of, and accompanying methodology for, distributed situation awareness are offered.

What really is going on? Review of situation awareness models for individuals and teams

The concept of situation awareness (SA) is frequently described in the literature. Theoretically, it remains predominantly an individual construct and the majority of the models presented describe SA from an individual perspective. In comparison, team SA has received less attention. SA in complex, collaborative environments thus remains a challenge for the human factors community, both in relation to the development of theoretical perspectives and of valid measures and to the development of guidelines for system, training and procedure design. This article presents a review and critique of what is currently known about SA and team SA, including a comparison of the most prominent individual and team models presented in the literature. In conclusion, it is argued that recently proposed systems level distributed SA approaches are the most suited to describing and assessing SA in real world, collaborative environments.

A review of sociotechnical systems theory: a classic concept for new command and control paradigms

Command and control is the management infrastructure for any large, complex, dynamic resource system (Harris, C.J. and White, I., 1987. Advances in command, control and communication systems. London: Peregrinus). Traditional military command and control is increasingly challenged by a host of modern problems, namely, environmental complexity, dynamism, new technology and competition that is able to exploit the weaknesses of an organisational paradigm that has been dominant since the industrial revolution. The conceptual response to these challenges is a new type of command and control organisation called Network Enabled Capability (NEC). Although developed independently, NEC exhibits a high degree of overlap with concepts derived from sociotechnical systems theory, a fact that this paper aims to explore more fully. Uniquely, what sociotechnical theory brings to NEC research is a successful 50 year legacy in the application of open systems principles to commercial organisations. This track record is something that NEC research currently lacks. The paper reviews the twin concepts of NEC and sociotechnical systems theory, the underlying motivation behind the adoption of open systems thinking, a review of classic sociotechnical studies and the current state of the art. It is argued that ‘classic’ sociotechnical systems theory has much to offer ‘new’ command and control paradigms. The principles of sociotechnical systems theory align it exceptionally well with the challenges of modern organisational design. It is also reflective of a wider paradigm shift in ergonomics theory away from ‘industrial age’ modes of thought to systems-based ‘information age’ thinking.

Command and control in emergency services operations: a social network analysis

There is increasing interest in the use of social network analysis as a tool to study the performance of teams and organizations. In this paper, processes of command and control in the emergency services are explored from the perspective of social network theory. We report a set of network analyses (comprising visualization, a selection of mathematical metrics, and a discussion of procedures) based on the observation of six emergency service incidents: three fire service operations involving the treatment of hazardous chemicals, and three police operations involving immediate response to emergency calls. The findings are discussed in terms of our attempts to categorize the network structures against a set of extant command and control network archetypes and the relationship between those structures; comments on the qualities the networks display are put into the contexts of the incidents reported. We suggest that social network analysis may have a valuable part to play in the general study of command and control.

Genotype and phenotype schemata and their role in distributed situation awareness in collaborative systems

Situation awareness (SA) is a critical commodity for teams working in complex systems. This article builds on existing schema theory to postulate an explanation of how teams develop and maintain SA during collaborative activities. The perceptual-action cycle approach and schema theory are used to formulate a model of distributed SA. Extracts from a case study undertaken in the UK energy distribution domain are used to demonstrate the concept of genotype and phenotype schemata as distributed SA. The sub-concepts of compatible and transactive SA are also outlined and explored via the case study. The differences between this perspective and the more commonly cited ‘shared SA’ perspective is articulated. In conclusion, whilst the ideas presented in this article are quite different to those expressed by the dominant models of individual and team SA presented in the literature, it is contended that they are more appropriate for the study of SA in collaborative environments.

Event analysis of systemic teamwork (EAST): a novel integration of ergonomics methods to analyse C4i activity

C4i is defined as the management infrastructure needed for the execution of a common goal supported by multiple agents in multiple locations and technology. In order to extract data from complex and diverse C4i scenarios a descriptive methodology called Event Analysis for Systemic Teamwork (EAST) has been developed. With over 90 existing ergonomics methodologies already available, the approach taken was to integrate a hierarchical task analysis, a coordination demand analysis, a communications usage diagram, a social network analysis, and the critical decision method. The outputs of these methods provide two summary representations in the form of an enhanced operation sequence diagram and a propositional network. These offer multiple overlapping perspectives on key descriptive constructs including who the agents are in a scenario, when tasks occur, where agents are located, how agents collaborate and communicate, what information is used, and what knowledge is shared. The application of these methods to live data drawn from the UK rail industry demonstrates how alternative scenarios can be compared on key metrics, how multiple perspectives on the same data can be taken, and what further detailed insights can be extracted. The ultimate aim of EAST is, by applying it across a number of scenarios in different civil and military domains, to provide data to develop generic models of C4i activity and to improve the design of systems aimed at enhancing this management infrastructure.

Representing situation awareness in collaborative systems: A case study in the energy distribution domain

The concept of distributed situation awareness (DSA) is currently receiving increasing attention from the human factors community. This article investigates DSA in a collaborative real-world industrial setting by discussing the results derived from a recent naturalistic study undertaken within the UK energy distribution domain. The results describe the DSA-related information used by the networks of agents involved in the scenarios analysed, the sharing of this information between the agents and the salience of different information elements used. Thus, the structure, quality and content of each networks DSA is discussed, along with the implications for DSA theory. The findings reinforce the notion that when viewing situation awareness (SA) in collaborative systems, it is useful to focus on the coordinated behaviour of the system itself, rather than on the individual as the unit of analysis and suggest that the findings from such assessments can potentially be used to inform system, procedure and training design. SA is a critical commodity for teams working in industrial systems and systems, procedures and training programmes should be designed to facilitate efficient system SA acquisition and maintenance. This article presents approaches for describing and understanding SA during real-world collaborative tasks, the outputs from which can potentially be used to inform system, training programmes and procedure design.

Changing drivers' minds: the evaluation of an advanced driver coaching system

This paper reports on the study of an advanced driver coaching system. The study distinguishes between different types of post-licensure programmes in order to explore a system based on a model of identifying and responding to hazards, called ‘information, position, speed, gear and acceleration’ (IPSGA). Previous literature has been sceptical about the benefits of advanced driver education; thus, the current study was designed to control for the effects of coaching drivers in the ‘IPSGA’ system (the treatment group) against the effects of being accompanied (control group 1), as well as the mere effects of time (control group 2). Measures were taken before the driver coaching began (as a baseline measure) and again after 8 weeks (to see if any changes had occurred). These measures included driver knowledge via a post-drive interview, observations of driving skill and driver attitude using a locus of control scale. The results suggest that advanced driver coaching using the IPSGA system had a beneficial effect on all of these measures. Drivers in the coaching condition improved their situation awareness, driving skills and reduced attributions of external locus of control. The study lends support to the case for one-to-one individualized driver coaching using a systematic model of driving.

Using cognitive work analysis to explore activity allocation within military domains

Cognitive work analysis (CWA) is frequently advocated as an approach for the analysis of complex socio-technical systems. Much of the current CWA literature within the military domain pays particular attention to its initial phases; work domain analysis and contextual task analysis. Comparably, the analysis of the social and organisational constraints receives much less attention. Through the study of a helicopter mission planning system software tool, this paper describes an approach for investigating the constraints affecting the distribution of work. The paper uses this model to evaluate the potential benefits of the social and organisational analysis phase within a military context. The analysis shows that, through its focus on constraints, the approach provides a unique description of the factors influencing the social organisation within a complex domain. This approach appears to be compatible with existing approaches and serves as a validation of more established social analysis techniques. As part of the ergonomic design of mission planning systems, the social organisation and cooperation analysis phase of CWA provides a constraint-based description informing allocation of function between key actor groups. This approach is useful because it poses questions related to the transfer of information and optimum working practices.

Distributed situation awareness in an Airborne Warning and Control System: application of novel ergonomics methodology

This paper applies a distributed theory of situation awareness based upon the analysis of interactions between agents (both human and non-human) in an Airborne Warning and Control System (Boeing E3D Sentry). The basic tenet of this approach is that agents within a system each hold their own component(s) of situation awareness, which may be very different from, but compatible with, other agent’s view of the situation. However, it is argued that it is not always necessary to have complete sharing of this awareness, as different system agents have different purposes. Situation awareness is regarded as a dynamic and collaborative process that binds agents together on tasks on a moment-by-moment basis. Situation awareness is conceptualised as residing at a system, not an individual level. Data were collected from crew-members in theE3D during a series of simulated air battles. These data pertained to task structure, communications between the crew and the collection and analysis of crew actions at critical decision points. All phases of operations were considered. From these data propositional networks were developed in which key knowledge objects were identified. Analysis of these networks clearly shows how the location and nature of distributed situation awareness changes across agents with regard to the phase of operation/air battle.