Information Dissonance, Shared Mental Models and Shared Displays: An Empirical Evaluation of Information Dominance Techniques.
Abstract
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 of an aircraft defense task 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 initially slower when first given a shared display, but a residual effect was seen in later trials where it aided performance. While shared displays initially slowed team performance in this task, most likely due to extra attention demands, they also provided for the development of shared mental models that greatly enhanced performance after they were removed. 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 other's tasks and goals, either through direct instruction, or through provision of shared displays.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA371330
Entities
People
- Cheryl A. Bolstad
- Mica R. Endsley