Do Teams Adapt to Fatigue in a Synthetic C2 Task
Abstract
There has been little systematic research on fatigue for teams when compared to individuals. We investigated how team performance degrades with sustained operations on a PC-based moderate fidelity air battle management synthetic task. Teams of ISR, Strike, and Sweep battle managers conducted 8 one-hour missions from 1830 to 1030 the following day, along with performance assessment batteries (during alternate hours of testing). This modest fatigue protocol allowed us to explore team fatigue assessment for both mission outcome and team process, complementing past analyses (Elliott, Coovert, Barnes, Miller, 2003; Harville, Elliott, Coovert, Barnes, Miller, 2003). In addition, one of the team roles had lower workload, allowing us to assess whether the lighter role would receive greater workload in fatigued vs. non-fatigued conditions, as a team-adaptive fatigue countermeasure. Our results showed participants performing more poorly while fatigued both on cognitive tests and on one dimension of mission outcome (number of enemy kills) but not on others (friendly losses to fuel outs and hostile actions). General activity level for the team roles declined with fatigue (number of orders issued, information seeking). Finally, while roles recognized the value of offloading work onto the lighter role, this tendency did not significantly increase with fatigue.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA424158
Entities
People
- Christopher Barnes
- Donald Harville
- James C Miller
- Linda Elliot
- Scott Chaiken
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory