Adaptive Thinking Training for Tactical Leaders
Abstract
This paper reports a series of research efforts embodied in the U.S. Army's Think Like a Commander training program. The work is interesting because it seeks to train a cognitive behavior thinking using methods that have traditionally been applied to training more observable and measurable behaviors, e.g., marksmanship and gunnery, sports performance. In short, it does not greatly respect a traditional distinction between such things as physical movements, perceptions, and cognitions when it comes to training, rather treats these all as behaviors that are amenable to the same training methods and principles. Deliberate practice techniques were applied to develop exercises to train the task of adaptive thinking in tactical situations. The exercises were used in command preparation courses for U.S. Army officers at the brigade, battalion, and company levels. The approach shows promise and initial data indicate significant performance gains in a key component of battlefield adaptive thinking: the rapid analysis of battlefield situations to identify of key considerations for decision-making.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA428347
Entities
People
- James W. Lussier
- Scott B. Shadrick
Organizations
- U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences