Modeling Memory Processes and Performance Benchmarks of AWACS Weapons Director Teams
Abstract
This report describes a program of research investigating collaborative memory processes. The program's aim was to understand how collaboration among members of AWACS weapons director teams could influence their performance. Predictions for team memory performance were derived from social decision scheme theory and the ideal group model derived from signal detection theory. These theoretical approaches were used to establish benchmarks for optimal, suboptimal, and lower-bound levels of team performance. The research demonstrates that team performance exceeded that of similarly treated individuals. Moreover, some results suggest that teams might exceed the predictions of optimal performance from the ideal group model. Results from this research also indicated that larger teams achieve better performance on various metrics than teams with fewer members. Additionally, results are reported describing how the characteristics of the information displayed influenced memory rates. In particular, information about an aircraft's mission, location, and identification were remembered much better than numeric information about heading and altitude. This research effort demonstrated these findings in a synthetic task environment that resembles the cognitive characteristics faced by AWACS weapons directors, particularly requirements for memory performance. This research facilitates the development of knowledge of how collaboration can be used to harness the advantages of teams.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 31, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA444153
Entities
People
- Verlin B. Hinsz
Organizations
- North Dakota State University