Workload Transition Implications for Individual and Team Performance (1993) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
12 Recommendations for Research
12 Recommendations for Research
Pages 265-276
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From page 265... ...
The panel was asked to pay special attention to what happens to the performance of Army tank crews during sudden increases in workload but also to consider its effect on teams in other situations such as nuclear power plants, commercial airliners, emergency medical services, railroad locomotives, shipboard, and disaster relief efforts. In carrying out its charge the panel examined what is known about workload and workload transitions and their performance effects, identified existing research results that could be applied now and research that needed to be done to fill gaps in knowledge and inform operational policy.
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From page 266... ...
Regardless of the specific sources of workload at any point in time, adequate training and preparation, adopting strategies and tactics most appropriate for the situation, effective leadership, and smooth crew coordination can counteract some of the detrimental effects of imposed task demands. The influence of stress, fatigue, training, crew coordination, and environmental stressors may have a significant effect on operator workload in operational situations, but their relationships with operator workload is not yet known, and most theories of workload ignore them.
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From page 267... ...
Design principles that may minimize the degrading effects of stress include: using familiar elements and eliminating nonessential ones, displaying information that is directly necessary for action, highlighting, and integrating displays. In addition, emergency procedures that must be referred to on-line must be brief and succinct under circumstances in which working memory and attention span are attenuated.
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From page 268... ...
In a combat situation it would seem that each soldier should be given as much information as possible about his situation and that of the enemy to help him manage stress levels and maintain arousal at a useful motivational level." Good team qualities, such as trust, participation in relevant decision making, excellent communications, and a commitment to cooperation are conducive to effective team-building processes. Team building efforts, as well as environmental buffers (e.g., changes in the tank environment)
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From page 269... ...
, fatigue, training, and crew coordination are unknown. Additional research is needed to identify these relationships, particularly in the tank environment, and to determine their unique and joint effects on operator and team performance.
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From page 270... ...
In view of what is known with regard to the importance of signal amplitude and duration in vigilance, devices for aiding target acquisition such as thermal imaging or computer-assisted detection systems might be built in a manner that amplifies the intensity of such critical signals as hot spots and weapon flashes and also increases the dwell time of such signals on the crews' target acquisition displays. The sensory modality of the signal plays an important role in the quality of vigilant behavior, and sensory redundant displays aid in detection efficiency.
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From page 271... ...
In order to minimize the deleterious effects of vigilance on performance, the panel recommends that the crews be instructed on the biases and nonoptimal strategies of their vigilance functions in order to optimize their response strategies. In addition, training with target cueing or with knowledge of results can have a beneficial effect on performance in tasks requiring sustained attention.
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From page 272... ...
Decision makers in complex systems should be explicitly taught about confirmation bias, which describes the decision makers' tendency to seek new information that supports one's currently held hypothesis and to ignore or minimize the importance of information that may support an alternative hypothesis. If a tank commander has a preconceived hypothesis regarding the nature of enemy intentions, he may interpret ambiguous evidence as consistent with these intentions.
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From page 273... ...
A series of related actions to assess the need for formal training in leadership and crew coordination are recommended. Additional areas for action include assessment of the social-psychological impact of automation and reduced crew complement and an investigation of the role of personality factors as determinants of crew performance.
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From page 274... ...
The lower-level procedural skills required to respond appropriately should be automated, thus freeing attention for the unique aspects of the problem at hand, and this can make vigilance performance more resistant to the effects of environmental stress and increased mental workload. SIMNET allows individual crew members through battalion commanders to practice tasks and roles in as realistic, complex environment as necessary to develop the appropriate skills.
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From page 275... ...
the validation of training approaches against performance in a combat-like environment. This research will provide the basis for a comprehensive approach for providing training that will result in a higher probability of competent performance under emergency situations such as tank combat.
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