Who Syncs? Elasticity-Rigidity in Dynamic Decision Teams.

Autonomic synchrony plays an important role in work team performance where coordinated actions are required on the part of the team members. The present study examined the connection between nine psychological variables that represent types of elasticity-rigidity, which are closely related to adaptability and autonomic synchrony, within teams playing a computer game that involved dynamic decision making. Elasticity-rigidity variables were first identified as part of the dynamics that transpire between workload and performance. They are used here to determine why some individuals within teams synchronize with teammates more strongly than others. The driver-empath model of group synchrony produces a single metric of synchrony (SE) within a team of three or more members. Driver scores, which are produced from the algorithm, indicate each person's total influence on the other group members. Empath scores, which are also produced from the SE algorithm, indicate a person's total receptivity to all other group members. It was found that coping flexibility, monitoring, emotional intelligence, and solving anagrams significantly predicted empath scores in the earlier part of the session. Anxiety and monitoring significantly predicted empath scores in the later part of the session. There were no significant correlations between driver scores and elasticity-rigidity variables.

Cusp Catastrophe Models for Cognitive Workload and Fatigue for Teams Making Dynamic Decisions.

This study evaluated cusp models of workload and fatigue experienced by teams on a dynamic decision making task. Cognitive workload is the amount of information that a person is required to process in a given way in a fixed amount of time. Fatigue, which is captured by a work curve or a cubic polynomial function, is the loss of work capacity that is produced by an extended amount of time spent on a particular cognitive or physical task. In this experiment, 32 groups of three, four or five members (136 individuals) played two matches of a first-person shooter computer game, and completed subjective measures of workload and cognitive measures of elasticity versus rigidity. For the workload cusp models with elasticity-rigidity components, the bifurcation in performance levels occurred when teams expressed greater emotional intelligence, anxiety, levels of fluid intelligence, coping flexibility, cognitive flexibility, and were more decisive (R2=.54-.56, linear alternative, .09-.23). For workload cusp models assessing subjective ratings of workload, bifurcation occurred with groups who reported greater levels of performance demand and effort required (R2=.51, linear alternative, .20). For fatigue cusp models, bifurcation occurred for groups that played fewer rounds of the game before winning or losing the match, or came from the smaller-sized groups, which were supplemented by computer-generated agents (R2=.66-.67, linear alternative, .21-.68). Results supported the general-ization of the cusp models for workload and fatigue to situations requiring teamwork in dynamic decision making environments. The study also raised new questions about the role of autonomic synchrony in the workload or fatigue processes and similarity of the dynamics of human-autonomy teams compared to all-human teams.

Team Situation Awareness, Cohesion, and Autonomic Synchrony 2: Group-level Effects and their Combined Influence on Team Performance.

Situation awareness (SA) is a mental state that is instrumental to performance of complex dynamic tasks. SA within teams is thought to be supported by favorable social conditions within the team. The present study was organized in two parts: (a) causal relationships among SA, group cohesion, and autonomic synchrony, the latter being a fundamentally nonlinear process, and (b) the combined impact of the three variables on performance in a dynamic decisions task. Experimental conditions assessed changes in task difficulty, group size, and method of obtaining SA measures. Participants were 136 undergraduates organized into 32 teams of three to five members engaged in two matches of a first-person shooter computer game. They completed self-report measures of cohesion and SA. Synchrony was determined through time series analysis of electrodermal responses using the driver-empath framework. ANOVA results showed that cohesion and SA improved over the two matches, and SA was better in smaller groups during the second match. Synchrony was stronger in larger groups. Granger regression indicated no causal or circular relationship between SA and cohesion. Synchrony had a small positive effect on cohesion during the first match. SA had a strong negative impact on synchrony early on and dissipated afterwards. The best performing teams during the first match were those that: were larger, were measured for SA without pausing the simulation, were less synchronized, showed more accurate SA, and reported stronger cohesion. The study opens new questions concerning the role of synchrony in volatile situations and the role of automated team members operating alongside humans.