A Lexical Approach to Assessing Stress: Development and Proof-of-Concept.

OBJECTIVE: We describe a methodology that provides a nonobtrusive means of detecting stress and related deficits through the assessment of spontaneous verbal output in ongoing communications. BACKGROUND: In high-demand environments, operational personnel are exposed to an array of environmental, task, and interpersonal stressors that can negatively impact performance as well as jeopardize safety and well-being. In these settings, the requirement exists to assess cognitive and emotional state "at a distance" and without interfering with ongoing performance. METHOD: We describe a lexical approach to assessing stress effects from ongoing or spontaneous verbal output. This approach is examined in a spaceflight analog setting. RESULTS: We assess stress effects in terms of five core dimensions and develop lexical indicators of these core stress dimensions and relevant sub-facets. We establish the proof-of-concept of this approach by presenting representative data from a spaceflight analog. CONCLUSION: This approach provides an unobtrusive means to evaluate ongoing task communications at the individual and team level in order to assess cognitive/emotional states such as workload, negative affect, attentional focus, anxiety, and team orientation. APPLICATION: There are many high-demand settings in which it is valuable to monitor the potential negative effects of stress on operational personnel. These environments include spaceflight, the military, aviation, law enforcement, and medicine.

Building a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive drivers of performance under pressure: An international multi-panel Delphi study.

Introduction: The ability to perform optimally under pressure is critical across many occupations, including the military, first responders, and competitive sport. Despite recognition that such performance depends on a range of cognitive factors, how common these factors are across performance domains remains unclear. The current study sought to integrate existing knowledge in the performance field in the form of a transdisciplinary expert consensus on the cognitive mechanisms that underlie performance under pressure. Methods: International experts were recruited from four performance domains [(i) Defense; (ii) Competitive Sport; (iii) Civilian High-stakes; and (iv) Performance Neuroscience]. Experts rated constructs from the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) framework (and several expert-suggested constructs) across successive rounds, until all constructs reached consensus for inclusion or were eliminated. Finally, included constructs were ranked for their relative importance. Results: Sixty-eight experts completed the first Delphi round, with 94% of experts retained by the end of the Delphi process. The following 10 constructs reached consensus across all four panels (in order of overall ranking): (1) Attention; (2) Cognitive Control-Performance Monitoring; (3) Arousal and Regulatory Systems-Arousal; (4) Cognitive Control-Goal Selection, Updating, Representation, and Maintenance; (5) Cognitive Control-Response Selection and Inhibition/Suppression; (6) Working memory-Flexible Updating; (7) Working memory-Active Maintenance; (8) Perception and Understanding of Self-Self-knowledge; (9) Working memory-Interference Control, and (10) Expert-suggested-Shifting. Discussion: Our results identify a set of transdisciplinary neuroscience-informed constructs, validated through expert consensus. This expert consensus is critical to standardizing cognitive assessment and informing mechanism-targeted interventions in the broader field of human performance optimization.

Foundations of teamwork and collaboration.

The term teamwork has graced countless motivational posters and office walls. However, although teamwork is often easy to observe, it is somewhat more difficult to describe and yet more difficult to produce. At a broad level, teamwork is the process through which team members collaborate to achieve task goals. Teamwork refers to the activities through which team inputs translate into team outputs such as team effectiveness and satisfaction. In this article, we describe foundational research underlying current research on teamwork. We examine the evolution of team process models and outline primary teamwork dimensions. We discuss selection, training, and design approaches to enhancing teamwork, and note current applications of teamwork research in real-world settings. (PsycINFO Database Record

Social indicators of deception.

OBJECTIVE: This study addresses a practical homeland security issue of considerable current concern: In a situation in which the opportunity exists to question or interview concurrently two or more suspects, how does one determine truth or deception at a social level? BACKGROUND: Recent world events have led to an increased emphasis on the capacity to detect deception, especially in military, security, and law enforcement settings. In many screening or checkpoint situations, the opportunity exists to question two or more suspects regarding their involvement in some activity, yet investigators know very little regarding characteristics of speech or behavior that are exhibited between two suspects that indicate truth or deception. METHOD: We conducted an empirical study in which pairs of police officers and firefighters who had served together as partners took part. In the "truth" conditions, each dyad described a recent event in which they had actually taken part, and in the "deceptive" conditions, each dyad fabricated a story that did not take place. We expected that the officers in the truth-telling dyads would be able to draw on shared or transactive memory of the actual event they had participated in and would describe this event in a more interactive manner than would those in deceptive dyads. RESULTS: Results indicated greater evidence of synchrony of behavior as well as more interactive behaviors, such as mutual gaze and speech transitions, in truthful dyads than in deceptive dyads. CONCLUSION: This research provides a unique perspective on detecting deception in a social context, and the results have both theoretical and practical value. APPLICATION: These results can inform training programs and refine strategies used by screeners in field settings.

Collective orientation and team performance: development of an individual differences measure.

OBJECTIVE: We examine the construct of collective orientation, develop a measure to assess individual differences in collective orientation, and examine the extent to which the collective orientation of team members predicts performance on a variety of team tasks. BACKGROUND: Scholars increasingly emphasize the importance of teamwork in collaborative work environments, and evidence indicates that a lack of teamwork is a prominent factor in many real-world accidents. Although it is clear that some persons are more team oriented than others are, there are few instruments available to assess individual differences in collective orientation in a team context. METHOD: We develop a scale to measure collective orientation in teams, gather evidence on reliability and construct validity, and examine the extent to which collective orientation predicts team performance. RESULTS: Results indicate that the Collective Orientation Scale is reliable, correlates with cognate measures, and predicts performance on a variety of team tasks. CONCLUSION: We discuss the role of collective orientation in teams and the application of this scale to assess and diagnose teamwork deficiencies in work groups. APPLICATION: This research should contribute to a further understanding of factors that influence collaboration and coordination in teams.

The efficacy of naps as a fatigue countermeasure: a meta-analytic integration.

Modern requirements for extended operations in aviation, transportation, the military, and industry have led to extensive research on countermeasures to mitigate the adverse effects of fatigue. The goals of this research were to (a) summarize and integrate existing research on naps as a fatigue countermeasure using meta-analysis, (b) identify the strength and significance of the effects of naps on performance and feelings of fatigue, and (c) identify factors that may moderate the effects of napping as a fatigue countermeasure. The results of these analyses can be used to predict nap efficacy as a function of length of the nap and the postnap interval. The results of these analyses also suggest an approach to work design that takes into account the optimal effects of naps as a fatigue countermeasure. Actual or potential applications of this research include the development of optimal work schedules to minimize fatigue and increase safety.

The effect of gesture on speech production and comprehension.

Hand gestures are ubiquitous in communication. However, there is considerable debate regarding the fundamental role that gesture plays in communication and, subsequently, regarding the value of gesture for telecommunications. Controversy exists regarding whether gesture has a primarily communicative function (enhancing listener comprehension) or a primarily noncommunicative function (enhancing speech production). Moreover, some have argued that gesture seems to enhance listener comprehension only because of the effect gesture has on speech production. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which gesture enhances listener comprehension and the extent to which the effect of gesture on listener comprehension is mediated by the effects of gesture on speech production. Results indicated that gesture enhanced both listener comprehension and speech production. When the effects of gesture on speech production were controlled, the relationship between gesture and listener comprehension was reduced but still remained significant. These results suggest that gesture aids the listener as well as the speaker and that gesture has a direct effect on listener comprehension, independent of the effects gesture has on speech production. Implications for understanding the value of gestural information in telecommunications are discussed. Potential applications of this research include the design of computer-mediated communication systems and displays in which the visibility of gestures may be beneficial.