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Cognitive Readiness and the Challenge of Institutionalizing the "New" Versus "News"
Abstract
As the military begins to formalize training and standards for cognitive readiness, it is fitting to mark potential barriers to its implementation. This article outlines three general challenges associated with the institutionalization of cognitive readiness: (a) that the training and education community must recognize that higher-order cognitive skills development (at least for lower echelons) is fundamentally new-not merely a slight deviation from the status quo; (b) that commonly discussed cognitive competencies can (and must) be better operationalized for instruction and measurement purposes; and (c) that achieving widespread cognitive readiness will be possible only if senior leaders recognize the importance of sustained support for these competencies. The critical thesis of this article is this: Military leadership tends to view cognitive readiness as an additive aspect ("news") to what is already known and accepted, instead of as a foundational competency ("new") that requires widespread transformation. Until the institutionalization of cognitive readiness is recognized as a fundamentally novel, leap-ahead innovation, the military community will struggle to accomplish it.
... Cognitive readiness incorporates empathy but recognizes the need for "decision making and adaptability. " [5]. Adaptability or the capacity to adapt to changing circumstances or to change the behavior consistently, also entails not solely focusing on the wishes of one or a select group within the project team. ...
... The development of assessment tools that can be structure so the tool can be adapted for the varied environments, including numerous factors, is a training challenge that has as Value co-creation in the project society 37 of yet to be surmounted. The military in the United States has approached the issue by attempting to draft standards for various cognitive competencies, but to date the standards have not proven to be workable given the multitude of various undertakings and professions that need to be assessed [5]. ...
... These intelligences are not built upon in the classic classroom instruction. "(t)here are risks (a) that training and education institutions may misperceive cognitive training, viewing it not as fundamentally "new" but instead as merely additive ("news") to what is already implemented; (b) that cognitive capabilities will be viewed as mere soft skills (i.e., nonkinetic, nontechnical, and nonmeasurable) that do not warrant the same degree of attention as hard skills (i.e., expertise in kinetic, technological destruction of the enemy); and (c) that even if leaders recognize the importance of cognitive competencies, they may mistakenly present their training in a procedural fashion, similar to training for hard skills [5]. In other words, the learning within the realm of cognitive readiness cannot be rote. ...
The purpose of this paper is to set forth a research plan and call for volunteers to engage in the research, initiated in the Research Conference of 2021, on an important issue impacting projects and programs, but more importantly society [4]. Given the proliferation of articles, publications, surveys, and other communication modes about stressing one character expression of a capability or skill of the three intelligences over other character expressions of the myriad of capabilities and skills that comprise cognitive readiness, one needs to understand the impact of such communications. The focus on one expression such as empathy or passion can leave a team not understanding the objectives, necessary team interactions, and other aspects of team leadership and management necessary for delivery of outputs and benefits for the organization, the market and society. Understanding the impact of this focus on areas of team interactions; team development, including both personal and professional; performance and resilience of teams during times of crisis and disruption; and various personnel decisions will be vital to directing training, course development, team communications, and other personnel interactions
... Likewise, the military has a number of important initiatives trying to move intuitive, naturalistic decision-making into the mainstream (Fautua & Schatz, 2012). In this context, researchers put forward the concept of "cognitive readiness," which describes the mental preparation an individual must establish and sustain to perform effectively in the complex and unpredictable environment of modern military operations (Fletcher, 2004). ...
... In this context, researchers put forward the concept of "cognitive readiness," which describes the mental preparation an individual must establish and sustain to perform effectively in the complex and unpredictable environment of modern military operations (Fletcher, 2004). According to Fautua and Schatz (2012), "effective cognitive readiness ultimately manifests as successful pattern recognition, creative adaptability, and intuitive decision-making in the field" (p. 277), directly affecting performance during combat operations. ...
... 277), directly affecting performance during combat operations. Therefore, Fautua and Schatz (2012) advocated that the "comprehensive development of sophisticated cognitive readiness capacities requires a more fundamental shift in the military training and education culture" (p. 280). ...
Police use of force training is a crucial guarantor of officer safety when preparing law enforcement professionals to prevent and deal with physical confrontations. Current research on the efficiency of use of force application in the line of duty revealed that acquired skills do not necessarily transfer to real world incidents (Jager, Klatt, & Bliesener, 2013; Renden, Nieuwenhuys, Savelsbergh, & Oudejans, 2015). Based on (a) a review of police use of force literature with a focus on the transferability of skills and (b) a consideration of modern approaches of skill development in the sports domain, we argue that designing learning environments based on sound pedagogical practices in the use of force domain improves the transferability of skills taught in training, without the expense of adding additional training time or employing expensive training strategies. It is also suggested that improving police use of force training with a more inclusive approach, emphasizing the acquisition and development of motor skills (i.e., handgun proficiency or self-defense techniques) in conjunction with the associated decision-making skills.
... There are many avenues for future research to contribute to the propose research plan for establish CR frameworks and assessments across all levels. One avenue is through refining the macrocognitive terms (e.g., metacognition, decision-making) into more practical reformulations that provide researchers with more rigid parameters to test the different levels of CR (Fautua & Schatz, 2012). For example, decomposing and operationalizing the cognitive functions' component of Grier's (2012) OCR model will provide an avenue for research to test and validate the psychometric properties and task parameters of measuring OCR. ...
Objective
The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive and original review of the theoretical development of the individual operational cognitive readiness (OCR) theory.
Background
Cognitive readiness (CR) is a concept that has the potential to predict the performance of human individuals and teams prior to engaging in complex, dynamic, and resource-limited task environments. However, the current state of the literature is confusing and laborious, with heterogeneous views regarding the theoretical frameworks among leading researchers.
Method
This review (1) undertakes a systematic approach toward categorizing published CR literature into theoretical and measurement contributions across the different levels of CR, (2) carries a critical evaluation of the CR and OCR theoretical frameworks, and (3) provides directions for future research guided by gaps identified during the review process and other published literatures.
Results
Results from the categorization of published CR literature provide a new, valuable, synthesized CR library for researchers to consult to streamline their CR literature review process. Critical examination of the CR and OCR theoretical frameworks leads to positing that new components should be explored for OCR.
Conclusion
There are many possible directions for future research including evaluating domain-independent components of OCR and evaluating the relationship between biofeedback measures and performance in CR models.
Application
The Defense domain continues to be the focal application of CR. However, CR could be used by other application domains, such as sports and emergency services, that require their working personnel to engage in complex, uncertain, and dynamic task environments.
... Their importance have been considered in the process of decisionmaking, especially in situations where there are only uncertain data available and that decisions need to be made under high time constraints (Klein 1997, Hogarth 2001, Merritt 2011. Fautua & Schatz (2012) emphasized that intuition is a strategic element of analysis. It indicates which elements the analysis should focus on. ...
In this paper we present three cognitive acts analysts use while solving criminal cases: intuition, leap of faith and insight. We used the Emergent Themes Analysis to find out how these cognitive acts help analysts’ inference making and what are their features. We analyzed the interviews with six analysts that were done with the Critical Decision Method. What we discovered is that intuition, leap of faith and insight relate to each other creating an integrated process while solving problems. We propose that a leap of faith occurs between intuition and insight. This is a preliminary study that we plan to develop further. However, current results are interesting enough that we hope the findings may help us design computer systems that will facilitate the process of solving criminal cases by analysts.Criminal intelligence analysis, analytical reasoning, inference making, intuition, leap of faith, insight, critical decision method.
... Their importance have been considered in the process of decisionmaking, especially in situations where there are only uncertain data available and that decisions need to be made under high time constraints (Klein 1997, Hogarth 2001, Merritt 2011. Fautua & Schatz (2012) emphasized that intuition is a strategic element of analysis. It indicates which elements the analysis should focus on. ...
In this paper we present three cognitive acts analysts use while solving criminal cases: intuition, leap of faith and insight. We used the Emergent Themes Analysis to find out how these cognitive acts help analysts’ inference making and what are their features. We analyzed the interviews with six analysts that were done with the Critical Decision Method. What we discovered is that intuition, leap of faith and insight relate to each other creating an integrated process while solving problems. We propose that a leap of faith occurs between intuition and insight. This is a preliminary study that we plan to develop further. However, current results are interesting enough that we hope the findings will help us to design a computer system that will facilitate the process of solving criminal cases by analysts.
... Part 1 of the special issue began with an introduction by the editors, followed by three articles that examined a variety of topics, including identifying the general challenges associated with the institutionalization of cognitive readiness (Fautua & Schatz, 2012); designing decision support systems with consideration for three factors that influence cognitive readiness, namely, adaptability, flexibility, and acceptability (Cegarra & van Wezel, 2012); and presenting a theoretical framework to guide the development of training for team cognitive readiness in small units (Fiore, Ross, & Jentsch, 2012). We continue this theme in Part 2 of the special issue with two more articles exploring cognitive readiness: a theoretical model for measuring military cognitive readiness at the operational and strategic levels (Grier, 2012) and an empirical evaluation of two decision support tools, focused on three components of individual cognitive readiness in complex operations, namely, situation awareness, problem solving, and decision making (Lafond, DuCharme, Gagnon, & Tremblay, 2012). ...
The previous special issue featured articles on the theme of presenting the latest advances in cognitive readiness research in terms of both theory development and practical applications across domains. For researchers, this translates into addressing important research gaps and identifying areas warranting further investigation. For practitioners, this translates into useful and practical recommendations and lessons learned for promoting cognitive readiness in complex domains. The editors continue this theme in this special issue with two more articles that address this important topic. It is their hope that the findings and lessons learned presented in this three-part special issue will provide a basis for future research aimed at creating more cognitively ready individuals and teams.
... There is no official listing of cognitive readiness skills, but almost everyone agrees that cognitive readiness should be broadly defined to include mental, emotional, and social competencies. Also, cognitive readiness skills include both "taskwork" and "teamwork" components; in other words, cognitive readiness is relevant at the individual and collective (team) levels (Fautua & Schatz, 2012;Fautua, Schatz, & Vierling, 2011). ...
After a decade of waging unconventional conflicts, Defense stakeholders now generally accept that the US military has entered a new era of warfare, distinguished from previous generations by its prevalence of insurgent and terrorist tactics, frequency of non-kinetic tactical dilemmas, complexity of the sociocultural context, and emphasis on operational decentralization. To excel under such conditions, each warfighter—down to the lowest echelons—must pos-sess a high degree of cognitive readiness, that is, the mental, emotional, and interpersonal skills that allow him/her to rapidly decide and act in complex, dynamic, and ambiguous environments. Each of the US Armed Services is addressing cognitive readiness training differently. The Marine Corps, for in-stance, has embarked on two related, large-scale efforts. First, the USMC Training and Education Command (TECOM) established the Small Unit Decision Making initiative in order to "improve the ability of small unit leaders across the MAGTF to…assess, decide, and act while operating in a more decentralized manner" (Implementation Planning Guidance, p. 9). To achieve this, TECOM personnel and academic advisors are translating advanced instructional methods into actionable forms (e.g., militarized handbooks, instructor development seminars) and launching a pilot course in spring 2012 for noncommissioned officers on decision making. Second, TECOM personnel are examining instructor career progression, looking for strategies to enhance Marine Corps instructors, writ large. In other words, TECOM is looking to take Marine instructors from good to great.
The purpose of this multi‐methods study was to explore police use‐of‐force (UoF) instructors' (n = 317) perceptions about cognitive readiness in the context of violent police–public encounters, to examine how experience influences those perceptions, and to identify competencies of cognitive readiness deemed essential for preparation and response to violent encounters. The results of the study suggest that UoF instructors generally feel that police officers are not adequately prepared for violent police–public encounters. Interviews were conducted with 15 UoF training experts who cited deficiencies in the range of tactics taught that prevent adequate training transfer and performance. Of the a priori cognitive‐readiness competencies assessed, the study revealed situational awareness, problem solving, adaptability, decision making, confidence, and critical thinking as the highest converging competencies. As such, these competencies were identified as essential for preparation for and response to violent encounters.
Results from a number of studies indicate that a multitude of factors influence human dynamics and outcomes associated with the application of force by police. Little research has been done to understand the cognitive processing associated with rapid assessment and response to such encounters. In order to enhance the body of knowledge, this exploratory study employed cognitive task analysis (CTA) methods to examine the concept of cognitive readiness in the context of violent police–citizen encounters. According to the results of this study, it is suggested that cognitive readiness in the context of critical encounters must be supported by skill training in the areas of domain and prerequisite knowledge, pattern recognition, and situational awareness.
The United States military’s strategic position is evolving, and as a result, the Services are emphasizing the importance of sociocultural pattern recognition, sensemaking in ambiguous urban contexts, and understanding of patterns of life. In fact, military personnel at increasingly lower echelons are expected to possess these nuanced psychosocial perception and decision-making skills. To facilitate training of these complex competencies, the authors are developing a Virtual Observation Platform, an immersive virtual environment designed to adaptively train US Marine Corps personnel in sustained observation, sociocultural pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and other perceptual–cognitive skills. This paper briefly describes the purpose of the system and then covers its adaptive instructional tailoring in detail. The Platform’s adaptive features include information quality/quantity manipulation and instructional scaffolding in the form of communications from a virtual squad (i.e., peers) that are intrinsic to the narrative of the scenario.
Seeking improvement in small-unit per�formance is as old as warfare itself. Polybius detailed the small-unit performance of the Roman army in The Histories, Book X, circa 146 BCE. In this particular treatise, he highlighted the spe�cific techniques used by Roman soldiers to plan and execute the destruction of the defenders of the walled city of Carthage. In 450 CE, Flavius Vegetius Renatus wrote De Re Militare, a promi�nent guide to improve small-unit performance for the Roman army, in an attempt to restore basic
discipline to frontline units. Nonetheless, merely stating that this has always been a goal does not preclude our need to continue to study how to maximize our capacity for attaining small-unit excellence today. This article explores the factors which lead to small unit excellence within a modern context.
The missions that the U.S. military is being called upon to execute in today’s security environment require a tremendous amount of awareness—of self, others, and the wider environment. Awareness is the foundational meta-skill for being able to “learn and adapt.”
This chapter proposes a new way to achieve such awareness. It draws on the well-documented theory of neuroplasticity, which states that the brain changes in response to changes in environment. The first section examines some of the ways that “negative” experiences, such as stress and trauma, can change the brain in deleterious ways. The second section examines some of the ways that “positive” experiences, such as mind fitness training, can change the brain in beneficial ways. The third section builds on these ideas to propose ways that mind fitness training could enhance military effectiveness. Given that the brain is constantly building new neural connections from all of our daily experiences, it makes sense to concentrate on skills that build those neural connections most beneficial for operational effectiveness and soldier wellbeing. The conclusion extends this research by examining potential limitations and highlighting possible applications in the national security environment.
The Combat Hunter program was first conceived in 2007 to meet a training gap in small unit close combat warfighting. This US Marine Corps (USMC) program of instruction (POI) trains the fundamentals of combat profiling, tracking, and optics-based observation, helping students become successful "combat hunters" in an irregular warfare battlespace. The two lead instructors, who also designed the original course, include a former undercover inner-city police detective and a man-tracker from Africa. Both possess extraordinary innate expertise, each with over 30-years experience in their respective fields. However, the Combat Hunter POI is not currently available outside of the USMC, and the USMC's 10-day course actually represents a shortened version of what each instructor originally desired. Ideally, they would prefer a 20-day POI that includes 10 days of tracking instruction and 10 days of observation/profiling instruction. Thus, a hybrid Combat Hunter-like POI is currently being developed as a capability for the Joint community. The first step in its development was a 20-day course delivered this April by the two subject matter experts (SME) to 43 military and law enforcement trainees. A team of researchers was also embedded with the course. The researchers' goals were to (1) capture the content of the course and package it for greater deployability, (2) assess the instructional outcomes of the course, and (3) explicitly articulate the linkages between the course content and underlying scientific principles.
U.S. soldiers deploying to Iraq in 2003 were told that the war was necessary to rid Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction and had expected to fight a near-peer enemy using conventional tactics. Instead, they encountered a very different battlefield and, to date, no weapons of mass destruction have been found. This paper focuses on this apparent violation of soldiers' expectations. We analyze oral histories collected from two units of Ft. Carson-based soldiers who served in Iraq during 2003-2004 and were on the verge of redeployment in 2005. Our findings suggest that soldiers maintained a high level of commitment to their units and the Army. We offer an explanation of the factors at work in maintaining commitment under disconnects between expectations and realities and speculate about the application of them to full-spectrum warfare.
Determining if medical personnel are cognitively ready to perform their job poses a considerable challenge to the research community both in terms of understanding what is meant by being cognitively ready and it terms of developing methods to actually assess it. We have defined cognitive readiness as "possessing the psychological (mental) and sociological (social) knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) that individuals and team members need to sustain competent professional performance and mental wellbeing in the dynamic, complex, and unpredictable environments of military operations." While the definition is somewhat broad in scope, it embraces the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed for superior cognitive readiness while still allowing for the specification of these KSAs to be tailored to the specific team skills and tasks. As part of government sponsored research program we set out to gain a better understanding of what it meant by 'being cognitively ready' for military medical teams as well as develop a tool for predicting medical cognitive readiness. This paper will present the process for identifying the critical cognitive readiness factors, the formation of the cognitive readiness model and how it was used to guide the development of our M-CREST tool.
William Lind has argued that the U.S. military is improperly configured and trained to fight “fourth-generation” wars, that is, ones in which one of the participants is a nonstate actor and where the strategy, tactics, and battlefield are unconventional. This position has slowly gained acceptance among U.S. Army and Marine commanders, who have struggled to adapt to fourth-generation realities on the ground in Iraq. Drawing on oral-history and focus-group interviews, the authors explore how two units from Ft. Carson, Colorado, have experienced and adjusted to these contingencies. They offer the SAPRR Model as an illustration of their cognitive approach and a plausible combat script for rapid but considered decision making.
The most predictable characteristic of military operations is their unpredictability. Anticipated operational requirements can be decomposed into specific tasks, conditions, and standards, but how should individuals, teams, and units prepare for the unexpected, which, by definition, cannot be anticipated? This matter is viewed as an aspect of cognitive readiness. Situation awareness, memory, transfer, meta-cognition, automaticity, problem solving, decision-making, mental flexibility and creativity, leadership, and emotion are considered as bases for ways in which we can prepare operational personnel to deal with the unexpected. Science and Technology (S&T) developments in cognitive theory, cognitive readiness assessment, training for cognitive readiness, and assessing the military value of training are needed to devise reliable techniques for ensuring cognitive readiness in this area.
The dramatic increase in psychological demands associated with current military operations makes psychological fitness of our military personnel more vital than ever. Psychological fitness is defined as the integration and optimization of mental, emotional, and behavioral abilities and capacities to optimize performance and strengthen the resilience of warfighters. The present article proposes a military demand-resource (MDR) model as a comprehensive and integrated model of psychological fitness for the total force. The model emphasizes the importance of identifying military-driven and evidence-informed variables, and selecting operational outcome measures for resilience and performance. The model integrates the roles of internal (personal) and external (environmental) resources specifically for developing, sustaining, and restoring psychological resources, similar to the maintenance of physical fitness and health. Equal attention to the psychological component is critical for achieving the mind-body balance as desired in a total force fitness framework for military forces today.
The Observe–Orient–Decide–Act (OODA) Loop, a common framework in which military decision making is discussed, is no longer current with modern theories of human cognition. A new framework, based on theoretical advances in the cognitive sciences since the 1950s, is proposed in this paper. The Critique–Explore–Compare–Adapt (CECA) Loop is explicitly based on the premise that goal-oriented mental models are central to human decision making as the means to represent and make sense of the world. The framework assumes that operational planning establishes the initial conceptual model, which is a mental model of the plan. A situation model is created to represent the state of the battlespace at any given point in time. The 4 phases of the CECA Loop broadly correspond to the identification of information needs (critique), active and passive data collection and situation updating (explore), comparison of the current situation to the conceptual model (compare), and adaptation to aspects of the battlespace that invalidate the conceptual model or block the path to goal completion (adapt). The CECA Loop is intended to serve as a practical but widely applicable framework in which to think about decision making in the context of command and control.
Leaders in high-reliability organizational contexts such as firefighting, emergency medicine, and law enforcement often face the challenge of making sense of environments that are dangerous, highly ambiguous, and rapidly changing. Most leadership research, however, has focused on more stable conditions. This study analyzed 100 reports of “near-miss” situations in which firefighters narrowly escaped injury or death, drawing upon sensemaking and high-reliability organizational theories to provide a grounded theory of leadership processes within extreme events. Themes related to direction setting, knowledge, talk, role acting, role modeling, trust, situational awareness, and agility were key categories. Further abstraction of the data revealed the higher-order categories of framing, heedful interrelating, and adjusting as key characteristics of the overall social process of leadership within dangerous contexts, labeled organizing ambiguity. These findings highlight leadership as a collective sensemaking process in which ambiguity is reduced and resilience promoted in the face of danger via interaction among and between leaders and followers.
Explicates a multilevel model that bridges the gap between theoretical models of training needs assessment, design, and evaluation, on the one hand, and, on the other, the higher levels at which training must have an impact if it is to contribute to organizational effectiveness. The chapter focuses on
horizontal and
vertical transfer as well as
top-down contextual effects and
bottom-up emergent processes. Finally, the authors present a theoretical framework to guide new research on vertical transfer. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
This article lays out a model of action learning for catalyzing strategic innovation in mature organizations that are faced with a new competitive playing field. Central to this model is the development of a set of sophisticated cognitive capabilities—sensemaking, strategic thinking, critical thinking, divergent thinking, conceptual capacity and a malleable learning orientation. The learning design provides challenge, opportunity and support for overcoming organizational orthodoxy that can otherwise hamper innovation. Examples from the Chubb Global Executive Program are used to identify and discuss key cognitive, contextual, learning and design elements of this model.
In the total assessment of any system, there is a need to consider that the human is capable of a wide range of cognitive adaptations in managing system anomalies. Yet, it is virtually impossible to anticipate all of these potential adaptations. One solution is to focus on the cognitive demands of the system and to determine the minimum capacity in each cognitive skill the person must have to meet those demands. This approach demands an integrated cognitive assessment involving definition of the type and level of cognitive skills required by the system, and evaluation of the impact of various levels of human cognitive capacity on system performance. This approach has been instantiated in several efforts supported by the Department of Defense and NASA. It involves a taxonomy of cognitive skills, an armory of cognitive tests, and mathematical treatments to relate a person's capacity to system demands. T here is a paradigm shift occurring in the cognitive performance assessment areas of operational test and evaluation. From the vantage point of the twenty-first century, there is an increasing realization that human cognition in complex, techno-logical environments is an extremely plastic entity. The human is capable of interacting with the system by employing a variety of cognitive skills in a variety of combinations. While we may design a system to be operated on by the human in a particular way, and may test it based on that design, a person frequently finds ways to operate within the system that utilize a significantly different mix of cognitive skills than we anticipated. It is becoming clear that we need to move beyond assessment under optimal conditions to anticipate and evaluate the person's ability to function in degraded system environments. The problem is that introducing human flexibility into the testing equation makes it impossibly complex. It is difficult enough to design tests of a system where it is assumed that the human is optimally trained and functioning. If one now adds the complexity of potential human cognitive adaptations to the situation, the problem of designing adequate evaluations be-comes formidable. One solution to this problem may be to abandon the attempt to probe every possible approach the human may take in operating a system, and rather to concentrate on the skills necessary for successful performance under any reasonable range of system conditions. In other words, what cognitive (and psychomotor) skills must the person have to success-fully operate the system under any expected conditions? To answer that question, it will be necessary to develop a way to match the cognitive capabilities of the human to a variety of system demands. Necessarily, this will demand an innovative type of human cognitive testing as well as a technique or model that allows the measured capabilities to be matched to the various system demands. Ultimately, this means there is a need to introduce more ecologically valid techniques into the testing situation so that the limits of human cognitive abilities are factored into the arguably nonlinear demands of the real-world environment. This article presents a summary of 6 years of efforts devoted to investigating how these demands can be met. Several interrelated steps are involved in the solution, and they are schematically illustrated in Figure 1. Each of these steps is then described briefly below. Finally, a brief discussion of how this approach might be applied in the test and evaluation environ-ment is provided.
This chapter reviews the training research literature reported over the past decade. We describe the progress in five areas of research including training theory, training needs analysis, antecedent training conditions, training methods and strategies, and posttraining conditions. Our review suggests that advancements have been made that help us understand better the design and delivery of training in organizations, with respect to theory development as well as the quality and quantity of empirical research. We have new tools for analyzing requisite knowledge and skills, and for evaluating training. We know more about factors that influence training effectiveness and transfer of training. Finally, we challenge researchers to find better ways to translate the results of training research into practice.
Current and future military operations require personnel to perform a multitude of mission tasks. Military personnel are required to execute these tasks, and to perform to high levels of expectation. Many of these tasks are complex and demand substantial cognitive readiness, which may optimize and enhance cognitive performance. Technologies are being developed to aid individual soldiers to successfully complete their missions; however, the proliferation of new technologies, coupled with the varying operational missions, make leveraging cognitive readiness a mandate for the achievement of military effectiveness and enhanced overall performance. It is important to have a militarily relevant psychological battery that can be used to assess each individual's cognitive capabilities and appraisals, factors that enhance military operational effectiveness. Assessing individual cognitive readiness becomes particularly important when researchers broaden their examinations of military effectiveness to assess team cognition, team behavior, and team effectiveness. We discuss the theoretical development and the components of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's Readiness Assessment and Monitoring System (RAMS). Data from several studies are presented to illustrate the behavioral profiles of individuals in extreme operational environments. Data show how specific factors (e.g., personality, coping) contribute to performance in operational settings (e.g., command and control, chemical decontamination operations). Understanding the effect of cognitive readiness on overall military effectiveness not only has implications for selection, training, and system design, but also provides the basis for the proactive development and sustainment of optimal performance, both in individual soldiers, and in small teams or military
If we engineer complex cognitive systems on the basis of mistaken or inappropriate view's of cognition, we can wind up designing systems that degrade performance rather than improve it. The results stemming from the application of any cognitive systems engineering methodology will be incomplete unless they include a description of the cognition that is needed to accomplish the work. The concept of macrocognition is a way of describing cognitive work as it naturally occurs.
Schemas in Problem Solving explores a theory of schema development and studies the applicability of the theory as a unified basis for understanding learning, instruction and assessment. The theory's prescriptions for teaching are direct, and its application to assessment suggests new directions for tests. After examining the roots of the theory in earlier work by philosophers and psychologists, Marshall illustrates the main features of her theory with experimental evidence from students who are learning to recognize and solve arithmetic story problems. She describes individual performance with traditional empirical studies as well as computer simulation. The computer simulation reflects an approach in modelling cognition. Marshall's model links neural networks with symbolic systems to form a hybrid model that uses pattern matching of sets of features as well as logical step-by-step rules.
Most of us see the organizations we operate in - our schools or companies, for instance - as monolithic and predictable, subjecting us to deadening routines and demanding dehumanizing conformity. But companies are more unpredictable and more alive than we imagine, according to Karl Weick, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan and an expert on organizational behavior. Weick says executives can learn a lot about managing the unexpected from organizations that can't afford surprises in the workplace - nuclear plants, firefighting units, or emergency rooms, for instance. In this conversation with HBR senior editor Diane Coutu, Weick examines the characteristics of these high-reliability organizations (HROs) and suggests ways that other organizations can implement their practices and philosophies. The key difference between high-reliability organizations and other companies is the mindfulness with which people in most HROs react to even very weak signs that some kind of change or danger is approaching. For instance, nuclear-plant workers Weick has studied immediately readjust dials and system commands when an automated system doesn't respond as expected. Weick contrasts this with Ford's inability to pick up on weak signs in the 1970s that there were lethal problems with the design of the Pinto gas tank. HROs are fixated on failure. They eschew plans and blueprints, looking instead for the details that might be missing. And they refuse to simplify reality, Weick says. Indeed, by cultivating broad work experiences and enlarging their repertoires, generalist executives can avoid getting paralyzed by "cosmology episodes" - events that make people feel as though the universe is no longer a rational, orderly system.
The Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) framework has recently been applied to the design of patient monitoring systems in acute care medical settings. Work Domain Analysis (WDA), models the problem field in which people act. We argue that the most widely-used form of WDA which uses an abstraction-decomposition space (ADS) may not be the most effective form when applied to ICUs. We propose an approach based on the cybernetic hierarchical control model of Beer (1981) and the systems approach of Forrester (1971).
Full-spectrum warfare places a heavy cognitive burden on the soldier that may exceed normal adaptive stress response mechanisms. It is crucial to understand the effects of battlefield stressors on physical and cognitive performance, decision-making, and adaptation. This information can be used to devise advanced training tactics and technological aids. The recent emergence of new technologies in diverse fields, including neuroimaging, psychology, kinesiology, endocrinology, genetics, linguistics, and warfare strategy will enable enhanced performance of the soldier on the battlefield or in insurgency arenas. Maximal utility of these technologies requires interaction between experts in each methodology and the Army. The Sustaining Performance Under Stress Symposium serves as an example of the multidisciplinary approach involving experts from academia, Army laboratories, and military leadership.
This book unifies relevant aspects of engineering, operations analysis, human factors, and psychology and discusses the basis of integrated systems design.
This document details the vision of General James T. Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps for the future Corps and a plan for creating the Marine Corps of 2025. The purpose of the vision and strategy document is to inform all Marines where we intend to take our Corps, to give combatant commanders a concept of how we might best be employed, and to provide our civilian leadership a reference point as to how we see Marine Corps contributions to national defense in the coming years and decades. This document is grounded in the Marine Corps' identity, ethos, values, and competencies. It serves as the principal strategic planning document for our Corps and reflects our legislated roles, functions, and composition. Derived from strategic guidance at the national and departmental levels, it illustrates our utility and value within the joint warfighting community.
The following article by Major General (Retired) Robert H. Scales is reprinted with permission from Armed Forces and Society (July 2006). 1 1Scales, Robert H. (2006, July). Clausewitz and World War IV. Armed Forces Journal. Available at http://www.afji.com/2006/07/1866019. View all notes In this article, General Scales outlines the critical importance of the human dimension in 21st-century warfare and proposes the intriguing notion that the human dimension may be as decisive a factor in the success of contemporary military operations as kinetic based factors were in significant conflicts of the previous century. The ideas contained here provide context for the importance of the research conducted in support of the Sustaining Performance Under Stress project and formed the basis for his keynote address at the symposium from which the article in this volume are based.
IntroductionScience of Training: Theoretical DevelopmentsInstructional Systems Development ModelTraining AnalysisTraining DesignTraining DevelopmentTraining ImplementationTraining EvaluationTransfer of TrainingConclusions
References
In research across professions, the development of professional skill traditionally was seen as a process of accumulation of knowledge and skills, promoted by practical experience. More recently, this view has been modified to incorporate skillful know-how that is progressively acquired by passing through developmental stages, such as novice, competent, and expert. The authors of this article critically review contemporary stage models that are typically applied across professions. Their principal critique is that a focus on stages veils or conceals more fundamental aspects of professional skill development. On the basis of their critique, the authors propose an alternative model that builds on the strengths of previous models while seeking to overcome their main limitations. Finally, the authors outline the implications of their alternative model for professional education, workplace practices, and research on professional development.
Can intuition be taught? The way in which faces are recognized, the structure of natural classes, and the architecture of intuition may all be instances of the same process. The conjecture that intuition is a species of recognition memory implies that human intuitive decision making can be enormously enhanced by virtual simulation.
This monograph examines the need to retool the military decision making process (MDMP) as the U.S. Army transforms to the future force. Although the MDMP is the current doctrinal framework to decision making and planning at the tactical levels, it represents an analytical approach to problem solving with the concerted efforts of a commander and his staff. Contrary viewpoints and research shows that this approach to decision making is not necessarily representative of how true decisions are made. As a result, many leaders in the U.S. Army have argued a need to change the MDMP to reflect more of the experience and abilities of the commander versus detailed analysis from his staff. This monograph compares the current MDMP as an analytical process with the emerging science and theory of naturalistic decision making (NDM) as best represented by Dr. Gary Klein 's Recognition Primed Decision Making (RPD) model for intuitive decision making. This monograph compares the two processes to determine which is a better model to use given the requirements and capabilities of the future force and recommends that a formal recognition of RPD elements and a commander 's experience must be codified to present a better model for planning and decision making in the future force. A comparison of the requirements for battle command now and in the future is used to show the validity of any planning and decision making process that is codified by doctrine. Specifically, this monograph explains that any planning process must support a commander 's need to visualize, describe, and direct actions against a hostile, thinking enemy. Also, any planning and decision making process must allow for synchronization and synergy of effects as the future force must be capable of rapid, decisive operations with a multitude of assets that make up its combat power. Flexibility must be resident in the process to account for future force operations across the spectrum of conflict as well as to provide a framework that is adaptable and modular. Lastly, any planning and decision making process for the future force must have some semblance of standardization to the process as the common language all organizations can train and execute. Given the network connectivity of the future force, these requirements will only enhance any commander 's ability to plan and conduct operations. The comparison of the MDMP and RPD shows the fundamental difference between planning and decision making. The MDMP supports planning operations and results in an operations order or plan and is thus made up of numerous decisions about how the plan was made. The RPD and proposed Recognition Primed Model (RPM) are representative of decisions, not plans. This monograph further explores why analysis of the situation in unfamiliar and complex environments, as represented by the contemporary operating environment (COE), will continue to be necessary using MDMP while some instances of operations that are less-complex or are familiar and even routine require an RPD approach. This monograph concludes that the MDMP need not be discarded nor that the RPD need to be adopted as-is. Rather, the integration of course of action development and wargaming earlier into the process, by overlapping with mission analysis, lends to a formal acknowledgement of how commanders input their experience into the process. A conceptual model is presented to explain how parallel, simultaneous, distributed, and collaborative planning in the future force will be better served with this planning and decision making framework. Lastly, specific recommendations to formalize adaptive leadership development that increase an officer 's experiential database in both the institutional and organizational Army is given to develop those leadership traits and abilities that support planning and decision making in the future force.
Many top executives say they routinely make big decisions without relying on any logical analysis. Instead, they call upon their "intuition," "gut instinct," "hunches," or "inner voice"--but they can't describe the process much more than that. What exactly is gut instinct? In this article, author Alden Hayashi interviews top executives from companies such as America Online and Johnson and Johnson to find out how they make decisions. Hayashi also presents the research of leading scientists who suggest that our emotions and feelings might not only be important in our intuitive ability to make good decisions but may actually be essential. Specifically, one theory contends that our emotions help us filter various options quickly, even if we're not consciously aware of the screening. Other research suggests that professional judgment can often be reduced to patterns and rules; indeed, truly inspired decisions seem to require an ability to see similar patterns across disparate fields. A CEO who possesses that ability can craft a perfect strategy by detecting patterns that others either overlook or mistake for random noise. But various traits of human nature can easily cloud our intuitive decision making. One potential pitfall is our tendency to see patterns where none exist. Thus, continual self-checking and feedback are crucial, and some organizations have made these processes part of their corporate culture.
The present review focuses on the development of a performance battery generation system that selects performance tests most applicable to particular jobs. First, a list or taxonomy of cognitive and performance skills that are involved in real-world jobs or missions is developed. Based on this list, an "armory" of performance tests probing those skills is identified. A new technique is then developed to select from that armory the minimum number of tests that optimally probe the demands of a specific job or mission. While specifics of these developments will continue to evolve, it is hoped that the general framework described here will help close the gap between laboratory testing and real-world tasks, and form the foundation of the way performance test batteries will be developed in the future.
Many executives and managers embrace intuition as an effective approach to important decisions. Indeed, recent surveys and business press articles indicate broad support for the use of intuition when making strategic decisions. The need for quick decisions, the need to cope with demands created by complex market forces, and the assumed benefits of applying deeply held knowledge combine to create strong perceived value for the intuitive approach. Intuition, however, has not been subjected to sufficient review, particularly in a forum for executives and other managers. This article responds to the need for critical evaluation. Utilizing holistic hunch and automated expertise as two fundamental definitions, our review evaluates intuition's costs and benefits in light of an organization's goals. Drawing evidence from the fields of behavioral decision making, strategic decision making, and mental modeling, our conclusions suggest intuition is a troublesome decision tool. To contribute to effective managerial practice, we offer tactics that decision makers can use to make intuitive judgments and choices less troublesome.
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