GAZE PATTERNS IN SMALL GROUPS

Kurzfassung

Background of the work Small working groups can be conceptualized as cognitive systems with behavioral couplings emerging between elements [1]. Coordination behavior is impaired when recurrent interactions are prohibited or when there is dissonance in the cognitive system [2]. Recurrent interactions are reflected in patterns of coupled visual attention [3]. Goal of the work It is tested if an integrated gaze-measure for N=3 generated by bivariate crossrecurrence analyses [4] is sensitive to established treatment effects, and thus can provide objective assessment of coordination processes within small groups. Applied methods A 2 Communication [R/T on vs. off; within] x 2 social context [dissonant vs. non-dissonant; between] mixed design was chosen. In a Synthetic Task Environment (STE) [5] comprising detection and decision tasks, small groups have to react to critical events and decide about investments for remedy. During the detection task a group can draw simple inferences based on disjunctive information to reduce uncertainty. In the R/T-off condition the communication channel is deactivated during the signal detection task. For a dissonant social context a social dilemma plus competitive priming (by role description and incentive structure) is induced into the decision task. Gaze behavior of each participant is measured with an Eye-Follower® remote system (120 Hz). The coordination indicator ‘percentage of integrated cross recurrence rate’ (%iCRR) is calculated based on the synchronized gaze-data utilizing [6]. Only measurements during signal detection are reported. 144 participants (age: M=23.01; SD=5.03; gender: 51.4% female, 48.6% male) were grouped into 48 teams (15 ab-initio ATCo candidates, 33 students). During a 3,5h session 2 scenarios are performed, each comprising 48 signal-detection trials with 3 malfunctions forcing a collective decision. Experimental conditions were balanced. Short desciption of results A Mixed-Model Analysis of the %iCRR values produced a main effect for R/T [F(1, 679.2)= 92,21, p> .05, ηp²= .0841]. The magnitude of %iCRR was higher when the communication channel was open (cf. figure 2). A main effect for social context [F(1, 679.2)= 6,69, p> .05, ηp²= .006] indicates lower behavioral couplings for groups performing under dissonant conditions (cf. figure 2). A significant interaction [F(1, 679.2)= 4,47, p> .05, ηp²= .004] indicates a mediation of the social context effect by communication (cf. figure 2). Resume and practical implications Indication is provided that with focal goals in conflict (dissonant social context) behavioral coupling decreases. We assume the metric of integrated gaze cross-recurrence to be a sensitive objective measure for the assessment of the macrocognitive process of coordination within small groups. In a next step this metric will be empirically validated by external construct criteria.