Just talk - An experimental task for investigation of team situation awareness

Abstract

In highly dynamic and complex work environments (e.g. aviation, surgery) teamwork is omnipresent and it is crucial for performance that team members have a high degree of individual as well as team situation awareness. In the current paper an approach for empirical investigation of the development of team situation awareness by means of communication analysis is presented. The main objective of the approach is to provide an experimental environment that allows for a high degree of experimental control as well as sufficient task complexity, so that team situation awareness is a substantial factor for team task performance. Specifically, a microworld setup of a RADAR controller workplace for two or more operators was developed. The task mirrors a novel air traffic management concept, where several controllers have to control aircraft within a shared airspace. Controllers have to exchange relevant information about their aircraft on time with each other, in order to prevent aircraft conflicts. The degree of experimental control can be varied by simulating team communication through scripted communication contents. Analyzing the interaction process in terms of content and temporal coordination of information exchange, it is assumed that conclusions about the development and quality of team situation awareness can be drawn. First empirical results are presented.