HYPOTHESES

Effects of task and team stressors

• Broad performance decrements regarding strategy adaptation, information search, decision quality
• Disruptions in team interaction
  • Less information shared, more miscommunications
  • Irritation, increased team tension and conflict

• Heterogeneous teams less successful than homogeneous teams
• More misunderstandings due to different communication styles
• Less positive team climate and cohesion due to differences in competitiveness

PROCEDURE

Teams of four (three search team leaders plus one base camp coordinator) work together on six computer-simulated search and rescue (S&R) missions set in Antarctica. Their goal is to locate a lost team that was sent to repair a malfunctioning communication antenna. Various cues and information signals provide clues to the lost team's location. Team leaders must plan a search strategy, share information and manage limited resources to find the lost party and repair the antenna within a limited time window. [The Distributed Dynamic Decision-making (DDD) software and Search & Rescue (S&R) scenarios were developed by Aptima, Inc.]

DESIGN

Study 1: Manipulate 1) Sources and 2) Levels of Stressors

• Time pressure, ambiguity and reliability of information, task load

Interpersonal stress (between-crew variable) Competitive vs. Cooperative goals

• Competitive vs. Cooperative goals

Study 2: Manipulate Team Structure

Task difficulty (within-crew variable)

• Time pressure, ambiguity and reliability of information, task load

• Task outcomes
• Problem solving/decision making
• Team interaction strategies
• Verbal content of communications

• Physiological measures - ECG, EMG, SCL, Resp, PTT
• Facial expressions (Ekman, Gross)