READY FOR TODAY – EVOLVING FOR TOMORROW
Figure 1 – Endsley’s model of Situation Awareness
in dynamic decision making, adapted to show
synergy with the OODA loop concept.
Endsley’s model recognises that external
factors, including human stressors,
complexity, workload and experience,
affect SA, decision-making and the
execution of actions. This is important
when considering the context of the Allied
Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) operating
in austere, climatically challenging
and high-pressure environments. In
contrast to Endsley’s peer reviewed and
evidence-based definition and model,
the author posits that our NATO (and
UK) definition is not underpinned by
sufficient research, fails to articulate
how SA contributes to decision making
or how information processing systems
(cognitive and automated) support both
these constructs. 18 Using Endsley’s
model as a framework would enable us
to identify points where SA can break
down, from which we can derive solutions
to deal with the cause(s) through training
or system design. 19
Team and Shared SA
Team SA is more complex than the sum
of individuals’ SA within a team, yet it is
the author’s experience that ‘SA’ is used
ubiquitously to mean all things. 20 Just as
we are concise in our use of task verbs,
we must be concise in the use of SA.
Endsley extends her thinking to include
Team SA, which she defines as “the
degree to which every team member
possesses the SA required for his or her
responsibilities.” 21 Endsley emphasises
that SA is a cognitive construct, which
individuals within a team possess. It
follows, then, that team SA cannot be
replicated or presented on a local or
common operating picture (LOP/COP).
These displays are limited to providing
data, which informs the cognitive process
of situation assessment.
Endsley and Jones define Shared SA
(SSA) as “the degree to which team
members have the same SA on shared
SA requirements.” 22 They contend that
in pursuit of SSA the goal must not be
achieving the same SA amongst each
member, or wholesale information
sharing, but a shared understanding of
the subset of information necessary for
each individuals’ task(s) within the team.
In the context of the headquarters, can
we claim that the ARRC’s information
management (IM) achieves this?
Decision Making
Durso and Grunland reviewed research
on decision-making and concluded an
appropriate course of action is usually
chosen without deliberate or lengthy
consideration as a consequence of
the situation assessment, termed
‘recognition primed decisions’. 23 These
decisions are only made when the
current situation has similarities to
past experiences. Endsley and Jones
describe how mental models support this
notion, as schema and scripts together
18 The UK defines SA the “understanding of the operational environment in the context of a commanders (or staff officers) mission (or task),” JDP 01.1.1.
19 Wickens 2008 p.398.
20 Salas et al 1995 p.125, Endsley 1995 p.39, Endsley & Jones 2012 p.195, Salmon et al 2009 p.21.
21 Endsley 1995 p.39, Endsley & Jones 2012 p.195.
22 Endsley & Jones 2012 p.196.
23 Applied Cognition 1999 p.300.
ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
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