Skip to main content

Linking Team Neurodynamic Organizations with Observational Ratings of Team Performance

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment ((MEMA))

Abstract

We have investigated the correlations between the levels of team resilience as determined by expert raters and the degree of the teams’ neurodynamic organization determined by electroencephalography (EEG). Neurophysiologic models were created from submarine navigation teams that captured their dynamic responses to changing task environments during required simulation training. The teams were simultaneously rated for resilience by two expert observers using a team process rubric developed and adopted by the U.S. Navy. Symbolic neurodynamic representations of the power levels in the 1–40 Hz EEG frequency bands were created each second from each crew member. These symbols captured the EEG power of each team member in the context of the other team members and also in the context of the task. Quantitative estimates of the changes in the symbol distributions over time were constructed by a moving window of Shannon entropy. Periods of decreased entropy were observed when the distribution of symbols in this window became smaller, for example, when there were prolonged and restricted relationships between the EEG power levels among the crew members, that is, less neurodynamic flexibility. Team resilience was correlated with the neurodynamic entropy levels. The correlation sign, however, depended on the training segment with negative correlations during the presimulation briefing and positive correlations in the scenario training segment. These studies indicate that neurodynamic representations of teams can be generated that bridge the microscales of EEG measurement with macroscales of behavioral ratings. From a training perspective, the results suggest that neurodynamic rigidity (i.e., everybody on the same page) might be beneficial while teams are preparing for the simulation, but during the scenario, increased neurodynamic flexibility contributes more to team resilience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anders, S., Heinzle, J., Weiskopf, N., Ethofer, T., & Haynes, J. (2011). Flow of affective information between communicating brains. Neuroimage, 54, 439–446.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, D. P., Amodeo, A. M., Krokos, K. J., Slonim, A., & Herrera, H. (2009). Assessing teamwork attitudes in healthcare: Development of the TeamSTEPPS® teamwork attitudes questionnaire. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 19, e49. doi:10.1136/qshc.2009.036129

  • Battaglia, F. P., Sutherland, G. R., & McNaughton, B. L. (2004). Local sensory cues and place cell directionality: Additional evidence of prospective coding in the hippocampus. Journal of Neuroscience, 24, 4541–4550.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonnefond, M. & Jensen, O. (2015). Gamma activity coupled to alpha phase as a mechanism for top-down controlled gating. PLOS One, 10(6), e0128667. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0128667

  • Buzaki, G. (2006). Rhythms of the brain. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Caetano, G., Jousmaki, V., & Hari, R. (2007). Actor’s and observer’s primary motor cortices stabilize similarly after seen or heard motor actions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, 9058–9062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, N. J., Gorman, J. C., & Kiekel, P. (2008). Communication as team-level cognitive processing. In M. P. Letsky, N. W. Warner, S. M. Fiore, & C. A. P. Smith (Eds.), Macrocognition in teams (pp. 51–64). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dmochowski, J. P., Sajda, P., Dias, J., & Parra, L. (2012). Correlated components of ongoing EEG point to emotionally laden attention—A possible marker of engagement? Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 6, Article 112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fishel, S. R., Muth, E. R., & Hoover, A. W. (2007). Establishing appropriate physiological baseline procedures for real-time physiological measurement. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 1, 286–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flack, J. C. (2012). Multiple time-scales and the developmental dynamics of social systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 367, 1802–1810. doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0214

  • Gorman, J., Martin, M., Dunbar, T., Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T. L., Amazeen, P., et al. (2015). Cross-level effects between neurophysiology and communication during team training. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 58, 181–199. doi:10.1177/0018720815602575

  • Harmony, T. (2013). The functional significance of delta oscillations in cognitive processing. Frontiers in Integrative Neurosciences, 7, Article 83. doi:10.3389/fnint.2013.00083

  • Hasson, U., Nir, Y., Levy, I., Fuhrmann, G., & Malach, R. (2004). Inter-subject synchronization of cortical activity during natural vision. Science, 303, 1634–1640.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klimesch, W., Sauseng, P., & Hanslmayr, S. (2007). EEG alpha oscillations: The inhibition-timing hypothesis. Brain Research Reviews, 53, 63–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levendowski, D. J., Berka, C., Olmstead, R. E., Konstantinovic, Z. R., Davis, G., Lumicao, M. N., et al. (2001). Electroencephalographic indices predict future vulnerability to fatigue induced by sleep deprivation. Sleep, 24(Abstract Suppl.), A243–A244.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lisman, J. E., & Jensen, O. (2013). The theta-gamma code. Neuron, 77, 1002–1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menoret, M., Varnet, L., Fargier, R., Cheylus, A., Curie, A., desPortes, V., et al. (2014). Neural correlates of non-verbal social interactions: A dual-EEG study. Neurophyschologia, 55, 85–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nummenmaa, L., Gleran, E., Viinikainen, M., Jaaskelainen, P., Hari, R., & Sams, M. (2012). Emotions promote social interaction by synchronizing brain activity across individuals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109, 9599–9604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oberman, L. M., Pineda, J. A., & Ramachandran, V. S. (2007). The human mirror neuron system: A link between action observation and social skills. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2, 62–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Keefe, J., & Dostrovsky, J. (1971). The hippocampus as a spatial map: Preliminary evidence from unit activity in the freely-moving rat. Brain Research, 13, 171–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Onton, J., Westerfield, M., Townsend, J., & Makeig, S. (2006). Imaging human EEG dynamics using independent component analysis. Neuroscience and Behavioral Reviews, 30, 808–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palva, S., & Palva, J. M. (2007). New vistas for α-frequency band oscillations. Trends in Neuroscience, 4, 150–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pineda, J. A. (2008). Sensorimotor cortex as a critical component of an “extended” mirror neuron system: Does it solve the development, correspondence, and control problems in mirroring? Behavioral and Brain Functions, 4, 47–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rankin, A., Lunderg, J., Woltjer, R., Rollenhagen, C., & Hollnagel, E. (2014). Resilience in everyday operations: A framework for analyzing adaptations in high-risk work. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 8(1), 78–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rizzolatti, G., Fogassi, L., & Gallese, V. (2001). Neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the understanding and imitation of action. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9, 661–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roux, F., & Uhlhaas, P. (2014). Working memory and neural oscillations: Alpha-gamma versus theta-gamma codes for distinct WM information? Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18, 16–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schippers, M., Roebroeck, A., Renken, R., Nanetti, L., & Keysers, C. (2010). Mapping the information flows from one brain to another during gestural communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 9388–9393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, C. E. (1951). Prediction and entropy of printed English. Bell System Technical Journal, 30, 50–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shockley, K., Santana, M.-V., & Fowler, C. A. (2003). Mutual interpersonal postural constraints are involved in cooperative conversation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 29, 326–332.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephens, G., Silbert, L., & Hasson, U. (2010). Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107, 14425–14430. doi:10.1073/pnas.1008662107

  • Stevens, R. H., & Galloway, T. (2014). Toward a quantitative description of the neurodynamic organizations of teams. Social Neuroscience, 9, 160–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, R. H. & Galloway, T. (2015). Modeling the neurodynamic organizations and interactions of teams. Social Neuroscience, 11, 123–139. doi:10.1080/17470919.2015.1056883

  • Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T., Wang, P., & Berka, C. (2011). Cognitive neurophysiologic synchronies: What can they contribute to the study of teamwork? Human Factors, 54, 489–502. doi:10.1177/0018720811427296

  • Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T., Wang, P., Berka, C., Tan, V., Wohlgemuth, T., et al. (2012). Modeling the neurodynamic complexity of submarine navigation teams. Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, 19, 346–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, R. H., Gorman, J. C., Amazeen, P., Likens, A., & Galloway, T. (2013). The organizational dynamics of teams. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, 17(1), 67–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T.L., Gorman, J., Willemsen-Dunlap, A., Halpin, D. (2016). Toward objective measures of team dynamics during healthcare simulation training. Presentation #89, International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics and Health Care, San Diego, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tognoli, E. & Kelso, J. A. (2013). The coordination dynamics of social neuromarkers. Retrieved from arXiv database (Preprint No. 1310.7275).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tognoli, E., Lagarde, J., De Guzman, G. C., & Kelso, J. A. S. (2007). The phi-complex as a neuromarker of human social coordination. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 104, 8190–8195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Y., Hong, B., Gao, X., & Gao, S. (2007). Design of electrode layout for motor imagery based brain-computer interface. Electronics Letters, 43, 557–558.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woods, D. & Hollnagel, E. (2006). Resilience engineering concepts. In E. Hollnagel, D. D. Woods & N. Leveson (Eds.), Resilience engineering: Concepts and precepts (pp. 1–6). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency under contract number(s) W31P4Q12C0166, and NSF SBIR grants IIP 0822020 and IIP 1215327. The views, opinions, and/or findings contained are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official views or policies, either expressed or implied, of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or the Department of Defense. This work was supported by work unit number F1214. JL is an employee of the U.S. Government. This work was prepared as part of my official duties. Title 17 U.S.C. 105 provides that ‘copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government.’ Title 17 U.S.C. 101 defines U.S. Government work as work prepared by a military service member or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties. The study protocol was approved by the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory Institutional Review Board in compliance with all applicable Federal regulations governing the protection of human subjects.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Trysha Galloway .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Stevens, R., Galloway, T., Lamb, J., Steed, R., Lamb, C. (2017). Linking Team Neurodynamic Organizations with Observational Ratings of Team Performance. In: von Davier, A., Zhu, M., Kyllonen, P. (eds) Innovative Assessment of Collaboration. Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33261-1_20

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33261-1_20

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33259-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33261-1

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics