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A Theoretically Based Approach to Cognitive Readiness and Situation Awareness Assessment

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Teaching and Measuring Cognitive Readiness

Abstract

Determining if military or civilian personnel are cognitively ready to perform their jobs poses a considerable challenge to the research community both in terms of understanding what is meant by being cognitively ready and in terms of developing methods to actually assess it. Accordingly, as part of a government-sponsored research program, we set out to gain a better understanding of what is meant by being “cognitively ready” for military medical combat teams as well as develop a tool for assessing 12 essential factors underlying cognitive readiness. In this chapter, we present the theoretical foundation that guided our research project, highlighting the multidimensional nature of the cognitive readiness construct and focusing more specifically on one important element of cognitive readiness, namely situation awareness. We then describe our approach to assessing cognitive readiness as well as offer recommendations for how to incorporate measures of situation awareness into cognitive readiness assessment. We conclude with implications for future research and development.

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Acknowledgements

Work on the research reported in this chapter was partially supported by a Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovative Research Contract (W81XWH-04-C-0014) awarded to the first author from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). The views and conclusions contained herein, however, are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the OSD, U.S. Army, Department of Defense, U.S. Government, or the organizations with which the authors are affiliated. We wish to express special thanks to Anthony M. Costello, Bettina Babbitt, Clarence Semple, and Richard Vestewig for their vital contributions to this project. Portions of this chapter were presented at: the International Ergonomics Association 16th World Congress on Ergonomics, Maastricht, The Netherlands; the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 52nd Annual Meeting, New York, NY; and the 2009 Teaching and Measuring Cognitive Readiness Workshop, Los Angeles, CA, which was partially supported by a grant from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), Award Number N000140810126; however, the findings and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of the ONR.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SA Technologies, Inc., 76 Lillian Court, Forest Hill, MD, 21050, USA

    Cheryl A. Bolstad Ph.D.

  2. SA Technologies, Inc., 8787 East Lost Gold Circle, Gold Canyon, AZ, 85118, USA

    Mica R. Endsley

  3. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 13863 Countryplace Drive, Orlando, FL, 32826, USA

    Haydee M. Cuevas

Authors
  1. Cheryl A. Bolstad Ph.D.
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  2. Mica R. Endsley
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  3. Haydee M. Cuevas
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Correspondence to Cheryl A. Bolstad Ph.D. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , National Center for Research on Evaluati, University of Southern California, Longbow Drive 15366, Los Angeles, 91403, California, USA

    Harold F. O'Neil

  2. Office of Naval Research, Inglewood Ct. 2431, Arlington, 22043, Virgin Islands, USA

    Ray S. Perez

  3. National Center for Research on Evaluati, Standards, and Student Testing, CRESST/UCLA, Charles E. Young Drive North 301, Los Angeles, 90095-1521, California, USA

    Eva L. Baker

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Bolstad, C.A., Endsley, M.R., Cuevas, H.M. (2014). A Theoretically Based Approach to Cognitive Readiness and Situation Awareness Assessment. In: O'Neil, H., Perez, R., Baker, E. (eds) Teaching and Measuring Cognitive Readiness. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7579-8_9

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