The Effect of Team Training Strategies on Team Mental Model Formation and Team Performance Under Routine and Non-Routine Environmental Conditions

Open Access
- Author:
- Hamilton, Katherine
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- July 27, 2009
- Committee Members:
- Susan Mohammed, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Susan Mohammed, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Barbara Louise Gray, Committee Member
James Lewis Farr, Committee Member
Rick R Jacobs, Committee Member
Michael Mc Neese, Committee Member - Keywords:
- training
team mental model
team cognition
shared cognition
simulated task environment - Abstract:
- The current study examined how the type of training a team receives (team coordination training vs. cross-training) influences the type of team mental model structures that form and how those mental models in turn impact team performance under different environmental condition (routine vs. non-routine). Three-hundred and fifty-two undergraduate students from a large northeastern university participated in the current study (176 dyads). Data were collected through the NeoCITIES simulation, which is a simulated task environment of an emergency management team. Team training was manipulated across subjects while environmental condition was manipulated within subjects. Findings indicated that training type had no main effect on team mental models but did have a significant impact on performance. Specifically, dyads exposed to cross-training had higher levels of performance than those that received team coordination training. In addition, team mental models had a significant main effect on performance, such that the increased accuracy and sharedness of situation mental models, the increased sharedness of teamwork mental models, and the increased accuracy of taskwork mental models resulted in higher levels of performance. Surprisingly, the increased sharedness of taskwork mental models was also found to decrease performance. Finally, contrary to previous findings, the effect of team mental models on team performance was not moderated by environmental condition. The results from ancillary analyses evaluating the relationship between team training and performance and team mental models and performance are discussed, along with the limitations and implications of these findings.