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Complex Decision Research Group

School of
Psychological Science
La Trobe University
Bundoora, VIC, 3086
Australia

Tel +61 3 9479 3704


School of Psychological Science

Complex Decision Research Group
Current Projects - Networked Fire Chief Projects

Over a number of years the group has conducted many investigations involving both Networked Fire Chief and the Headcam system. We have decided to only mention either the most current or the potentially most interesting projects to readers on this page.

Networked Fire Chief Projects Headcam Projects

Networked Fire Chief Projects
  

Effect of level of detail of information on situation awareness, workload, and
performance in a group resource management task

There is a large amount of evidence in cognitive psychology which suggests that human working memory capacity is severly limited and hence easily overloaded. There is also considerable evidence that humans are often unaware of the extent to which their working memory capacity is being overloaded.

Under a research agreement made with Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) we investigated the decision-making performance of joint command teams of three people (e.g. Army, Navy, Air-Force), by measuring team performance, level of individual situation awareness and level of individual mental workload under two types of information representation of a complex decision task. The two different information representation conditions were;

  
 
  • Appliance commanders can see all commander’s appliances on their screen
  • Appliance commanders could only see appliances under their direct control
 

The results of the study are currently being analysed.

Conflict Resolution and Decision Performance with Inter-Agency Command Teams

This investigation is being carried out by Thalia Stambas who is completing her doctorate in Organisational Psychology at the University of Melbourne.

When Inter-Agency Commanders are required to cooperate in order to achieve a common outcome, yet have competing priorities including potentially scant resources, conflict is bound to occur.

The aim of the investigation is to create a complex decision task using NFC that requires teams of three participants to coordinate resources in order to achieve a positive outcome, while also ensuring they maximise their own personal performance.

The amount of conflict that occurs amongst team members will be measured, as well as conflict resolution styles and how these impact upon team performance.		  


Visual Attention, Situation Awareness and Dynamic Decision Making

This series of investigations is centred on using a video based eye tracker (DBA Systems PC Tracker 2). The first is being done in collaboration with Zoë Lane, a 4th Post-graduate Diploma student in Psychology at La Trobe, and the second with Mr Murray Lawson, a PhD student in Psychology also at La Trobe.

Zoë will be looking at the role that inattentional blindness may play in dynamic decision making by tracking eye movements during NFC scenarios. The project with Murray examines the role that switching visual attention between global and local modes has on a complex visually based decision making task. These two projects should reveal important pathologies in the development of good situation awareness.

Possible directions of future research may include examining measures of structure and complexity of eye movements and their relationships to dynamic decision making performance and examining more closely the role of visual attention in the development of situation awareness. 		 


Content Approved by: Head of School
Page developed by: Glenn Elliott
Page maintained by: Matthew Walshe
Last Updated: 26 August, 2003


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