Modeling the Complex Dynamics of Teamwork from Team Cognition to Neurophysiology

Abstract

Teamwork is a complex dynamic process that emerges from team member interaction. The dynamics provide a characterization of the team over time. The stability, flexibility, and resilience of team dynamics over various windows of time can change with experience, training, environmental perturbations, and technological intervention. Once patterns of team dynamics have been established for a particular team, anomalous dynamics can signify impending teamwork problems. Dynamical systems modeling has been applied to many physical and natural systems and has only recently been applied to teamwork. The panel that we have assembled has applied dynamical modeling to this problem from different perspectives and at different scales. Each panelist will overview his or her approach to this problem. We will then discuss pros and cons of each approach and possibilities for using them in a complementary fashion.