From the Mind to the Feet: Assessing the Perception-to-Intent-to-Action Dynamic

Abstract

Abstract : From the Mind to the Feet: Assessing the Perception-to-Intent-to-Action Dynamic is an interagency, multidisciplinary collection of 12 essays addressing operational and academic perspectives on the elusive concept of an adversary's -- its indicators and relation to behavior. It is primarily intended for the operational and policy community in the Department of Defense, the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, and other US government agencies. The authors are from the intelligence community, the military services, US government agencies, federally funded research and development centers, academia, and the private sector. The essays in this volume address the following set of critical questions: * What do we mean by intent? * How can intent be measured? * What is the relationship of intent to behavior? These essays highlight three key observations: * Despite near-universal agreement among academics, analysts, and operators that intent is essential, there exists no coherent body of research designed to address intent. * Measuring intent requires multidisciplinary approaches involving psychology, neuroscience, decision theory, anthropology, and other social science disciplines, such as political science and sociology, that can establish the social context in which intentions form. * There is a need for continued basic research to address the origin of intent and its relation to behavior and to develop complex models that capture how humans form intent and that can be used to analyze the masses of data required to gauge the intentions of individuals and groups.