The development of the Schema World Action Research Method (SWARM) for the elicitation of perceptual cycle data

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Perceptual Cycle Model (PCM) has been widely applied to understanding processes such as decision-making and situation awareness as it provides a distributed approach, acknowledging the role of both internally held mental schemata and external environmental information in shaping these processes. There are, however, no associated methods with this model and therefore researchers have had to be creative with other methods in order to infer perceptual cycle processing. This paper presents the Schema-World-Action Research Method (SWARM) in which cognitive prompts for eliciting perceptual cycle information have been developed, initially for the aviation domain. Application of the method is exemplified through a case study of an aviation critical incident. The results demonstrate high theoretical validity with the PCM and a test–retest reliability assessment demonstrated high reliability when the method was applied on two separate occasions. Future research endeavours are acknowledged in which the method is expanded across domains.