Team Mental Models Research Articles

Human-AI Collaboration in Cooperative Games: A Study of Playing Codenames with an LLM Assistant

Playing partial information, restricted communication, cooperative (PIRCC) games with humans have proven challenging for AI, due to our reliance on social dynamics and sophisticated cognitive techniques. Yet, recent advances in generative AI may change this situation through new forms of human-AI collaboration. This paper investigates how teams of players interact with an AI assistant in the PIRCC game Codenames and the impact this has on cognition, social dynamics, and player experience. We observed gameplay and conducted post-game focus groups with 54 participants across ten groups. Each group played three rounds of Codenames, with an AI assistant supporting Cluegivers. We found the AI assistant enhanced players' convergent and divergent thinking, but interfered with formation of team mental models, highlighting a tension in the use of AI in creative team scenarios. The presence of the AI challenged many players' understanding of the 'spirit of the game'. Furthermore, the presence of the AI assistants weakened social connections between human teammates, but strengthened connections across teams. This paper provides an empirical account of an AI assistant's effect on cognition, social dynamics, and player experience in Codenames. We highlight the opportunities and challenges that arise when designing hybrid digital boardgames that include AI assistants.

How Paradoxical Leader Behavior Benefits Team Performance: The Role of Team Mental Models

How Paradoxical Leader Behavior Benefits Team Performance: The Role of Team Mental Models

Predictive Algorithm for Team Mental Model Convergence

Is everyone on your team on the same page about the task? This is a question team leaders want to know. Herein, we take an approach that can help managers move the team in the right direction of team mental models (TMMs), individually held cognitive representations of task components that when similar and/or accurate can promote task success. We begin by defining the new concept of mental model shifts (MMSs) as the directional shift in each team member’s mental model, leading to an increase or decrease in convergence toward a shared or quality referent mental model. Next, we propose an algorithm that applies the concepts of Markov chains and vector geometry on communication patterns to predict future patterns and TMM convergence (i.e., sharedness and quality) levels. We base the model on a dataset of teams conducting the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) human exploration research analog (HERA) missions from which we draw communication attributes of MMS, process topic, and message purpose. We show that tasks can be modeled as vectors using the frequency of attribute patterns. Our initial experiments show that an accuracy of up to 86.21% can be achieved in predicting future communication patterns with data from real-world tasks. Furthermore, we validate the estimation of TMM sharedness, showing that the model results are comparable to sharedness ratings provided by subject matter experts with an average accuracy of 71.29%. Research and practical implications are discussed.

Team FIRST framework: Identifying core teamwork competencies critical to interprofessional healthcare curricula.

Interprofessional healthcare team function is critical to the effective delivery of patient care. Team members must possess teamwork competencies, as team function impacts patient, staff, team, and healthcare organizational outcomes. There is evidence that team training is beneficial; however, consensus on the optimal training content, methods, and evaluation is lacking. This manuscript will focus on training content. Team science and training research indicates that an effective team training program must be founded upon teamwork competencies. The Team FIRST framework asserts there are 10 teamwork competencies essential for healthcare providers: recognizing criticality of teamwork, creating a psychologically safe environment, structured communication, closed-loop communication, asking clarifying questions, sharing unique information, optimizing team mental models, mutual trust, mutual performance monitoring, and reflection/debriefing. The Team FIRST framework was conceptualized to instill these evidence-based teamwork competencies in healthcare professionals to improve interprofessional collaboration. This framework is founded in validated team science research and serves future efforts to develop and pilot educational strategies that educate healthcare workers on these competencies.

메타버스를 활용한 팀 활동에서 팀 신뢰에 영향을 미치는 요인들의 경로분석

The purpose of this study is to verify the mediating effect of team efficacy in the process of team cohesion, team shared mental model, and team communication affecting team trust in team activities using the metaverse, Gather Town. For this purpose, team trust, team cohesion, team shared mental model, team communication, and team efficacy were tested on 31 college students and graduate students of education taking courses in educational methods and educational technology at P University. Team cohesion, team shared mental model, team communication were set as independent variables, team efficacy was set as mediating variables, and team trust was set as dependent variables. As a result of the study, first, team trust, team cohesion, team shared mental model, and team communication were all found to have a statistically significant correlation. Second, it was found that team cohesion and team shared mental model had an indirect effect on team trust through team efficacy. In other words, it was revealed that team efficacy had a mediating effect on the relationship between team cohesion and the shared team mental model. On the other hand, team communication did not appear to affect team efficacy and team trust. Accordingly, it was found that team cohesiveness, team shared mental model, and team efficacy are important variables for increasing team trust in team activities using Gather Town.

On the same page? A qualitative study of shared mental models in an interprofessional, inter-organizational team implementing goal-oriented care

ABSTRACT Goal-oriented care is an approach to care delivery that uses patient-identified goals to drive care planning. Implementing goal-oriented care requires team members to cognitively shift the focus from “what is the matter” to “what matters to patients,” and align their mental models of what it means to care for patients. Yet, no empirical studies of goal-oriented care apply evidence from the cognitive sciences, such as Shared Mental Model (SMM) theory. We conducted a qualitative case study of an interprofessional team that adopted goal-oriented care in Vermont, US (n = 18). Guided by SMM theory, we distinguished between task-related and team-related mental models. We used framework analysis and qualitative content analysis to determine mental model content and similarity. The most shared content areas were operationalizing goal-oriented care, engaging in formal and informal communication, taking a “whole-person” approach, taking a team approach, and building trusting relationships with patients and with other team members. Trust was the only construct that spanned both task and team mental model categories, highlighting the importance of both intra-team trust and provider-patient trust to the implementation of goal-oriented care. Team members developed SMMs through training, regular meetings, and interactions during care delivery. This study provides insight into the cognitive mechanisms that underlie team-based goal-oriented care delivery, which can be used to inform implementation, training content, and future research.

I See You: Examining the Role of Spatial Information in Human-Agent Teams

Awareness, and specifically, spatial awareness, has long played a pivotal role in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work research in both theory and design. This significant background gives awareness the ability to answer challenges facing human-agent teams in communication and shared understanding. As such, the current study investigates the effects of spatial information level (low, high) on the development of team cognition and its outcomes in varying compositions of human-agent teams (human-human-agent, human-agent-agent) versus human-only (human-human-human) teams. The mixed-methods study had teams complete several rounds of the NeoCITIES emergency response management simulation and complete various team cognition and perception measures, followed by qualitative free-response questions. The study found that human-only teams did not perform at the same level as human-agent teams, with multi-agent human-agent teams having the best performance. A significant interaction, though with inconclusive simple main effects, displayed the trend that human-agent teams had better team mental model similarity when spatial awareness was high rather than low, while human-only teams experienced the reverse trend. Qualitative findings identified that high spatial awareness jump-started team cognition development, fostered more accurate shared mental models, enhanced the explainability of the agent, and helped the iterative development of team cognition over time.

Analysis of the factors influencing teamwork among oncology nurses based on multigroup structural equation model.

BackgroundEffective teamwork among nurses could help reduce patient mortality and improve patient satisfaction. Previous studies have revealed factors influencing nursing teamwork, including internal factors, types of hospitals and departments, demographic factors of nurses, and scheduling. However, the factors influencing teamwork among oncology nurses have not yet been analyzed in domestic studies. This study investigated the status quo and influencing factors of teamwork among oncology nurses in order to inform strategies for improving clinical treatment effect and survival time of cancer patients.MethodsNurses from the oncology department were recruited through convenience sampling. The survey tools included a general information questionnaire, professional identity scale, missed nursing care scale, and nursing teamwork scale. SPSS 25.0 and Amos 24.0 were used to verify the reliability and validity of each scale and to modify them. A structural equation model was constructed to analyze the model fit and each path coefficient. The structural equation model was used to analyze the factors influencing nursing teamwork in the oncology department, and a multigroup structural equation model was used to analyze whether the degree of nurses’ participation in enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) was a moderating variable of nursing teamwork.ResultsA total of 583 valid questionnaires were collected from participants, and the total score for nursing teamwork was 126.86±15.62. The comprehensive influence path coefficients of professional identity and missed nursing care on nursing teamwork were as follows: team leadership (0.454) > trust and support (0.407) > team mental model (0.348). The coefficients of structural path H4 (professional identity → trust and support), H5 (professional identity → team leadership), and H7 (missed nursing care → team mental model) in the 2 group structural equation models based on the degree of nurses’ participation in ERAS showed significant differences [Δχ2 =7.033, Degrees of freedom (DF)=4, P=0.000].ConclusionsThe professional identity of oncology nurses had a direct positive impact on team leadership, trust and support, team mental model, and missed nursing care. The degree of nursing staff’s participation in ERAS had a moderating effect on nursing teamwork.

Three-way Interaction of Team Faultline, Value Diversity, and Task Design on Team Effectiveness

In the current organizations, successful management of diversity at work has become the most important and challenging issue for managers. While scholars have deepened the understanding on the nature of diversity by proposing new concept such as faultline, previous studies on diversity and faultline have focused more on structural aspect of diversity, while neglecting the role of psychological aspect of diversity among team members. In addition, although team task design plays an important role in interactions among team members, the extent literature has not examined how team task design changes team processes under the different structural and psychological team compositions. To overcome the above limitations, this study constitutes an integrative model of team faultline, value diversity, and team task design on team process and on team effectiveness. Integrating the categorization-elaboration model and the false-consensus bias theory, we suggest that team faultline has positive effect on team effectiveness through team mental model only when both team value diversity and team task design are high. This paper intends to contribute to the literature of team diversity, team design, and team mental model.

Further development of crew resource management training : Needs assessment by means of teamwork-context analysis in anesthesia and intensive care teams.

BackgroundTeams in anesthesia and intensive care work as high responsibility teams (HRT). Success in this environment partly depends on the use of nontechnical skills which can be learned through simulation-based training. A teamwork context analysis could help to identify training requirements for crew resource management training.Material and methodsWe used a multicentric observational cross-sectional study design utilizing survey methodology to evaluate the teamwork context of different work environments, using the 62-item TAKAI inventory. We surveyed anesthesia and intensive care staff from nine hospitals in Germany which provide varying levels of care.ResultsIn total, 128 people (44.5% male, 53.9% female) from 9 German hospitals participated in the study. The topics “interconnectedness: departments”, “interconnectedness: information flow”, “dynamics”, “polytely”, “velocity of the team’s movement”, “velocity of system changes”, “hierarchy” and “hierarchy: leadership”, “shared task mental model”, “shared team mental model” and all aspects of the scale “adaptive behaviors” were identified as focal aspects to be implemented into Crew-Resource-Management (CRM) training for the evaluated work environments.ConclusionThe TAKAI scales meet quality criteria (Cronbach’s alpha > 0.6) and are appropriate for use in the analysis of the teamwork environment. The results indicate many similarities between the work contexts surveyed but also slight differences. TAKAI can be an additional method to design an appropriate simulation training program for HRT in anesthesia and intensive care medicine as there does not seem to be a one-size-fits-all simulation concept. For a special focus on the needs of a work context, the easy to perform TAKAI analysis in the needs analysis step is worthwhile.Supplementary InformationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00101-022-01170-3) contains further illustrations, the questionnaires and a table of the demographic data of the participants.

Mutual Understanding in Human-Machine Teaming

Collaborative robots (i.e., "cobots") and machine learning-based virtual agents are increasingly entering the human workspace with the aim of increasing productivity, enhancing safety, and improving the quality of our lives. These agents will dynamically interact with a wide variety of people in dynamic and novel contexts, increasing the prevalence of human-machine teams in healthcare, manufacturing, and search-and-rescue. In this research, we enhance the mutual understanding within a human-machine team by enabling cobots to understand heterogeneous teammates via person-specific embeddings, identifying contexts in which xAI methods can help improve team mental model alignment, and enabling cobots to effectively communicate information that supports high-performance human-machine teaming.

Measurement and performance impact of team mental models on process performance

Efficient business process execution is an essential part of an organisation’s success. It depends on good dynamic decision making of process actors that is guided by their mental models of business processes (MMBP). The study investigates the effect of MMBPs on process performance at two levels. At the level of individuals, the impact of MMBP accuracy on performance is analyzed, and at the level of a team, the effect of similarity of MMBPs of all team on performance is researched. At both levels, MMBPs are differentiated in a narrow part that focuses on the mental representations of process steps that precede or follow on the one conducted by the actor and a holistic model that captures the process as a whole. We use laboratory observations with 159 participants in 10 teams from a real effort loan processing role play. We obtain individual MMBP accuracy measures by using a process knowledge test and measure the process performance of teams with the outcome of the role play. Our study contributes in three ways to existing research. First, the measurement approach of individual MMBP accuracy and similarity is extended to the level of teams. Second, the study shows that the accuracy of both narrow and holistic MMBPs as well as similarity of holistic MMBPs positively impact team process performance. Third, by using an observable team process performance measures from a real-effort task, we increase the validity of our findings compared to other research relying on self-assessed performance measures.

Chat for Teamwork Discussion

Chat communication play an increasingly important role within the workplace. Messages can be focused on both work tasks and relationships among colleagues, providing support for teams. The present study aims to identify key elements of the chat communication, through a content analysis of written utterances from teams of engineering and psychology undergraduate students engaged in the development of an application software. Our results show that chat allows teammates to share a common structure of knowledge about task, equipment, roles and relationships (i.e., team mental models). Moreover, both the quantity of interactions and the type of information exchanged show an association with the quality of the task performed. Actually the results of this study emphasize the advantages of the effective use of digital technologies. Implication and future research are discussed.

Status Competition and Implicit Coordination: Based on the Role of Knowledge Sharing and Psychological Safety

Implicit coordination is an important research topic in the field of social cognition. Previous studies have studied implicit coordination behavior from the perspective of team mental model but ignored the internal mechanism of individual status competition motivation on implicit coordination behavior. Based on the differences of status competition motivation, the individual status competition motivation is divided into prestige-type and dominant-type. With knowledge sharing as the mediating variable and psychological safety as the moderating variable, this research constructed a process model of the influence of status competition motivation on implicit coordination behavior. The empirical study was carried out with a sample of 367 employees of 44 enterprises. The research results show the following findings: (1) Status competition has a differentiated impact on implicit coordination. Prestige-type status competition has a significant positive impact on implicit coordination behavior, while dominant-type status competition has a significant negative impact on implicit coordination behavior. (2) Knowledge sharing plays a mediating role between status competition (prestige-type status competition and dominant-type status competition) and implicit coordination. (3) Psychological safety positively moderates the relationship between prestige-type status competition, dominant-type status competition, and knowledge sharing. The research results provide a new perspective for the field of implicit coordination; reveal the mechanism of status competition motivation in implicit coordination, which is of great significance to the practice of enterprise team management and human resource management.

Development and initial validation of the Team Mental Models Instrument (TMMI): A psychometric tool to measure shared and complementary mental models in sports

ObjectivesTo develop and validate a new psychometric tool to measure Shared Mental Models (SMM) and Complementary Mental Models (CMM) in sport settings, namely the Team Mental Models Instrument (TMMI). MethodsData from 627 college athletes competing in the European Universities Games 2018 was randomly organized into two sub-samples. Data from Sub-Sample 1 (n = 320) was used to conduct a hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (H-CFA) to examine the construct validity of the TMMI. Sub-Sample 2 (n = 307) was used to examine the discriminant, convergent, and nomological validity of the TMMI, with respect to social and task cohesion and team performance. ResultsA preliminary TMMI with 60 items, 30 items each for the SMM and CMM sub-dimensions, was subjected to H-CFA based on data from Sub-Sample 1. Results of this analysis confirmed the construct validity of an 11-item TMMI, with the two hypothesized reflective indicators, SMM (four items) and CMM (seven items). Correlational and structural equation modelling analysis was used to analyze data from Sub-Sample 2, with the results confirming the discriminant, convergent, and nomological validity of the TMMI. ConclusionOur analysis supports the theorization that the concept of Team Mental Models is underpinned by two dimensions, namely SMM and CMM. This instrument can be used as an applied tool to inform interventions aimed at developing team dynamics in general, and team cognition in particular. Scholars can use the TMMI to study the linkage between TMM and other key team processes.

Training and education to advance multicultural mental health-care delivery (the “TEAM mental health-care delivery model”): A pilot evaluation of outcomes, acceptability, and feasibility.

Training and education to advance multicultural mental health-care delivery (the “TEAM mental health-care delivery model”): A pilot evaluation of outcomes, acceptability, and feasibility.

Let's Think Together! Assessing Shared Mental Models, Performance, and Trust in Human-Agent Teams

An emerging research agenda in Computer-Supported Cooperative Work focuses on human-agent teaming and AI agent's roles and effects in modern teamwork. In particular, one understudied key question centers around the construct of team cognition within human-agent teams. This study explores the unique nature of team dynamics in human-agent teams compared to human-human teams and the impact of team composition on perceived team cognition, team performance, and trust. In doing so, a mixed-method approach, including three team composition conditions (all human, human-human-agent, human-agent-agent), completed the team simulation NeoCITIES and completed shared mental model, trust, and perception measures. Results found that human-agent teams are similar to human-only teams in the iterative development of team cognition and the importance of communication to accelerating its development; however, human-agent teams are different in that action-related communication and explicitly shared goals are beneficial to developing team cognition. Additionally, human-agent teams trusted agent teammates less when working with only agents and no other humans, perceived less team cognition with agent teammates than human ones, and had significantly inconsistent levels of team mental model similarity when compared to human-only teams. This study contributes to Computer-Supported Cooperative Work in three significant ways: 1) advancing the existing research on human-agent teaming by shedding light on the relationship between humans and agents operating in collaborative environments, 2) characterizing team cognition development in human-agent teams; and 3) advancing real-world design recommendations that promote human-centered teaming agents and better integrate the two.

Leading teams over time through space: Computational experiments on leadership network archetypes

A key function of team leadership is building and sustaining shared mental models. Topological approaches to leadership identify structural patterns, such as decentralized and shared leadership that empower members to collectively lead themselves toward important goals, but an open question is the particular form of leadership that best promotes team mental models. We explored 8 leadership archetypes using a computational model fit on data from a unique sample of NASA analog space crews. Data from 4, 4-member crews living and working together for 45-days were used to parameterize the model which then accurately predicted mental models for the next set of 4-member crews. The validated model was used to conduct virtual experiments exploring the effects of leadership structures on mental models. We found shared leadership has the largest effect on shared mental models, followed by hierarchical and coordinated leadership. These findings extend shared leadership theory leveraging computational methods to examine leadership archetypes and suggest propositions about how they shape team functioning over time.

Understanding the properties and processes of a creative teacher team

Creativity is never the result of one individual's action and mind alone; the social and cultural contexts in which he or she works are also critical elements. For teachers, teams that comprise a group of instructors working cooperatively play important roles in stimulating creativity. However, information on the entry and process levels of generating creativity in a teacher team is scarce. Drawing on data from video observations and interviews over eight months, six factors were identified, including high team diversity, adaptive team schedule, balanced team goal/complex team mental models, flexible leadership, limited team conflict, and positive team climate.

Factors influencing entrepreneurial team (ET) performance in education and childcare franchise: case of Malaysia

PurposeOver these recent years, increasing studies have found a higher propensity of firms founded by entrepreneurial teams (ETs) for continuous operation and high performance, compared to firms single-handedly created by an entrepreneur. In spite of the emerging significance of ETs, the number of related studies remains inadequately low, particularly within the context of franchise firms. Therefore, this study aims to explore the factors that influence the ETs’ performance in the Malaysian education and childcare franchise system using a qualitative approach.Design/methodology/approachQualitative Research Strategy has been adopted and 27 ET leaders participated in this study to get the holistic view of factors influencing the entrepreneurial team (ET) performance in education and childcare franchise in Malaysia.FindingsThe results highlight the factors (team leadership, team training, team diversity, team processes, team confidence and team mental models) influencing the entrepreneurial team (ET) performance in education and childcare franchise in Malaysia.Originality/valueThe present study may help to provide useful information to policy makers, which enable them to formulate the strategies franchise ETs performance in Malaysia. As this study provides insight of factors that have an impact on ET performance. A best practice model for education and childcare franchise ETs’ performance is designed.