The CERTT-UAV task: a synthetic task environment to facilitate team research

摘要

The CERTT Lab is a flexible facility for supporting research on team performance and cognition through synthetic task environment methodology. A synthetic task environment is an abstraction of an actual task for research purposes. This paper describes a synthetic task for teams based on ground operations of an uninhabited air vehicle. In the design of the synthetic task, research objectives, a cognitive task analysis of USAF Predator ground operations, and various pragmatic issues, served to constrain the design. The result is a synthetic task that is faithful to the cognitive and team requirements of the field of practice, as well as the objective of measuring team cognition. Three team members interact in this task to take reconnaissance photos of designated targets. The task and the CERTT Lab were designed to be flexible enough to allow for multiple scenarios, experimental control and evaluation, and behavioral and cognitive measurement.