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When people work together in teams, they ideally have a common understanding, a shared mental model regarding various aspects of teamwork. This common understanding refers not only to task-related aspects of teamwork but also to the elemental social rules and norms that underlie social interactions among team members. Relational models theory proposes that social rules and norms can be seen as the implementation and combination of four elemental relational models that people use to coordinate their social interactions. Since each of these relational models encompasses a distinct moral motive, which determines expectations of fairness and appropriate behaviors in social interactions, we propose that the degree of sharedness of individuals' perceptions regarding the applicable relational models in teams (i.e., shared relational models) is positively related to various aspects of team viability, mediated by perceived justice and relationship conflict. In two field studies collecting data from N = 40 and N = 46 work teams in organizations, we found reproducible support for most of our hypotheses. Our studies' findings emphasize the importance of shared relational models among team members for justice perceptions, conflict and team viability in organizational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholars agree that institutions are critical for enabling and constraining entrepreneurial action, the mechanisms by which institutions shape individual entrepreneurs' actions remain underdeveloped. Whereas a prior work focuses on the direct and moderating effects of institutions on entrepreneurial action, we propose that institutions also indirectly influence entrepreneurial action through their influence on the mental models of actors. To that end, we theorize an underexplored role of institutions: shaping three socio-cognitive traits (SCT)—opportunity recognition, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and fear of failure—that influence entrepreneurial action. Using GEM data from 735,244 individuals in 86 countries, we test and find evidence that SCTs mediate the relationship between institutions and opportunity entrepreneurship. The social legitimacy of entrepreneurship exerts a weaker direct effect on opportunity entrepreneurship but a stronger indirect effect through the SCT channels relative to pro-market institutions. Our study thus provides more nuanced findings concerning the ways formal and informal institutions, as well as the direct and indirect effects of institutions, enable and constrain entrepreneurial action. Plain English Summary: Pro-market institutions and favorable societal attitudes do not only create beneficial market conditions for entrepreneurship; they also potentially shape the cognitive characteristics conducive to entrepreneurial action. In a sample of 735,244 individuals in 86 countries from 2002 to 2015, we find that formal and informal institutions increase the socio-cognitive traits that, in turn, increase the propensity for opportunity-motivated entrepreneurship. This reveals that the effects of institutions on individual engagement with entrepreneurship are both direct and indirect, suggesting the importance of policy and culture in shaping the cognitive foundations of the entrepreneurial process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the impact of the theoretical big five of teamwork model proposed by Salas et al. (2005), the present study aimed at investigating the model within an operational police simulation. One hundred and sixty-seven frontline police officers participated in the study. Based on path analyses, a reduced model excluding trust and leadership obtained a good fit with the data. The results provided some support for the model by confirming six out of 10 proposed direct effects and four out of seven indirect pathways. Shared mental models directly affected team adaptability, and backup behavior affects adaptability and team effectiveness. Team orientation affects mutual performance monitoring and backup behavior, and finally, reciprocal monitoring affects backup behavior. Monitoring influenced both team effectiveness and adaptability through backup behavior. Two paths from team orientation towards effectiveness were found. One flowing through monitoring and another through back-up behavior. Our study expands former knowledge of the big five theory by empirically testing the totality of the model and identifying important pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Important non-technical skills enable operating teams to establish shared mental models (SMMs). The importance of SMMs in regards to surgical performance and peri-operative outcomes remains to be investigated. The aim of this study was to explore whether shared mental models (SMMs) of team resources and the current situation, respectively, were predictive of technical skills, duration of surgery, and amount of intra-operative bleeding in video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Methods: A prospective multi-center observational study was conducted at four tertiary academic hospitals during VATS lobectomy procedures. Data included pre-operative and post-operative questionnaires answered by each of the six team members to measure the SMMs; thoracoscopic video recordings assessed using the previously validated VATS lobectomy Assessment Tool (VATSAT); surgery-related time stamps; and amount (volume) of intra-operative bleeding. Linear regression analyses were conducted to adjust for confounders. Results: Fifty-eight lobectomy procedures were included. Median (interquartile range) VATSAT score was 33.3 (scale 8–40) duration of surgery 101 min (88–123), and amount of intra-operative bleeding 100 ml (20–150). The mean (± SD) of teams' SMMs of the current situation was 20 (± 5). They were not predictive of the surgeons' technical skills, but every one point increase in SMM score significantly predicted a 1 min 52 s decrease in duration of surgery and an 11% decrease in amount of bleeding. The SMMs of team resources were not predictive of any outcomes. Conclusion: VATS teams' superior SMMs of the current situation related to significantly shorter duration of surgery and decreased intra-operative bleeding, indicating an effect on team performance and patient care. Trial registration: NCT02999113 at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) environments may at times become socio-emotionally tense and pose challenges that may have detrimental effects on mutual trust and shared mental models. Objective. This study aims to examine and classify general teamwork challenges in a novel but authentic CSCL setting (hackathon) to identify challenges that impede the development of key team coordination mechanisms (i.e., mutual trust and shared mental models). Methods. Multimodal data including responses to an adapted questionnaire (AIRE), post-competition interview data, and videos of team interaction were collected during an international hackathon event (N = 48, 71% male, M = 22 years age). Qualitative theory-driven coding and theme development were used to analyze the multimodal dataset (Greeno, 2006; Jarvenoja et al., 2013). Results. Our analyses revealed 16 general challenges that hamper teamwork in a hackathon. A model of team challenges was developed to categorize challenges into macro level themes including cognitive, motivational, emotional and behavioral challenges. We also identified which challenges hindered the development of mutual trust, and which challenges hindered the development of shared mental models. Conclusions. These findings provide important insights for educators and mentors in understanding the types of teamwork challenges that may occur in CSCL settings. The results also inform educators which challenges likely lead to mutual trust breakdown and weaken shared mental model bonds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In group decisions, achieving consensus is important, because it increases commitment to the result. For cooperative groups, Combinatorial Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis (CMAA) is a group decision framework that can achieve consensus efficiently. It is based on a novel Combinatorial Acceptability Entropy (CAE) consensus metric. As an output measure, the CAE metric is unique in its ability to identify the evaluations that have the greatest impact on consensus and to prevent premature consensus. This paper is intended to complement the original CMAA publication by providing additional insights into the CAE consensus metric. The design requirements for the CAE algorithm are presented, and it is shown how these requirements follow from the properties of cooperative decisions. The CAE-based consensus-building algorithm is contrasted both qualitatively and quantitatively with a representative example of the conventional input distance and input averaging approach to multi-criteria consensus-building. A simulation experiment illustrates the ability of the CAE-based algorithm to converge quickly to the correct decision as defined for cooperative decisions. The metric is able to meet a new, more stringent definition of hard consensus. The CAE approach highlights the need to distinguish between competitive and cooperative group decisions. Attention in the literature has been paid almost exclusively to the former type; the CAE approach demonstrates the greater efficiency and effectiveness that can be achieved with an approach that is designed specifically for the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Teams and teamwork are ubiquitous in military and civilian organizations. Their importance to organizational success cannot be overstated. This article describes the relationship and effect of three concepts: Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs), shared mental models, and teamwork. The nexus between these concepts is examined to determine its capability to support adaptive instruction of teams, defined here as collectives of interdependent individuals who must communicate and interact with each other in order to perform assigned tasks and missions. An assumption underlying this examination is that augmenting the mental modeling processes of ITS with the mental models shared by members of interdependent teams will allow the considerable and increasingly research-established capabilities of intelligent tutoring of individuals to be applied in training teams. Specifically, we reviewed the learning and performance literature to identify how shared mental models of cognition could be used to enhance the adaptive instruction of teams. Our goal is to develop a methodology to enhance training and educational options for institutions that provide adaptive team instruction at the point-of-need. Toward this end, we discuss the adaptation of the Generalized Intelligent Framework for Tutoring (GIFT), an open source tutoring architecture, to accommodate team models and states. While this article makes a first step toward defining a process for team tutoring, challenges remain. Team tutors must have the ability to manage uncertainty and the dynamic nature of team interaction and communication in order to make effective and timely decisions that optimize team and team member performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As teams have become fundamental parts of today's organisations, the need for these teams to function and learn efficiently and effectively is widely emphasised. Also in military contexts team learning is vital. The current article examines team learning behaviour in military teams as it aims to cross-validate a team learning model that was originally developed and tested in an educational context. This team learning model includes several socio-cognitive factors that precede, constitute, and result from team learning behaviour. Findings based on path analyses indicate that psychological safety, social cohesion and group potency are positively related to team learning behaviour in military teams. In addition, team learning behaviour does not only foster the construction of mutually shared cognition and transactive memory systems, but also relates positively to the effectiveness of military teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of case studies on learning outcomes, attitudes toward instructions, and team shared mental models (SMM) in a team-based learning environment in an undergraduate educational psychology course. Approximately 105 students who participated in this study were randomly assigned to either a case-study method or a knowledge-representation method. Students in the case-study treatment group received a case study after instruction, while students in the knowledge-representation treatment group engaged in an activity that did not involve problem solving. It was hypothesized that students in the case-study group would have higher learning outcomes scores, higher attitudes scores, and greater team SMM than students in the knowledge-representation group. Overall, the case-study method was effective as indicated by generally higher learning outcomes and more positive attitudes for the case-study treatment group as compared to the knowledge-representation group. It might be important to consider the order in which each of the instructional methods is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite widespread interest in shared mental models (SMMs) within teams and groups and an extensive empirical literature examining SMM-performance links, very little is known about the convergent validity of commonly used measures of SMMs. In this study, two-person teams ( n = 96) engaged in a complex flight task and completed three SMM measures: concept mapping, paired ratings, and causal mapping. Task-based sharedness scores were compared across the measures. Analyses were conducted in two ways: using SMMs of actual team members ( n = 96 pairs) and using the SMMs of pairs of participants who worked separately but for whom similarity indices were calculated after the study ( n = 18,240). The purpose of the latter pairs, coined pseudo-partners, was to create a sample with considerable power to test the convergent validity of the SMM measures. The results call into some question the convergent validity of these task-based SMM measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]