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Toward an understanding of macrocognition in teams: predicting processes in complex collaborative contexts
Stephen M Fiore1, Michael A Rosen, Kimberly A Smith-Jentsch
1University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32826, USA. sfiore@ist.ucf.edu
Human Factors
|October 15, 2010
Summary
This study introduces a model to predict team collaboration and performance in novel problem-solving scenarios. It offers empirically testable propositions to enhance team macrocognition and guide practical applications.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Team Dynamics
- Organizational Psychology
Background:
- Teams increasingly face complex, novel problem-solving tasks.
- This performance domain is underrepresented in existing research.
- Understanding team cognition is crucial for addressing these challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a predictive model for complex collaborative processes in unique problem-solving situations.
- To outline key processes and their interrelationships for predicting performance outcomes.
- To describe how these processes can predict collaboration within problem-solving contexts.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical literature on knowledge work in teams.
- Development of a theoretical framework for macrocognition in teams.
- Formulation of empirically testable propositions.
Main Results:
- A model for predicting team collaboration and performance outcomes in novel situations is presented.
- Key processes for externalizing cognition and building knowledge in teams are identified.
- A set of propositions guides research on team macrocognition.
Conclusions:
- The proposed theoretical framework offers empirically testable propositions.
- This framework can guide practitioners in supporting team macrocognition.
- A theory of macrocognition in teams can inform training and tool design for enhanced performance.
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