A Review of Individual Operational Cognitive Readiness: Theory Development and Future Directions

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive and original review of the theoretical development of the individual operational cognitive readiness (OCR) theory.

Cognitive readiness (CR) is a concept that has the potential to predict the performance of human individuals and teams prior to engaging in complex, dynamic, and resource-limited task environments. However, the current state of the literature is confusing and laborious, with heterogeneous views regarding the theoretical frameworks among leading researchers.

This review (1) undertakes a systematic approach toward categorizing published CR literature into theoretical and measurement contributions across the different levels of CR, (2) carries a critical evaluation of the CR and OCR theoretical frameworks, and (3) provides directions for future research guided by gaps identified during the review process and other published literatures.

Results from the categorization of published CR literature provide a new, valuable, synthesized CR library for researchers to consult to streamline their CR literature review process. Critical examination of the CR and OCR theoretical frameworks leads to positing that new components should be explored for OCR.

There are many possible directions for future research including evaluating domain-independent components of OCR and evaluating the relationship between biofeedback measures and performance in CR models.

The Defense domain continues to be the focal application of CR. However, CR could be used by other application domains, such as sports and emergency services, that require their working personnel to engage in complex, uncertain, and dynamic task environments.