The global reach of the US military requires commanders to manage multinational teams effectively but cultural factors make effective decision-making challenging. This article reports a series of three studies with a total sample of 696 participants. They examined how sociocultural factors, personality traits, and decision-making competencies correlated with performance on a Situation Judgment Test (SJT) for military multinational decision -making. Predictors of SJT performance included general decision-making competencies, low nationalism, and Big Five and Dark Triad personality traits. Higher cultural intelligence (CQ) did not predict the SJT. Nationalism was associated with poorer decision-making in general, as well as traits associated with social agency. Regression analyses suggested that multiple dimensions predicted performance independently. Several factors linked to poor performance were associated with high confidence. Lack of cognitive flexibility may also contribute to impairments. Multivariate assessments of commanders may be utilized to guide training towards the individual's specific vulnerabilities.

Automotive technology has evolved over the last century to accommodate various levels of vehicle autonomy in order to advance safety, enhance comfort, and to mitigate human error. The result has culminated in the development of a robotic or self-driving passenger vehicle. Yet, there is still much to understand with respect to the changing human-vehicle dynamic in order to develop effective, efficient, and trusted autonomous passenger vehicles. This work presents a theoretical review on the changing dynamic of the human-vehicle system, specifically with a focus on individual differences related to trust and performance. A pilot study is reported to illustrate the importance of the human to the development and calibration of trust within the human-vehicle cooperative relationship.

Abstract : Virtual environments are being used more frequently by researchers to collect human performance data before and in lieu of costly field experiments. The McKenna Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) site at Fort Benning, Georgia, is used for training and experimentation with Soldiers using new equipment and tactics. A low-cost reusable virtual representation of the McKenna MOUT site was built with the use of a popular first-person shooter PC game, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield, which focuses on small unit tactics in complex urban environments. The focus of this report is the process of building a new, cost-efficient, high-fidelity custom environment complete with accurate representations of buildings, terrain, vegetation, and combinations of enemy units and objectives to model real training situations.

: The use of simulation is increasing as our capabilities of producing high-fidelity virtual environments expand. This is true for marksmanship and engagement shooting trainers as well. Many marksmanship studies have used simulated fire, but not many of these simulators have been validated with a live fire comparison. The U.S. Army Research Laboratory's dismounted infantry survivability and lethality test bed (DISALT) is highly effective as a research tool because of its high-fidelity data capture and flexibility for shooting scenarios. However, no live fire validation data have been published for it. A simulated version of the outdoor small-arms experimental range at Aberdeen Proving Ground (known as M-Range) was built by the authors. A study was designed in which live fire would be compared to the simulated fire during controlled laboratory conditions with the use of DISALT. Participants were 12 U.S. Army Soldiers, military occupational specialty 11C (indirect fire dismounted infantryman). The shooting task consisted of an 18-target pop-up scenario that used olive drab green E-type silhouettes. Ranges consisted of 75-, 100-, 150-, 200-, 250-, and 300-meter targets from a kneeling foxhole-supported position. Each participant was exposed to 10 trials each of simulation and live fire, half performing simulated fire first and vice versa. Target exposure time was 3 seconds with a 3-second inter-target interval. De-militarized M16A2 rifles with iron sights outfitted with electronics were used for the simulated fire, while operational M16A2 rifles with iron sights were used with M855 ball ammunition for the live fire portion. Data collected included hit percentage, time to first shot, radial aiming error, subjective workload and stress data. All data were analyzed with a repeated measures analysis of variance. Statistical differences and non-differences in the performance and subjective data are discussed.

: The dismounted soldier of the future will be loaded with more information processing tasks while performing shooting tasks. It is conceivable that in the future, some increased level of cognitive tasking may be performed simultaneously with shooting tasks. The effect of shooting under cognitive load has been studied to determine the effect of various levels of cognitive workload and shooting on non-loading secondary task performance (Scribner & Harper, 2001). The current study proposed to alter friendly target visual signatures and target exposure times to examine the possible interaction effects of a target discrimination task during various target exposure times. These trials were performed as a single-task scenario and as a dual-task scenario under one level of cognitive workload with a secondary task. This study was performed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory's small arms shooting performance research facility. Participants were 12 U.S. Army infantry soldiers, military occupational specialty 11M (mechanized), whose ages ranged from 18 to 34 years old. The shooting task consisted of a 24-target pop-up scenario with friendly (white or gray circular marking on the chest of the target) and enemy (olive drab green) E-type silhouette targets. Half of the targets were friendly and half were enemy. Ranges consisted of 5O-,l00-, 150-, 200-, 250-, and 300-meter targets. Target exposure times were 4, 3, and 2 seconds. Soldiers were in a foxhole supported position for all trials. The M16A2 with iron sights was used. The secondary task, mathematical problem solving, was presented aurally while subjects performed shooting tasks. Dependent variables included hit, reaction time, and friendly targets engaged. Also included were subjective workload assessment technique and subjective rating of events general stress ratings. Subjects were instructed to maintain primary task (shooting) performance through all trials.