Aiding Information Human-Centered Technologies for Information Superiority Technology innovations for countering the effects of information attack must be based on an understanding of how those attacks affect decision making. A key concern is the effect of information disruptions on the ability of a team to achieve and act on shared situation awareness. The Aptima team proposes to develop an in-depth understanding, based on field interviews with experts, of the different types of potential information attacks and to use that understanding to develop a conceptual model of how information attacks can disrupt the decision making process. Based on this model, we will identify ways in which decision support can make decision making more robust in the face of attack, develop prototypes for alternative decision support approaches, and demonstrate those prototypes using a testbed that can simulate the effects of information attack on information fusion and team decision making. Associated with the testbed are quantitative performance measures and innovative methods for assessing both individual and shared situation awareness.
Information plays a critical role in modern military operations.
Cognitive Task Analysis and other knowledge engineering methods will be used to understand candidate users' needs and to conduct extensive study of information flow issues within the theater of war domain. Our goal is to develop a tool soundly anchored in theoretical constructs, yet with practical, real-world applications. Information Management for Force XXI Aptima and Cognitive Technologies collaborated for this project, led by Dr. Freeman, concerning the development and validation of a job aid and training system for improving information management skills amon U.S. Army Battalion staff. Information Management Training for Commanders Aptima is working with Klein Associates and Alphatech, Inc. to develop a model of information management at the individual nodes in a command and control organization, to identify skilled information management behaviors, and to design training that fosters those behaviors, funded by the Army Research Institute. Our approach assumes that the same technical content can serve aiding the training, if the presentation of paradigm problems and technical data as well as the nature of monitoring and feedback are fitted to the unique requirements of the interaction.