ABSTRACT
Observations in U.S. Army units suggested difficulties when unacquainted persons, each with different occupational skills, must collaborate at a distance, rather than face-to-face.
Researchers identified that there was a need to comprehend the interrelationships between different roles and functions. This research compared how training content influenced performance in these situations. Training content differed in that half the players were trained on their own intelligence assets (air or ground) and half were trained on both their own and their ally’s assets (air and ground). Participants trained on both their own and their ally’s assets were significantly more successful in locating the enemy SCUD launchers than those trained on their own assets only (F (1,52)=4.44, p <.05). When participants must collaborate by sharing uniquely acquired information, it is beneficial if all participants have an understanding of each others’ roles and how they interrelate.
