Why Cross-Disciplinary Theories Of Team Cognition?

Teamwork, by its very definition, is achieved when members interact interdependently and work together toward shared and valued goals. Further, expert teamwork involves the adaptation of collaboration strategies through coordination, cooperation, and communication, as well as a collective understanding of the task so that the team can reach its goals (Salas & Cannon-Bowers, 2000). Cognitive psychology has substantially influenced the study of teams, and it has been over a decade since the original applications of constructs from cognitive psychology were used to foster the development of the team cognition movement (e.g., CannonBowers, Salas, & Converse, 1993; Hutchins, 1991; Orasanu, 1990). Since then, much cross-disciplinary attention has focused on determining how cognitive processes contribute to effective team performance. What is invariant across these disciplines is the notion that shared information processing among group members has both inter-and intraindividual outcomes (e.g., Levine, Resnick, & Higgins, 1993), whereby constructs such as encoding, storage, and retrieval of information are thought to be equally applicable to both individuals and groups (e.g., Hinsz, Tindale, & Vollrath, 1997; Larson & Christensen, 1993; Tindale & Kameda, 2000)

Theories Of Team Cognition: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives

Cognitive processes in teams have been a valuable arena for team researchers to explore. Team cognition research advances and informs a variety of disciplines, including cognitive and social sciences, engineering, military science, organizational science, human factors, medicine, and communications. There has been a great deal of progress in the team cognition literature, yet the field is still in its early stages of maturity. There is much more to be gained from the field’s insights and there is a need to unite the diverse array of scholarly ideas that permeate the field. This movement will serve to organize the research and ideas that have surfaced in the field, thereby making them more accessible to different disciplines while at the same time, motivating continued progress in the field. This book aims to be a step in this direction and acts as a forum for leading scholars to share their ideas, theories, models, and conceptions about what matters and where more attention is needed in the field of team cognition

Macrocognition Research: Challenges And Opportunities On The Road Ahead

This volume has presented a series of chapters describing multidisciplinary efforts investigating collaboration in dynamic environments, all in support of understanding complex collaborative problem-solving. As the many chapters in this volume illustrate, multidisciplinary research blending theory and methods from the cognitive, organizational and information sciences has come a long way in helping us understand teams. This body of research has substantially influenced the study of collaborative activity and we are moving towards new theories that transcend disciplinary boundaries. Macrocognition is one such theory in that it is being developed to help us understand teams in more complex environments, their interactions with technologies and the measurement of these factors