Distributed situation awareness: Advances in theory, measurement and application to team work

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Situation Awareness (SA) is critical commodity for teams working in complex sociotechnical systems and is thus a fundamental consideration in collaborative system design and evaluation. Despite this, SA remains predominantly an individual construct, with the majority of models and measures focused on SA from an individual perspective. In comparison, team SA has received much less attention and this thesis argues that further work is required in the area both in relation to the development of theoretical perspectives and of valid measures, and to the development of guidelines for system, training and procedure design. This thesis advances team SA theory and measurement by further investigating a recently proposed model of SA in complex collaborative environments, the Distributed Situation Awareness (DSA) approach, and by testing a new methodology for representing and analysing DSA during real world collaborative activities. A review of SA theory and SA measurement approaches is presented. Following this, the DSA theory and propositional network assessment methodology are outlined and a series of case studies on DSA during real world collaborative activities in the military and civil domains are presented. The findings are subsequently used to explore the concept of DSA and the sub-concepts of compatible and transactive SA. In conclusion, a model of DSA in complex collaborative systems is presented, and a series of system design guidelines for supporting DSA are outlined

Closure In Fiction And Film: Strategies Of Ending In Howard Hawks\u27s his Girl Friday , Henry James\u27s the Ambassadors , Orson Welles\u27s citizen Kane , And James Joyce\u27s a Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

This thesis explores closure in two novels, Henry James\u27s The Ambassadors and James Joyce\u27s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and two films, His Girl Friday directed by Howard Hawks and Citizen Kane directed by Orson Welles. The specific study of closure in films is necessitated by the almost total absence of research in this area. Although study of closure in prose narratives is historically more extensive, the study of closure in the two novels under discussion has previously been undertaken within narrow parameters. Rather than invoking a rigid model of the closural process, this thesis draws upon a range of approaches to closure to argue for the importance of a set of interrelated issues which can constitute a framework within which the endings of the four chosen works are analyzed. This methodology involves a sensitivity to the ways in which various types of patterns are resolved, but also includes a recognition of the inherently problematic nature of closure. The thesis distinguishes between closure as a process which develops over the course of the work as a whole and the ending as a specific textual segment in which the preponderance of closural \u27signals\u27 becomes particularly urgent. The importance of patterns developed over the course of the work and the various means of retrospective patterning used to evoke a strong sense of symmetry will both be investigated. Such concerns are complemented by issues particularly reflective of the problematic aspects of closure such as the tension between formal circularity and the linear, forward momentum of narrative elements.;His Girl Friday\u27s position as the first work to be explored in the thesis reflects the fact that it has the most straightforward closural argument of the four works, contrasting with the more modernist, self-reflexive endings of The Ambassadors, Citizen Kane and, particularly, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. While allowing for the distinctive aspects of novels and films, it is hoped that, by examining the closure of narrative fictions in these two media, a sharpened sense of the fundamental issues involving narrative closure will emerge

Servitisation and value co-production in the UK music industry

Since the rise of music on the internet, record companies have reported falling sales of physical products. This has occurred at a time when technology has radically increased choice, availability and the opportunity for the consumer to purchase music. As the music industry has moved from a product to a service business model, has the loss of sales meant they have not taken their customers with them? This paper provides a description of different music consumers based upon quantitative analysis of consumer characteristics. The paper then undertakes an exploration of the relationship between the consumer groups and their purchasing preference in relation to intangible ‘service’ purchase such as downloaded music and the purchase of a tangible physical product such as CDs or vinyl. In addition, we analyse the relationship between consumer types and their propensity to actively engage with music communities, such as through engagement with social media, and thus their willingness to coproduce greater value. Finally we explore the moderating effects of age and time devoted to listening to music on purchasing preferences and music discovery

A comparison of brief, single sessions of physical activity and relaxation/meditation on affective responses of female undergraduates.

This study compared brief, single sessions of physical activity (PA, self-paced treadmill walking) and relaxation/meditation (R/M, the Body Scan ) on positive and negative affect and anxiety measures in female undergraduates. Both were predicted to reduce negative and enhance positive affect. Differential effects of PA and R/M were predicted for participants with predominantly cognitive or somatic anxiety symptoms. Forty-six undergraduates were randomized to PA or R/M interventions. Changes in positive and negative affect (Positive and Negative Affect Scale, PANAS) and anxiety (Spielberger State/Trait Anxiety Inventory) were assessed using multivariate, repeated-measures statistics. Both PANAS Negative Affect & STAI anxiety scores declined following PA, but PANAS positive affect also declined. Similarly, R/M significantly reduced STAI and PANAS Positive Affect scores, and (marginally) PANAS negative affect. Anxiety reduction was greatest following R/M for participants with cognitive anxiety symptoms, but the complementary prediction concerning P/A and somatic symptoms was not supported