The Role of Shared Mental Models and Cognitive Load on Group Memory

组织中的许多决策和解决问题的工作都涉及到小组或团队。因此，高水平绩效的一个核心组成部分涉及按组进行最佳信息处理。尽管关于群体信息处理的研究在过去10到15年里有了很大的增长，但一些关键问题仍然没有得到回答。目前的提案试图直接解决这些关键问题之一：在集团成员之间分发信息的最佳方式是什么。关于群体记忆的研究表明，当每个成员负责不同类型的信息领域时，群体信息存储容量最大。然而，关于群体信息处理的研究表明，当信息被许多(如果不是所有的)群体成员共享或知道时，信息的使用最大化。这两个发现的含义截然相反。因此，建议的研究目的是系统地研究不同成员之间的信息冗余水平上的群体记忆和绩效。芝加哥洛约拉大学的Scott Tindale博士和东北伊利诺伊大学的Amanda Dykema-EngBlade博士将使用许多不同的任务域，研究如何最好地在小组成员之间分发信息，以优化存储容量和使用。他们还将评估共享心理模型对群体记忆和决策绩效的影响。将讨论两种不同类型的心理模型：角色和专业知识方面的小组模型，以及关键任务组成部分方面的任务模型，以及如何整合这些组成部分才能取得成功。研究人员预测，当小组成员共享这两种类型的准确心理模型时，他们将能够处理更多的信息，并将其更好地利用，而不是在缺乏这种心理模型的情况下。总体而言，预计一定程度的信息冗余将是最佳群体运作所必需的，但共享的心理模型将减少所需的冗余量。这项研究的结果将有助于组织设计团队任务环境以实现最大绩效。

Much of the decision-making and problem-solving work done in organizations involves groups or teams. As a consequence, a central component of high-level performance involves optimal information processing by groups. Although research on group information processing has increased substantially over the past 10 to 15 years, a number of key questions remain unanswered. The current proposal attempts to directly address one of these key questions: what is the optimal way to distribute information among group members. Work on group memory has shown that group information storage capacity is maximized when each member is responsible for different types of areas of information. However, research on group information processing has shown that information use is maximized when information is shared or known by many if not all group members. The implications of these two findings are diametrically opposed. Thus, the purpose of the proposed research is to systematically investigate group memory and performance across different levels of information redundancy across members. Using a number of different task domains, Dr. Scott Tindale of Loyola University of Chicago and Dr. Amanda Dykema-Engblade of Northeastern Illinois University will investigate how best to distribute information among group members so as to optimize both storage capacity and use. They will also assess the effects of shared mental models on group memory and decision performance. Two different types of mental models will be addressed: models of the group in terms of roles and expertise, and models of the task in terms of key task components and how those components must be integrated for successful performance. The researchers predict that when group members share accurate mental models of both types, they will be able to handle greater amounts of information and put it to better use than they would be able to do under conditions where such mental models are lacking. Overall it is expected that some level of information redundancy will be necessary for optimal group functioning, but that shared mental models will reduce the amount of redundancy required. The results of this research will help organizations to design group task environments for maximum performance.