Genotype and phenotype schemata and their role in distributed situation awareness in collaborative systems

Abstract

Situation awareness (SA) is a critical commodity for teams working in complex systems. This article builds on existing schema theory to postulate an explanation of how teams develop and maintain SA during collaborative activities. The perceptual-action cycle approach and schema theory are used to formulate a model of distributed SA. Extracts from a case study undertaken in the UK energy distribution domain are used to demonstrate the concept of genotype and phenotype schemata as distributed SA. The sub-concepts of compatible and transactive SA are also outlined and explored via the case study. The differences between this perspective and the more commonly cited ‘shared SA’ perspective is articulated. In conclusion, whilst the ideas presented in this article are quite different to those expressed by the dominant models of individual and team SA presented in the literature, it is contended that they are more appropriate for the study of SA in collaborative environments.

Keywords:

• situation awareness
• teams
• schema theory
• genotypes
• phenotypes

Acknowledgements

This work from the Human Factors Integration Defence Technology Centre was part funded by the Human Sciences Domain of the UK Ministry of Defence Scientific Research Programme. The authors are grateful to their colleagues for their support and encouragement, in particular to (in alphabetical order) Dr Chris Baber, Dr Don Harris, Dr Rob Houghton, Richard McMaster, Rebecca Stewart and Dr Mark Young, and would also like to thank the staff at the energy distribution company for their assistance in allowing us to study the scenarios involved in this research.