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The effect of information integration on team communication in a simulated submarine control room task5.07 MB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
The effect of information integration on team communication in a simulated submarine control room task
Ergonomics, Vol.68(4), pp.513-537
2025
Abstract
Submarine control rooms are characterised by dedicated individual roles for information types (e.g. Sonar operator processes sound energy), with individuals verbally reporting the information that they receive to other team members to help resolve uncertainty in the operational environment (low information integration). We compared this work design with one that ensured critical information was more readily available to all team members (high information integration). We used the Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork (EAST) method to analyse task, information, and social networks for novice teams operating within a simulated submarine control room under low versus high information integration. Integration impacted team member centrality (importance relative to other operators) and the nature of information shared. Team members with greater centrality reported higher workload. Higher integration across consoles altered how team members interacted and their relative status, the information shared, and how workload was distributed. However, overall network structures remained intact.Submarine control rooms are characterised by dedicated individual roles for information types (e.g. Sonar operator processes sound energy), with individuals verbally reporting the information that they receive to other team members to help resolve uncertainty in the operational environment (low information integration). We compared this work design with one that ensured critical information was more readily available to all team members (high information integration). We used the Event Analysis of Systemic Teamwork (EAST) method to analyse task, information, and social networks for novice teams operating within a simulated submarine control room under low versus high information integration. Integration impacted team member centrality (importance relative to other operators) and the nature of information shared. Team members with greater centrality reported higher workload. Higher integration across consoles altered how team members interacted and their relative status, the information shared, and how workload was distributed. However, overall network structures remained intact.
Details
- Title
- The effect of information integration on team communication in a simulated submarine control room task
- Authors
- Stephanie Michailovs - The University of Western AustraliaStephen Pond - The University of Western AustraliaJessica Irons - Defence Science and Technology GroupPaul M Salmon - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems ScienceTroy A W Visser - The University of Western AustraliaMegan Schmitt - Defence Science and Technology GroupNeville A Stanton - University of SouthamptonLuke Strickland - The University of Western AustraliaSam Huf - Defence Science and Technology GroupShayne Loft (Corresponding Author) - The University of Western Australia
- Publication details
- Ergonomics, Vol.68(4), pp.513-537
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1080/00140139.2024.2375365
- ISSN
- 1366-5847; 0014-0139
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Data Availability
- The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author [SL].
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991048886902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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