Book Description
This report describes a preliminary research effort to: (1) determine the effectiveness of using a virtual environment to train real world decision- making skills; (2) examine the feasibility of using a virtual environment as a test bed for developing situation awareness (SA) measurement instruments and; (3) empirically assess the role of SA in decision-making in simulated dismounted infantry environments. Seven experienced and seven inexperienced officers, role- playing a dismounted infantry platoon leader, individually conducted four urban operation scenarios (missions) in a virtual environment setting. Decision-making capability and SA were assessed for each mission. Objective decision-point accuracy improved significantly over missions. Level of experience did not impact the rate of learning. Experience did play a significant role in SA assessments. Selected SA measures also predicted a significant portion of the variance in objective decision-point scores. The research showed that real world decision-making skills could be trained using virtual environment technologies. To insure maximum benefit, virtual training must be combined with the appropriate field experience and mentoring. Conducting research in a controlled virtual environment setting permitted closer empirical scrutiny of the linkage between decision-making and SA in dismounted infantry operations and suggested new directions for further work in these areas.
