title: Dynamical analysis in real time: detecting perturbations to team communication.
abstract: Dynamical systems methods characterise patterns of change over time. Typically, such methods are applied only after data collection is complete. However, brief disturbances - perturbations - can occur as a process unfolds and can result in undesirable outcomes if not acted on. The application of dynamics in real time would be useful for detecting these sudden changes. Real-time analysis was accomplished by updating dynamical estimates simultaneously across different window sizes. We calculated the largest Lyapunov exponent, a measure of dynamical stability, to detect a perturbation to team communication in a simulated uninhabited air vehicle (UAV) reconnaissance mission. The perturbation consisted of information demands from a confederate that occurred unexpectedly during performance of a UAV mission. We demonstrate the use of real-time methods in detecting that perturbation as it occurred. In application, this technique would have enabled real-time intervention. Extensions of the real-time dynamical method to other domains of psychological inquiry are discussed.
  A real-time dynamical analysis method that was developed to detect unexpected perturbations in team communication is described. The use of the method is demonstrated on perturbed communication from a three-person uninhabited air vehicle command-and-control team. The generalisability of the method is considered with respect to physiological and motor coordination dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. jamie.gorman@ttu.edu
authors.forename: Jamie C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Gorman
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Hessler
authors.forename: Polemnia G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Amazeen
authors.forename: Nancy J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: Steven M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shope
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis