Investigating the Effects of Hierarchy and Fatigue on Cognitive Security in Isolated,Confined,and Extreme Environments

Abstract

Cognitive security, the “maintenance of rational decision making under adversarial conditions” (Army Cyber Institute at West Point) is crucial in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments, such as spaceflight, deep sea, and polar settings. These settings are inherently high risk and pose unique cognitive, affective, and social challenges. Further, with isolation and confinement, available information is limited, meaning high stakes decisions often must be made under uncertainty. Experiments studying select teams in ICE often face challenges in generalization due to variability in environments, mission goals, crew compositions, and team dynamics, resulting in difficult-to-aggregate empirical data. As a result, factors affecting how ICE teams make decisions in the face of incomplete or conflicting information are not well understood. To narrow this gap, we are conducting an experiment to assess the effects of hierarchy and fatigue on cognitive security in a controlled laboratory environment designed to emulate an ICE-related task. Participants will work in dyads in a Mars rover simulator to complete simulated reconnaissance missions in the face of conflicting information and uncertainty. The results can provide insights for a unique but important set of operational contexts and could enable development of countermeasures aimed at protecting cognitive security in critical settings.