This paper uses a framework developed from memetics—a theoretical perspective on cultural evolution—as the basis for investigating aspects of team problem solving. Specifically, the roles of shared mental models, team situational awareness, and team problem models in the problem identification and conceptualization stages of team problem solving are explored from a cultural evolutionary perspective. Results of this analysis indicate that cultural evolutionary perspectives are useful in interpreting developmental aspects of team problem solving skills and adaptations of team level knowledge to task and environmental constraints.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArtmanH. (2000). Team situation assessment and information distribution. Ergonomics, 43(8), 1111–1128.
2.
AungerR. (Ed.). (2000). Darwinizing culture: The status of Memetics as a Science.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
BlackmoreS. (1999). The Meme Machine.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4.
BrehmerB. (1996). Man as a stabiliser of systems: From static snapshots of judgement processes to dynamic decision making. Thinking and Reasoning, 2(2–3), 225–238.
5.
BosterJ. (1999). Cultural variation. In WilsonR. A.KeilF.C. (Eds.), The MIT encyclopedia of the cognitive sciences (pp. 217–218. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
6.
BurkeC. S.StaglK.C.SalasE.PierceL.KendallD. (in press). Understanding team adaptation: A concpetual analysis & model. Journal of Applied Psychology..
7.
Cannon-BowersJ. A.SalasE.ConverseS. (1993). Shared mental models in expert team decision making. In CastellanN. J.Jr. (Ed.), Individual and Group Decision Making (pp. 221–246. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
8.
CastelfranchiC. (2001). Towards a Cognitive Memetics. Journal of Memetics, 5.
9.
DawkinsR. (1976). The selfish gene.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
10.
EdmondsonA. C.BohmerR.M.PissanoG.P. (2001). Disrupted routines: Team learning and new technology implementation in hospitals. Administrative Science Quarterly, 46, 685–716.
11.
EricssonK. A.SmithJ. (1991). Prospects and limits of the empirical study of expertise: An introduction. In EricssonK. A.SmithJ. (Eds.), Toward a general theory of expertise: Prospects and limits (pp. 1–38. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
12.
FioreS. M.SchoolerJ.W. (2004). Process mapping and shared cognition: Teamwork and the development of shared problem models. In SalasE.FioreS.M. (Eds.), Team cognition: Understanding the factors that drive process and performance (pp. 133–152. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
13.
Gil-WhiteF. J. (2004). Common misunderstandings of memes (and genes): The promise and the limits of the genetic analogy to cultural transmission processes. In HurleyS.ChaterN. (Eds.), Perspectives on Imitation: From Mirror Neurons to Memes: MIT Press.
14.
GirouxH.TaylorJ.R.CoorenF. (1998). Memes and the persistence of organizational structures. Paper presented at the Symposium on Memetics: Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission, 15th International Conference on Cybernetics, Namur (Belgium).
15.
GrahamJ.SchneiderM.BauerA.BessiereK.GonzalezC. (2004). Shared mental models in millitary command and control organizations: Effect of social network distance. Paper presented at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 48th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
16.
Johnson-LairdP. N. (1983). Mental models (Vol. 6). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
17.
KleinG. (1993). A recognition primed decision (RPD) model of rapid decision making. In KleinG.OrasanuJ.CalderwoodR.ZsambokC.E. (Eds.), Decision making in action (pp. 138–147. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
18.
LevesqueL. L.WilsonJ.M.WholeyD.R. (2001). Cognitive divergence and shared mental models in software development project teams. Journal of Oganizational Behavior, 22, 135–144.
19.
LevineJ. M.ChoiH. (2004). Impact of personnel turnover on team performance and cognition. In SalasE.FioreS.M. (Eds.), Team cognition: Understanding the factors that drive process and performance (pp. 153–176. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
20.
LordA.PriceI. (2001). Reconstruction of organizational phylogeny from memetic similarity analysis: Proof of feasibilityJournal of Memetics, 5.
21.
MayrE. (1991). One Long Argument: Charles Darwin and the Genesis of Modern Evolutionary Thought.London: Penguin.
22.
MorelandR. L.LevineJ.M. (1992). Problem identification by groups. In WorchelS. W.WoodW.SimpsonJ.A. (Eds.), Group processes and productivity (pp. 17–47. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
23.
MorganB. B.SalasE.Jr.GlickmanA.S. (2001). An Analysis of Team Evolution and Maturation. The Journal of General Psychology, 120(3), 277–291.
24.
NewellA.SimonH.A. (1972). Human problem solving.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
25.
OrasanuJ. (1994). Shared problem models and flight crew performance. In JohnstonN.McDonaldN.FullerR. (Eds.), Aviation psychology in practice (pp. 255–285. Brookfield, VT: Ashgate.
26.
PlehC. (2003). Thoughts on the Distribution of Thoughts: Memes or Epidemies. Journal of Cultural and Evolutionary Psychology, 1, 21–51.
27.
SalasE.PrinceC.BakerD.P.ShresthaL. (1995). Situaiton awareness in team performance: Implications for measurement and training. Human Factors, 37(1), 123–136.
28.
SperberH. (2000). An objection to the memetic approach to culture. In AungerR. (Ed.), Darwinizing culture: The status of memetics as a science (pp. 163–173. New York: Oxford University Press.
