A Process Tracing Approach to the Investigation of Situated Cognition

Technologists and human factors practitioners tend to approach the measurement of situation awareness from different perspectives. Technologists compare the difference between the data available in the environment with what has been detected by the sensors built into a system. Human factors practitioners focus on perception and cognition to the exclusion of the technological parts of the system. The authors propose a Dynamic Model of Situated Cognition and use it as a framework for analyzing both the technological and human aspects of a complex system. They employ a process tracing method in the analysis of a high fidelity military command and control (C2) simulation. Their results indicate that the model and the process tracing method are effective ways in which to investigate the development of situated cognition in complex systems. In addition, their results have important implications for designers of software, hardware, and training systems.