Situation Awareness Process
A Situation Awareness Process is a cognitive process that involves perceiving, understanding, and anticipating critical elements in the environment to make informed decisions, particularly in complex and dynamic situations.
- Context:
- It can range from being a Simple Situation Awareness of immediate surroundings to a Comprehensive Situation Awareness of a complex operational environment.
- It can require real-time data analysis to maintain updated and accurate information about the current situation.
- It can involve using visualization tools and decision support systems to enhance comprehension of the environment.
- It can be crucial for emergency response teams to effectively manage disaster scenarios.
- ...
- Example(s):
- a Command Center that showcases the integration of various data sources to provide a comprehensive view of an ongoing crisis.
- a Pilot's Use of a Heads-Up Display that demonstrates maintaining situational awareness during complex flight maneuvers.
- a Military Situation Awareness where a commander uses real-time battlefield data to make strategic decisions.
- an AGI Situation Awareness where an autonomous system monitors its environment to perform tasks safely and efficiently.
- a Maritime Navigation System that uses radar and AIS data to provide ship captains with real-time situational awareness.
- a Cybersecurity Operations Center where analysts monitor network traffic and threat intelligence to prevent cyber attacks.
- a Healthcare Monitoring System that provides doctors with continuous patient data to make timely medical decisions.
- ...
- Counter-Example(s):
- Tunnel Vision, which refers to a narrow focus on a single aspect, leading to a loss of broader situational awareness.
- Automated Decision Making, where algorithms make decisions without human awareness or intervention.
- See: Decision Making, Cognitive Load, Risk Management, Human Error, Decision-Making, Law Enforcement, Aviation, Air Traffic Control, Transmission System Operator, Self-Defense, Offshore Oil, Nuclear Power Plant.
References
2024
- (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness Retrieved:2024-6-5.
- Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. Situational awareness is important for effective decision making in many environments. It is formally defined as:
An alternative definition is that situation awareness is adaptive, externally-directed consciousness that has as its products knowledge about a dynamic task environment and directed action within that environment. Situation awareness has been recognized as a critical foundation for successful decision-making across a broad range of situations, many of which involve the protection of human life and property, including law enforcement, aviation, air traffic control, ship navigation,[1] health care, emergency response, military command and control operations, transmission system operators, self defense, and offshore oil and nuclear power plant management. [2] Inadequate situation awareness has been identified as one of the primary causal factors in accidents attributed to human error. [3] [4] [5] [6] According to Endsley’s situation awareness theory, when someone meets a dangerous situation, he needs an appropriate and a precise decision-making process which include pattern recognition and matching, formation of sophisticated schemata and archetypal knowledge that aids correct decision making. [7] The formal definition of SA is often described as three ascending levels: # Perception of the elements in the environment, # Comprehension or understanding of the situation, and # Projection of future status.
People with the highest levels of SA have not only perceived the relevant information for their goals and decisions, but are also able to integrate that information to understand its meaning or significance, and are able to project likely or possible future scenarios. These higher levels of SA are critical for proactive decision making in demanding environments.
Three facets of SA have been the focus in research: SA states, SA systems, and SA processes. SA states refers to the actual level of awareness people have of the situation. SA systems refers to technologies that are developed to support SA in many environments. SA processes refers to the updating of SA states, and what guides the moment-to-moment change of SA.[8]
- Situational awareness or situation awareness (SA) is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. Situational awareness is important for effective decision making in many environments. It is formally defined as:
- ↑ Nullmeyer, R.T., Stella, D., Montijo, G.A., & Harden, S.W. (2005). Human factors in Air Force flight mishaps: Implications for change. Proceedings of the 27th Annual Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (paper no. 2260). Arlington, VA: National Training Systems Association.
- ↑ Flin, R. & O'Connor, P. (2001). Applying crew resource management in offshore oil platforms. In E. Salas, C.A. Bowers, & E. Edens (Eds.), Improving teamwork in organization: Applications of resource management training (pp. 217–233). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
- ↑ Hartel, C.E.J., Smith, K., & Prince, C. (1991, April). Defining aircrew coordination: Searching mishaps for meaning. Paper presented at the 6th International Symposium on Aviation Psychology, Columbus, OH.
- ↑ Merket, D.C., Bergondy, M., & Cuevas-Mesa, H. (1997, March). Making sense out of teamwork errors in complex environments. Paper presented at the 18th Annual Industrial/Organizational-Organizational Behavior Graduate Student Conference, Roanoke, VA.
- ↑ Endsley, M. R. (1995). A taxonomy of situation awareness errors. In R. Fuller, N. Johnston & N. McDonald (Eds.), Human factors in aviation operations (pp. 287-292). Aldershot, England: Avebury Aviation, Ashgate Publishing Ltd.
- ↑ Jones, D. G., & Endsley, M. R. (1996). Sources of situation awareness errors in aviation. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 67(6), 507-512.
- ↑ Construction safety and health hazard awareness in Web of Science and Weibo between 1991 and 2021, Safety Science, 152, August 2022, 105790
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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2014
- (Liu et al., 2014) ⇒ Shuang Liu, Xiaoru Wanyan, and Damin Zhuang. (2014). "Modeling the Situation Awareness by the Analysis of Cognitive Process.” In: Bio-medical Materials and Engineering 24, no. 6: 2311-2318.
- NOTE: It discusses the modeling of situational awareness through cognitive process analysis, particularly in aviation.
2000
- (Endsley & Garland, 2000) ⇒ Mica R. Endsley, and Daniel J. Garland. (2000). "Theoretical Underpinnings of Situation Awareness: A Critical Review.” In: Situation Awareness Analysis and Measurement 1, no. 1: 3-21.
- NOTE: It provides a comprehensive review of the theoretical foundations of situation awareness.
1998
- (Kaber & Endsley, 1998) ⇒ David B. Kaber, and Mica R. Endsley. (1998). "Team Situation Awareness for Process Control Safety and Performance.” In: Process Safety Progress 17, no. 1: 43-48.
- NOTE: It explores team situational awareness in the context of process control and safety performance.
2015
- (Lundberg, 2015) ⇒ Jonas Lundberg. (2015). "Situation Awareness Systems, States and Processes: A Holistic Framework.” In: Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science 16, no. 5: 447-473.
- NOTE: It presents a holistic framework for understanding situational awareness systems, states, and processes.