The role of mental models in team performance in complex systems

The authors focus on team performance in complex systems. Representative empirical literature is reviewed and models of team performance are discussed. The role of mental models in team performance is considered and several propositions developed that focus on mental models as mechanisms for forming expectations and explanations of team behaviors. The implications of these propositions for team performance and training are elaborated, particularly in terms of likely performance problems if mechanisms for forming expectations and explanations are deficient. The results of two initial studies that support the plausibility of the propositions are reported