The Role of Communications in Group Operations of Automated Systems

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Abstract
This symposium develops a framework for the study and interpretation of communication and automation effects in the operation of complex social-technical systems. Three empirical studies are reported that investigate these sources of variance in group performance on partially automated systems. Both the conceptual framework and the results of the three studies suggest a need to expand our conceptualization of operator/system interfaces to acknowledge that many such interfaces are more properly viewed as group/system interfaces. This expanded framework includes group variables including group heterogeneity, group structure and communication patterns, and both formal and informal leadership variables in addition to more commonly studied automation and technical system factors.