It is assumed that good situation awareness (SA) leads to good decision making, which is then expected to result in a good outcome. Despite increasing reliance on this assumption by the land force, little research has been undertaken to validate it. This study attempts to address this deficiency. SA was assessed using the Direct Questioning Technique, which elicits SA through direct questioning during play. This is an adaptation of the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique. Responses to SA questions were compared against the ground truth of the scripted scenario. A relationship was found between SA and decision making, such that participants with a high degree of SA made high quality decisions. SA was also related to planning. However, other factors also contributed significantly to decision quality and performance. It is assumed that good SA leads to good decision making, which is then expected to result in a good outcome. Despite increasing reliance on this assumption by the land force, little research has been undertaken to validate it. This study attempts to address this deficiency through examining whether there are differences in the quality of decisions made by people of varying degrees of SA. This was done using a computer simulated reconnaissance mission, to provide the researcher with a high degree of control, and to reduce the interference of variables such as hunger and fatigue in the decision-making process. The role that planning before entering the situation plays in decision making and SA quality was also of interest.
RELEASE LIMITATIONTwenty-four participants aged 18-40, from the South Australian Air Field Defence Squadron and DSTO, volunteered to engage in a scenario using the commercial-offthe-shelf game 'Operation Flashpoint'. This is a military-based tactical first-person shooter game that has been lauded as the most realistic first-person war game available. It is also scriptable, allowing the custom design of a scenario appropriate to the study. A reconnaissance scenario was scripted with the aid of a subject matter expert. It was tightly constrained such that although the participant had the freedom to choose their course of action, they had no more than three options to choose from at each decision point.Planning was assessed by administering a short questionnaire after providing the participant with the appropriate information. The questionnaire garnered their knowledge of such things as their rules of engagement, their mission statement, and possible courses of action.SA was assessed using the Direct Questioning Technique (DQT), a question and answer technique that elicits SA through direct questioning at natural breaks during play. The DQT involves asking questions from all three levels of SA, and the questions related to elements of the game environment, such as enemy locations, convoys observed, and perception of time passed. The DQT is an adaptation of the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique.Decision making was assessed through a scoring system that at...