abstract: This thesis describes a synthetic task environment, CyberCog, created for the purposes of 1) understanding and measuring individual and team situation awareness in the context of a cyber security defense task and 2) providing a context for evaluating algorithms, visualizations, and other interventions that are intended to improve cyber situation awareness. CyberCog provides an interactive environment for conducting human-in-loop experiments in which the participants of the experiment perform the tasks of a cyber security defense analyst in response to a cyber-attack scenario. CyberCog generates the necessary performance measures and interaction logs needed for measuring individual and team cyber situation awareness. Moreover, the CyberCog environment provides good experimental control for conducting effective situation awareness studies while retaining realism in the scenario and in the tasks performed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.C.St. Computing Studies 2011

abstract: By extracting communication sequences from audio data collected during two separate five-person mission-planning tasks, interaction patterns in team communication were analyzed using a recurrence-based, nonlinear dynamics approach. These methods, previously successful in detecting pattern change in a three-person team task, were evaluated for their applicability to larger team settings, and their ability to detect pattern change when team members switched roles or locations partway through the study (Study 1) or change in patterns over time (Study 2). Both traditional interaction variables (Talking Time, Co-Talking Time, and Sequence Length of Interactions) and dynamic interaction variables (Recurrence Rate, Determinism, and Pattern Information) were explored as indicators and predictors of changes in team structure and performance. Results from these analyses provided support that both traditional and dynamic interaction variables reflect some changes in team structure and performance. However, changes in communication patterns were not detected. Because simultaneous conversations are possible in larger teams, but not detectable through our communication sequence methods, team pattern changes may not be visible in communication sequences for larger teams. This suggests that these methods may not be applicable for larger teams, or in situations where simultaneous conversations may occur. Further research is needed to continue to explore the applicability of recurrence-based nonlinear dynamics in the analysis of team communication. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Applied Psychology 2012