Cognitive processes of the team mind

Abstract

The authors offer a perspective on team decision-making that may be fruitful for understanding some of the dynamics. The perspective is centered around the concept of a team mind with three aspects that can be studied: behavior, consciousness, and subconsciousness. These aspects are described, along with methods for studying each. The operation of the team mind is illustrated by the functioning of an airline flight crew. It is believed that the team mind concept will be helpful for introducing phenomena from cognitive psychology, e.g. limited attentional resources, the effects of emotions, workload variables, automaticity, and characteristics of working memory.<>