Distributed information behavior: A study of dynamic practice in a safety critical environment

The purpose of this study was to develop concepts from information science to understand information behavior between multiple actors in high reliability operations. Based on previous research and framework development in human information behavior, the Distributed Information Behavior System was designed to assess the social practice of information identification, gathering, and use. In this study, flight crews were used as the test bed. The goal of this research was to assess if different information behaviors are practiced by accident-involved crews and crews not involved in an accident. The results indicate that differences indeed exist in the way crews identify, gather, and use information based on their performance level. This study discerns that high performing crews practice substantially different information behaviors than low performing and accident-involved crews. This work serves as a way to understand the social practice of information structuring within high reliability operations. Subsequently, this may aid researchers to identify the role sequencing plays in critical information negotiation. This work also serves as a tool to inform training and is applicable to other domains where work is supported through distributed collective practice. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[1]  Terry Winograd,et al.  Understanding computers and cognition , 1986 .

[2]  Randall W. Hill,et al.  A template-based and pattern-driven approach to situation awareness and assessment in virtual humans , 2000, AGENTS '00.

[3]  Mica R. Endsley,et al.  Toward a Theory of Situation Awareness in Dynamic Systems , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[4]  J. Dewey.  Logic, the theory of inquiry , 1938 .

[5]  David Ellis,et al.  A Comparison of the Information seeking Patterns of researchers in the Physical and Social Sciences , 1993, J. Documentation.

[6]  Lisanne Bainbridge,et al.  Ironies of automation , 1982, Autom..

[7]  Charles E. Billings,et al.  Aviation Automation: The Search for A Human-centered Approach , 1996 .

[8]  Gary Marchionini,et al.  Information Seeking in Electronic Environments , 1995 .

[9]  David Ellis,et al.  Modelling the information seeking patterns of engineers and research scientists in an industrial environment , 1997, J. Documentation.

[10]  Eduardo Salas,et al.  Situation Awareness in Team Performance: Implications for Measurement and Training , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[11]  R. Daft,et al.  A Tentative Exploration into the Amount and Equivocality of Information Processing in Organizational Work Units. , 1981 .

[12]  E. Schegloff,et al.  Opening up Closings , 1973 .

[13]  E. Langer,et al.  Matters of mind: Mindfulness/mindlessness in perspective , 1992, Consciousness and Cognition.

[14]  Gary Klein,et al.  Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions , 2017 .

[15]  Ute Fischer,et al.  SAY IT AGAIN, SAM! EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES TO MITIGATE PILOT ERROR , 1999 .

[16]  Nancy A. Van House,et al.  Cooperative knowledge work and practices of trust: sharing environmental planning data sets , 1998, CSCW '98.

[17]  E. Hutchins.  Cognition in the wild , 1995 .

[18]  D. Norman.  The psychology of everyday things , 1990 .

[19]  P. Johnson-Laird.  Mental models , 1989 .

[20]  P. Brézillon,et al.  Contextual knowledge sharing and cooperation in intelligent assistant systems , 1999 .

[21]  David Woods,et al.  Situation Awareness: A Critical But Ill-Defined Phenomenon , 1991 .

[22]  Richard L. Daft,et al.  4 – The Effectiveness of Interpretation Systems , 1983 .

[23]  L. Suchman.  Plans and situated actions , 1987 .

[24]  M. Endsley.  Situation Awareness In Aviation Systems , 1999 .

[25]  John Seely Brown,et al.  Book Reviews : The Social Life of Information By John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2000. 320 pages , 2000 .

[26]  H. Simon,et al.  Rational choice and the structure of the environment. , 1956, Psychological review.

[27]  H. H. Clark,et al.  Understanding by addressees and overhearers , 1989, Cognitive Psychology.

[28]  Jens Rasmussen,et al.  Skills, rules, and knowledge; signals, signs, and symbols, and other distinctions in human performance models , 1983, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

[29]  Pierre Bourdieu,et al.  Outline of a Theory of Practice , 2020, On Violence.

[30]  Ellen J. Langer,et al.  Minding Matters: The Consequences of Mindlessness–Mindfulness , 1989 .

[31]  Ute Fischer.  Cultural Variability in Crew Discourse , 1999 .

[32]  Judith Orasanu,et al.  DECISION-MAKING IN THE COCKPIT. , 1993 .

[33]  Nadine B. Sarter,et al.  How in the World Did We Ever Get into That Mode? Mode Error and Awareness in Supervisory Control , 1995, Hum. Factors.

[34]  Thomas D. Wilson,et al.  Human Information Behavior , 2000, Informing Sci. Int. J. an Emerg. Transdiscipl..

[35]  M. Bakhtin,et al.  Speech genres and other late essays , 1986 .

[36]  Etienne Wenger,et al.  Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation , 1991 .

[37]  Brian Detlor,et al.  Information Seeking on the Web: An Integrated Model of Browsing and Searching , 2000, First Monday.

[38]  J. March.  Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning , 1991, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[39]  F. Aguilar.  Scanning the business environment , 1967 .

[40]  Michael K. Buckland.  Information retrieval of more than text , 1991 .

[41]  Caryl Emerson,et al.  Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics , 1992 .

[42]  Terry Winograd,et al.  Understanding computers and cognition - a new foundation for design , 1987 .

[43]  John M. Carroll,et al.  Mental Models in Human-Computer Interaction , 1988 .

[44]  D. L. Simms,et al.  Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies , 1986 .

[45]  K. Weick,et al.  Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. , 1993 .

[46]  Ute Fischer,et al.  Error-Challenging Strategies: Their Role in Preventing and Correcting Errors , 2000 .

[47]  David Ellis,et al.  A behavioural model for information retrieval system design , 1989, J. Inf. Sci..

[48]  Jean-Charles Pomerol,et al.  Artificial intelligence and human decision making , 1997 .

[49]  Ute Fischer,et al.  How do Flight Crews Detect and Prevent Errors? Findings from a Flight Simulation Study , 1998 .

[50]  B. Nardi.  Studying context: a comparison of activity theory, situated action models, and distributed cognition , 1995 .