Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Award number NNX15AM32G.
Team composition, the configuration of member attributes and their relationships, is a critical enabling feature of fostering effective teamwork and likely to play an important role in the effectiveness of future long-duration space exploration (LDSE). Limited research on team composition in environments analogous to LDSE exists, and currently how team composition can be used to optimize crew functioning and performance is unclear.
Our research aims to:
- Identify the effects of team composition on team functioning in LDSE and the critical factors of team composition driving this effect.
- Identify particular patterns of this effect with different team compositions.
- Identify methods for composing teams for LDSE.
- Develop a predictive team composition model for use in composing teams and identify potential issues with already composed teams.
- Provide recommendations for composing teams for LDSE.
To address these critical aims, our 3-year, multi-method research effort works to:
- Develop an agent-based model of team composition for LDSE based on empirical data linking key model inputs (e.g., individual difference variables, network relational factors, task characteristics) to team functioning (e.g., social integration, team processes, team cohesion, team conflict) in LDSE-relevant contexts.
- Conduct virtual experiments using characteristics and relationships identified in Phase I to identify the team functioning patterns that arise under different member compositions, and create a predictive model of team composition.
- Conduct an initial validation of the model developed in Phase 2 in the HERA and NEEMO analogue environments using specific manipulations of key factors (e.g., compositions; situational characteristics). Research products critical to closing Team Gap 8 are being developed including a predictive model of team composition in LDSE, evidence in support of the model, and a mockup of an interface to assist in the staffing and management of LDSE crew and mission teams.
Investigators:
- Noshir Contractor (PI)
- Leslie DeChurch
- Suzanne Bell (DePaul University)
SONIC Team Members:
- Brennan Antone
- Alina Lungeanu
- Yein Lee
Contractor, N. (2021, February 11). Pairing Teams for, and (Re)pairing Teams during Long-Duration Space Exploration [Paper Presentation]. Panelist in DeChurch, L. (Chair), Understanding and Enabling Human Travel to the Moon and Mars, Panel discussion conducted at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Virtual.
Contractor, N. (2021, February 10). Teaming in the Time of COVID-19: What Astronaut crews can teach us about “re-pairing” our relationships [Conference Presentation]. Society for Personality and Social Psychology Preconference: Bringing Intragroup Processes back to Social Psychology, Virtual.
Antone, B., Gruest, V., Gupta, A., DeChurch, L., Bell, S., & Contractor, N. (2021, February 3). Team Performance in Space Crews [Conference Presentation]. NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Virtual.
Antone, B., Lungeanu, A., DeChurch, L., Bell, S., & Contractor, N. (2021, February 4). A Successful Crew Composition Countermeasure Validated in HERA [Conference Presentation]. NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Virtual.
Gómez-Zará, D., Guo, M., DeChurch, L., & Contractor, N. (2020). The impact of displaying diversity information on the formation of self-assembling teams. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI’20). doi: 10.1145/3313831.3376654 Antone, B., Gupta, A., Bell, S., DeChurch, L., & Contractor, N. (2020). Testing Influence of Network Structure on Team Performance Using STERGM-Based Controls. Complex Networks and Their Applications VIII, 1018–1030. Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-36683-4_81 Antone, B., Lungeanu, A., Bell, S., De Church, L., & Contractor, N. (in press). Computational Modeling of Long-Distance Space Exploration: A Guide to Predictive and Prescriptive Approaches to the Dynamics of Team Composition. In L. Landon, S. Kelley, & E. Salas (Eds.), Psychology and Human Performance in Space Programs, Volume 1: Research at the Frontier. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis. Antone, B., Gruest, V., DeChurch, L. A., Bell, S., & Contractor, N. S. (2020, January). Team performance in long duration space missions: SIRIUS ‘19 [Paper presentation]. NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX, United States. Antone, B., Lungeanu, A., Bell, S. T., DeChurch, L. A., & Contractor, N. S. (2020, January). Crew recommender for effective work in space (project crews): Validation & countermeasure development [Poster presentation]. NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX, United States. Harris, A. M., Gómez-Zará, D., DeChurch, L. A., & Contractor, N. S. (2019). Joining together online: The trajectory of CSCW scholarship on group formation. In Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact., 3(CSCW), 27. https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3359250 Larson, L., Wojcik, H., Gokhman, I., DeChurch, L., Bell, S., & Contractor, N. (2019). Team performance in space crews: Houston, we have a teamwork problem. Acta Astronautica, 161, 108–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.04.052 Antone, W., Lungeanu, A., Gibson, Z., DeChurch, L., Bell, S., & Contractor, N. (2018, January). Team dynamics: Using simulation as a tool to develop theory. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Burns, T., Antone, W., Weiss, J., Larson, L., Bell, S., & DeChurch, L. (2018, January). Identity in isolation: How teams bond or break. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Contractor, N., DeChurch, L., Antone, W., Twyman, M., Gibson, Z., Sawant, A., Gado, H., & Bell, S. (2018, January). Teamstar: A tool for evaluating and mitigating space team risk. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Gokhman, I., Larson, L., DeChurch, L., Bell, S., & Contractor, N. (2018, January). Tracking crew performance over time. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Schecter, A. & Mell, J. (2017, August). The antecedents and implications of information sharing processes in multiteam systems. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA Larson, L. E., Jones, B. R., DeChurch, L. A., & Gibson, Z. (2017, August). Language, leadership, and identity construction in multiteam systems. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, GA. Larson, L. E., Gomez-Zara, D., Jones, B. R., DeChurch, L. A., & Contractor, N. S. (2017, July). Social identity, social identification, and intergroup leadership. Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research Annual Meeting, Saint Louis, MO. Gomez-Zara, D., Larson, L. E., Jones, B. R., DeChurch, L. A., & Contractor, N. S. (2017, July). Leadership and followership emergence in NASA space crews. Paper presented at the WebScience Summer School 2017, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Ng, J., Antone, W., Gibson, Z., Bell, S.T., DeChurch, L.A., Contractor, N.S. (2017, April). Crew Recommender for Effective Work in Space: CREWS. Paper presented at the Building Better Teams on Earth and Beyond Symposium at the SIOP Conference, Orlando, Fl. DeChurch, L. A., Larson, L., Gomez-Zara, D., Jones, B., Contractor, N. S., & Johnson, J. (2017, January). Leadership Emergence in Space Multiteam Systems. Paper presented at the 2017 NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Contractor, N. S., Gibson, Z., Antone, W., Ng, J., DeChurch, L. A., & Bell, S. T. (2017, January). Composing effective space crews: Predicting crew camaraderie (CREWS). Paper presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Contractor, N. S., Gokhman, I. A., Larson, L. E., Bell, S. T., & DeChurch, L. A. (2017, January). Leadership networks in space crews. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Contractor, N. S., Antone, W., Gibson, Z., Ng, J., DeChurch, L. A., & Bell, S. T. (2017, January). Building extreme teams: Simulating team composition effects in isolated and confined environments. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Antone, W., Contractor, N. S., Bell, S. T., & DeChurch, L. A. (2017, January). Faulty analysis: Analyzing the validity of different faultline measurement algorithms for long-duration space exploration. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Schecter, A., Sun, Y., DeChurch, L. A., & Contractor, N. S. (2016, July). The semantic networks that underpin group interaction. Paper presented at the Interdisciplinary Network for Group Research Annual Meeting, Helsinki, Finland. Contractor, N. S., Bell, S., DeChurch, L. A., Brown, S., Hernandez, I., Forbush, E., & Jones, B. (2016, February). CREWS: Crew recommender for effective work in space. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Weiss, J. A., Outland, N. B., Bell, S. T., DeChurch, L. A., Contractor, N. S. (2017, January). Interpersonal compatibility in HERA 2016. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Outland, N. B., Bell, S. T., Contractor, N. S., DeChurch, L. A., Weiss, J. A. (2017, January). Determinants of team viability over time: An ERGM analysis. Poster presented at the NASA Human Research Program Investigators’ Workshop, Galveston, TX. Bell, S. T. (2017, August) with M. Barrick, C. Zapata, A. Ryann, & B. Schneider. In K. Ostermeier & P. Sigdyal (Co-Chairs). New Directions in Personality Research – Where Do We Go Now? Panel presented the 2017 Academy of Management Conference, Atlanta, GA. **Selected as a Showcase Symposium Brown, S. G., Vazquez, M., & Bell, S. T. (2017, April). Team Composition and Performance at Different Levels of Virtuality: A Meta-analysis. In N. Savage (Chair). Virtual teams “in the wild” considering individual and contextual influences. Symposium presented at the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, Orlando, FL Bell, S. T. (panelist) (2017). More than Just Average: Novel Approaches to Measurement in Teams. Panel discussion at the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, Orlando, FL. Vessey, W. B., & Bell, S. T. (co-host) (2017). Industrial and Organizational Psychologists and Space Related Research. Community of interest at the 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, Orlando, FL.nt