Team Mental Model

The notion of a team mental model was introduced in 1990 to account for the fluid, implicit coordination frequently observed in effective teams and to advance the understanding of how teams function in complex, dynamic, and ambiguous situations. For example, the seemingly effortless execution of a blind pass in basketball illustrates a well-known situation in which team members correctly predict the positioning and readiness of other team members on the court. In contrast, postincident investigations of many catastrophic aviation incidents reveal breakdowns in teamwork, as well as ambiguity with respect to who is responsible for specific tasks. Therefore, both team successes and failures speak to the necessity of being “on the same page” with respect to what to do, with whom, and when to do it.

Team mental models are thus defined as team members' shared, organized understanding and mental [Page 790]representation of knowledge about key elements of the team's relevant environment. The general thesis of this emerging literature is that team effectiveness will improve if team members are mentally congruent and have an adequate shared understanding of the task, team, equipment, and situation. Teams whose members share mental models of both task and team variables are expected to have more accurate expectations of team needs and be better positioned to anticipate the actions of other members, as compared with teams whose members do not have a shared mental model.