Unlike behavioral skills training, cognitive skills training attempts to impart concepts that typically depend on tacit knowledge. Subject-matter experts (SMEs) often deliver cognitive training, but SMEs are expensive and in short supply, causing a training bottleneck. Recently, Hintze developed the ShadowBox method to overcome this limitation. As part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Social Strategic Interaction Modules, Klein, Hintze, and Saab adapted the ShadowBox approach to train large numbers of trainees without relying on expert facilitators. As part of this program, we used the ShadowBox approach to train warfighters on the social cognitive skills needed to successfully manage civilian encounters without creating hostility or resentment. ShadowBox training was evaluated in two studies. Evaluation 1 provided 3 hr of nonfacilitated, paper-based training to Marines at Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune (N = 59), and improved performance (i.e., match to the SME rankings) by 28% compared to a control group. Evaluation 2 provided 1 hr of nonfacilitated training, administered via Android tablet, to soldiers at Fort Benning (N = 30) and improved performance by 21%. These results, both statistically significant, suggest ways to use scenario-based training to develop cognitive skills in the military.

The objective of this project was to understand why and how some police officers and military personnel are more effective than others at managing civilian encounters without creating hostility -'Good Strangers' (GSs). We conducted cognitive task analysis (CTA) interviews with 17 US police officers and 24 US warfighters (Marines and Army soldiers). The interviews yielded a total of 38 incidents (17 police and 21 military), which we used to identify critical skills for functioning as GSs. These skills centred on having a sensemaking frame that established a professional identity as a GS -Someone who seeks opportunities to increase civilian trust in police/military. This frame requires skills in gaining voluntary compliance, building rapport, trading off security and other frames versus trust building, and taking the perspective of civilians. Practitioner pointsTo work effectively with civilians, police and military personnel need to use a Good Stranger frame, which casts each encounter as an opportunity to build trust. This GS frame requires skills such as trading off security to be seen as trustworthy, perspective taking, gaining rapport, gaining voluntary compliance rather than coercive compliance, and de-escalating tense situations. The GS frame may be surprisingly easy to acquire for some police and military; observation of role models and their effectiveness seems to be a powerful training opportunity. Other training leverage points involve peer pressure, becoming more effective at gaining civilian cooperation, and recognizing the problems created by failing to build trust.

We sought to understand how some police officers and military personnel are more effective than others at increasing civilian good will following encounters. Such officers can be termed "Good Strangers" (GSs). We conducted Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA) interviews with 17 U.S. police officers and 24 warfighters (Marines and Army soldiers). The CTA interviews yielded a total of 92 incidents, which were used to identify critical skills for training warfighters to become GSs. These skills supported a professional identity as a GS-seeking opportunities to increase civilian trust in police/military. Increasing trust from civilians requires skills in gaining voluntary compliance, building rapport, deescalating conflicts, trading-off risk versus trust building, and taking the perspective of civilians.

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