Effective team functioning requires the existence of a shared or team mental model among members of a team. However, the best method for measuring team mental models is unclear. Methods reported vary in terms of how mental model content is elicited and analyzed or represented. We review the strengths and weaknesses of vatrious methods that have been used to elicit, represent, and analyze individual and team mental models and provide recommendations for method selection and development. We describe the nature of mental models and review techniques that have been used to elicit and represent them. We focus on a case study on selecting a method to examine team mental models in industry. The processes involved in the selection and development of an appropriate method for eliciting, representing, and analyzing team mental models are described. The criteria for method selection were (a) applicability to the problem under investigation; (b) practical considerations - suitability for collecting data from the targeted research sample; and (c) theoretical rationale - the assumption that associative networks in memory are a basis for the development of mental models. We provide an evaluation of the method matched to the research problem and make recommendations for future research. The practical applications of this research include the provision of a technique for analyzing team mental models in organizations, the development of methods and processes for eliciting a mental model from research participants in their normal work environment, and a survey of available methodologies for mental model research.

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Past research on vulnerability/resistance to occupational stress and strain has focused predominantly on personality defined at the trait or dispositional level (e.g. Type A Behaviour Pattern, Locus of Control, Dispositional Optimism and Negative Affectivity). This is problematic for two reasons. First, within the current, prevailing integrative view of personality there are three main elements: motivation, cognitions, and traits (Winter, 1996;McAdams, 2000). The second problem is that there are two branches that together define personality psychology as a discipline: (a) the nomothetic or 'individual difference' approach; and (b) the 'ideographic' approach, that is the structure and organization of personality at the individual level (Epstein, 1994), yet trait theory-and especially the 'Big Five' model-have paid little attention to the latter, a trend that is also evident in the occupational stress literature. The central thesis of the current paper is that motivation, cognitions and traits should contribute more variance to the stress-strain relationship than trait personality alone. A preliminary model is presented and recommendations for future research provided.

Research in employee participation has tended to focus on participation outcomes rather than the process of successful implementation, and to evaluate program success in terms of (a) employee attitudes (e.g. satisfaction) post-participation and (b) productivity or effectiveness. We argue that such approaches ignore the process component of successful implementation such as the long-term maintenance of interest in and support for participation among employees. A second problem is that although some research confronts this issue, the factors that moderate attitudes and perceptions of participation have not been examined in detail, nor acknowledged in current models of participation. Two projects are reported. The first examined the effect of seniority and training experience on personal support for participation, perceptions of program reputation and outcomes, and perceived organizational support for participation. Shop floor workers reported less personal support for employee participation and perceived less organizational support for participation than did special function workers and managers. Trainees held more positive perceptions of program outcomes, and they also reported more personal support for employee participation than did trained or untrained employees (regardless of seniority), although they perceived less organizational support for participation. The second study explored goal commitment in employee participation teams on the shop floor. Both prior team experience and task type predicted (perceived) status and influence within the team, which in turn predicted goal commitment. Teamwork training predicted perceived value of external relations, which in turn predicted goal commitment. Results are discussed in terms of implications for successful program implementation.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the notion of shared cognition and team mental models (Klimoski & Mohammed, 1994). While a number of techniques have been developed to measure mental model similarity dyadically, team mental model measurement has eluded researchers. This presents a problem for the evolution of the team mental model concept in psychology and the establishment of its validity, for example, as a predictor of team performance. The primary aim of this paper is to describe the application of randomization tests as a new method for measuring mental model similarity at the team-level, that is the measurement of team mental models.