Cognitive Complexities Impacting Army Intelligence Analysis

Abstract

The primary goal of this effort was to understand the problems faced by military intelligence analysis personnel as well as how, and to what degree, the identification of these problems could guide the development of computational support systems. To develop this understanding, we performed a literature review, knowledge elicitation interviews and a cognitive task analysis (CTA) in the domain of Army Intelligence Analysis at the Brigade Combat Team. This effort consisted of identifying: (1) the major functions or cognitive tasks entailed in Army Intelligence Analysis; and (2) the complexities in the domain that pose challenges to performance of these cognitive tasks. Identifying the cognitive tasks and the challenges faced in performing those tasks provided a basis for determining opportunities for more effective support of human information processing and decision-making. In this paper, we document selected results of this analysis effort.

Complexities and Challenges in the Use of Bayesian Belief Networks: Informing the Design of Causal Influence Models

“…To develop an understanding of the user and the application domain to the design of software tools using BNs, we performed a number of knowledge elicitation interviews, multiple user observations, and a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA). These interviews and observations span numerous projects using BNs for a variety of applications such as the analysis of weather impacts (Roth et al, 2006), unmanned vehicle control (Pfautz et al, 2006a), military intelligence analysis (Pfautz et al, 2006b), and military command and control . Across these domains, we have totaled over 2000 hours with over 100 domain experts, working to encode their knowledge and develop automated systems, and/or provide tools that enable both them and us to express, verify, validate, and encode expert reasoning.…”