Situational load and personal attributes: Implications for cognitive readiness, adaptive readiness, and training

Abstract

In this chapter, we argue that adaptive performance situations will vary in terms of their cognitive, social, and emotional loads. Accordingly, success in such situations will require varying degrees of not just cognitive readiness but social and emotional readiness as well. Cognitive, social, and emotional elements of adaptive readiness reflect different sets of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and competencies. Overall adaptive readiness will depend upon the combination of KSAs that corresponds to the load mix in a particular situation. Accordingly, in a situation with high cognitive social and emotional load, cognitive readiness will not be enough to ensure overall operational effectiveness. Finally, different training strategies will be needed to foster cognitive, social, and emotional readiness. We describe some of the KSAs associated, respectively, with cognitive, social, and emotional readiness, along with corresponding training strategies.