Trajectories of interbrain synchrony during teamwork: Links with team composition and performance

Abstract

Teamwork is a dynamic phenomenon that develops over time. Team cognition involved in teamwork is known to increase over successive task episodes. However, there is limited understanding of the trajectory of team cognition within a single task episode. The current functional near infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning study used interbrain synchrony (IBS) to investigate how team cognition develops throughout a task. The links of IBS trajectories with team personality composition and performance were also investigated. Results showed that (i) IBS did not significantly change over time within the sample; (ii) teams show significant differences in IBS trajectories; (iii) team personality did not predict IBS trajectories and; (iv) IBS trajectories did not predict team performance. While IBS was found to appear in our sample, these results warrant replication and additional research is required to better understand IBS trajectories, especially the heterogeneity across teams.