| Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, Vol. 21, Iss. 2, Apr, 2017, pp. 217-250 @2017 Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences Performance and Participation Dynamics in an Emergency Response Simulation Abstract: This study examined relationships between participation and performance
within a team and performance transfer effects between opponents in an
Emergency Response (ER) simulation. Classical organizational theories have
emphasized the importance of group participation for organizational performance,
but there have been few or no attempts to investigate participation-performance
relationships in short-interval time series. The experimental task was a Stag Hunt game,
as defined in game theory; performance trends would be affected by
levels of participation, which in turn should be affected by recent
performance experiences that modulate the players' self-efficacy for the task.
Participants were 62 undergraduates who were organized into 11 teams
of 3 or 4 members playing an ER board game against one attacker.
Time series analyses were conducted through nonlinear regression
with exponential structural equations and by linear analyses for comparison.
Results showed that performance time series of one opponent did not affect the other
for teams of this size. Teams showed higher levels of adaptability compared to
attackers, as evidenced by higher Lyapunov exponents. Performance affected
group participation levels more so than the other way around. There appeared to be
emergent group dynamics occurring between two experimental sessions that moderated
the validity of the core linear and nonlinear models. Emergent group properties are
one of several possible directions for further investigation within this
experimental paradigm. Nonlinear models were more accurate than linear models after
correcting for correlated residuals. Keywords: Stag Hunt, game theory, team performance, participation, Lyapunov exponent, replication |