24 September 2010Dan M. Davis

For J. Curiel and L. Davis

(310) 448-8434ddavis@isi.edu

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

HITL and Metacognition: Self Analysis and HITL and Metacognition: Self Analysis and Leadership Enhancement During Leadership Enhancement During

SimulationsSimulations

Overview

• Introduction

• Metacognition

• Role in military operations

• Battlefield simulation and large-scale

environments

• Potential uses of metacognition in defense

• Summary

Basic Concept

Metacognition: Key factor in effective leadershipThis understanding of one’s cognitive filters is critical Facilitates situation awareness: effectively achieving,

rapidly internalizing and practically employing itHistorical anecdotes support this assertion. Human-In-The- Loop (HITL) events and experiments at

the Joint Forces Command's Joint Concept Development and Experimentation Directorate show potential

Immersion of participants yield insightsAnalyses of the metacognitive schema are possibleDesign of instruments to investigate these issues and

analyses of event data are possible

Metacognition and John H. Flavell

Metacognition: the knowledge of one's own cognitive and affective processes and states as well as the ability to consciously and deliberately monitor and regulate those processes and states

Metacognition in Military Settings

Clausewitz – his treatises on military genius seem to presage a metacognitive approach

Mahan – Albert T. Mahan expanded the intellectual reach of military thought to new vistas

Rommel – Feldmarschall Rommel spends some significant time discussing a leader’s state of mind and leading by spirited example, even when wounded

Scales - MGen Bob Scales, in his PhD dissertation describes how the British allowed their own metacognition to be constrained by action in small “colonial wars” so were ill-prepared for WWI.

… but not Sun Tzu - who is too enshrouded in mythology and hyperbole to warrant analysis

Metacognition Flow Diagram

Simulations through History

CompetitionsChessTournamentsWar Games“Sand Box” ExercisesLink TrainersComputer Generated ForcesCommon CharacteristicsVarying realism

Typical Scene From America’s Army

Use of Large-Scale Simulations with HITl

Work for U.S. Joint Forces CommandOn-going for last ten yearsMostly used for Analysis and EvaluationSome opportunities for TrainingSome fo the training has been

ex temporecoincidental with analysisilluminating

Allows participants to examine their own reactionsLt General quoted as saying:

“May be only time in my career to command Division-sized operation.”

JFCOM Net for Trans-Continental Simulation

Up to 1500 participants have been part of one simulation.Could be literally international and support deployed troop

Evolution of the Use of SAFs

Groups of Tank TrainersUse Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) StandardFocused on T-72s coming through the Fulda GapGenerals wanted O(50K) entities: tanks, trucks and troopsNetwork of Workstations could do a tenth of thatCaltech/USC Work showed could do 100K on HPC ClusterNot implemented because problem changedNow in urban areas (Baghdad)

few thousand troops and vehiclesfew hundred opposing forcesmillions of Civilians

Required even more powerNetwork of clusters and GPGPUs achieved goalNow using HLA-RTI variants

PerspectiveEntity Growth vs. Time

Nu

mb

er

an

d

Com

ple

xit

y o

f JS

AF

En

titi

es

JSAF/SPP Joshua (2008)

10,000,010,000,00000

UE 98-1

(1997)

JSAF/SPP Capability (2006)

JSAF/SPP Urban

Resolve (2004)

JSAF/SPP

Tests (2004)

J9901 (1999)

SAF Expres

s (1997)

3,600 3,600 12,000 12,000 107,00107,00

0 0

AO-00 (2000)

50,000 50,000

1,400,001,400,00

1,000,001,000,0000

250,000250,000

SPP Proof of Principle DARPA / Caltech

Experiments continue to require orders of magnitude larger &

more complex battlespaces

SCALEand FIDELITY

DC Clusters at MHPCC & ASCMSRC

DHPI GPU-

Enhanced Cluster

Learning via HITL for MetaCognitive (MC) Insights

HITL Battlespace Simulations and MetaCognitive learning are “made for each other”

HITL design allows ability to adjust : pace contentcontextrisk level

Decrease in perceived risk level increases:learner engagementperformanceevaluation of method effectiveness

Joshua DHPI

20 of 28 racks

Design and Sensitivities of HITL/MC System

Guidelines for design are extant and need to be implemented for:creating effective learning environments providing explicit experienceenabling analysis of personal processes

mental awarenessself-management

Should be sensitive to : individual learneractual field applicationcultural relevance

Military Benefits: HITL/MC Training EnvironmentsMilitary context requires features

ability to engage trainees in realistic scenariosallow trainees to view their thought processes

to:learn

recognize

analyze

This can be done without the loss of lifecollateral damagecivilian casualties, damage to material expenditure of energy resources

Unique CapabilitiesComputer HITL simulations provide unique

data:to the trainee to the mentorto the analyst

Available in: real time after action reporting

Can Show:trainee reactionsbehaviorslikely impacts on known combat situations.

Conclusions

Computer aided training featuring HITL interactivity holds the promise of improving a number of training processes. JFCOM’s simulations have demonstrated some of these capabilities. Metacognition is a critical new field of study is of putative interest to the military command structure. HITL training shows some really unique capabilities that should be implemented.

This material is based on research sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command via a contract with the Lockheed Martin Corporation and SimIS, Inc., and on research sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory under agreement numbers F30602-02-C-0213 and FA8750-05-2-0204. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Governmental purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation thereon. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

Research Funded by JFCOM and AFRL