Cultural Research

Building on a review of the extant literature, this report presents a framework for cross-cultural competence in Army leaders that incorporates knowledge, skill, and affective components. The authors note the importance of culture-general competencies (as opposed to culture-specific knowledge) as well as personality variables as key contributors to performance in intercultural settings. Finally, the authors review current approaches to measuring cross-cultural competence, in addition to providing guidelines for education and training.

Reports the results of research aimed at addressing three specific questions posed by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC): “1) What do Army leaders need to know and understand about culture and identity?, 2) What traits and characteristics correlate with learning about and operating in different cultures?, 3) What is the relationship between language proficiency and cultural understanding, and to what extent does learning a second language affect learning other languages?” The study’s findings point to the importance of culture-general skills that are applicable to an array of cultural settings. A variety of person characteristics that contribute to cross-cultural competence are discussed.

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The data presented was collected at a Virtual Reality (VR) amusement center in Orlando, FL. This study is exploratory, i.e., an initial attempt to try and uncover factor(s) that may interact with age when determining user enjoyment of a VR ride. In addition, we measured each participant's state of wellbeing to see how the VR rides in the center impacted our participants. 28 people participated in the study. Three age groups, Young, Middle, and Old, were established from our sample (meanage = l1, 28, and 50, respectively). Significant correlation's between age and several survey questions were found. Although one person dropped out there were no significant differences in sickness scores, either between age groups or collapsed across groups.

Alrich, A. (2008, December).
  Framing the Cultural Training Landscape: Phase I Findings.
I DA Document D-3709. Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analyses.

This document was prepared by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) under IDA’s independent research program. The objective of this document is to describe the existing cultural awareness training programs, tools, and approaches in use or in development by military Services, as well as civilian organizations. This document examines the programs and tools in use, especially by the Army and Marine Corps, the ways in which the existing programs address the needs, what groups have access to these programs, the complex issues surrounding measures of effectiveness, and areas where there may be room for improvement. In surveying this landscape, this document also addresses issues surrounding definitions and prioritization of efforts, as well as areas of controversy.

Framing the Cultural Training Landscape: Phase I Findings

Abstract Only Increasingly, the United States Navy is operating within coalitions to achieve its military objectives. Reliance on combined operations necessitates effective training to address new operational requirements. Little work, however, has been done to establish best practices for using simulation-based coalition training. Team Learning Methodology (TLM) is described as one approach for effective coalition training in a distributed simulation environment. The TLM has already been successfully implemented across a variety of United States Navy (USN) sponsored R&D and acquisition efforts (Brewer, Baldwin-King, Beasley, & O'Neil, 2001). The TLM focus is on distributed team training with an emphasis on team performance and problem-solving. Implementing TLM for combined training requires the redefining of team parameters and training requirements to support coalition operations. The results are new training objectives and performance measures to support these requirements. This was a Phase II effort that built upon lessons learned during a Phase 1 demonstration of the "virtual" training of coalition forces at the 23rd Annual Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference. The TLM is herein described as it was applied to defining coalition training requirements, the development and implementation of training objectives, and the creation of performance measures and debriefing materials.

The initial literature review for Cross-Cultural Competencies by Dr. Peter Hancock, Dr. James Szalma and Marinus Van Driel. "As a first pass approximation, we expect that the primary dimension of military concern in respect of culture is the issue of readiness and associated performance response. Often, this will center on the issue of threat detection, threat assessment, and threat response. However, these are the proximate concerns and we are looking to explore the deeper dimensions which underlie these forms of crucial military capacity."

The baseline framework developed by Dr. Peter Hancock, Dr. James Szalma and Marinus Van Driel. "In order that military personnel be better armed to access this vital information (cross-cultural competencies) and are thus able to use it to enhance their probability of mission success, we need a science of cultural readiness. In this we need to identify and distill methods of measurement and assessment which allow us to capture and disseminate culturally-contingent information. It is to this end that the current program of research is directed and the present framework is presented."

The current report presents a brief overview of multi-level nature of cross-cultural competence as it applies to DoD operations. Specifically, cross-cultural competence is described as being rooted in individuals' understanding of their own culture, which is then developed and applied to broader levels of focus (e.g., military culture, international culture). Implications for DoD operations are also discussed.

Baseline Framework

McDonald, D. P., McGuire, G., Johnston, J., Selmeski, B., & Abbe, A. (2008).
  Developing and managing cross-cultural competence within the Department of Defense: Recommendations for learning and assessment.
RACCA Subgroup 2 Final Report

The Department of Defense (DoD) has recognized the critical need to improve Cross-Cultural Competence (3C) in military and civilian personnel. Informed DoD policy is needed to provide overarching guidance for 3C education, training, assessment, and institutional practices. As a result, the Defense Regional and Cultural Capabilities Assessment Working Group (RACCA WG) was convened to "establish a common terminology and typology for identifying, developing, measuring, and managing regional and cultural capabilities.? This report presents the findings and initial recommendations from the Subgroup 2 on a "cross-cultural developmental and assessment model for military and civilian generalists.“

RACCA Subgroup 2 Final Report

McDonald, D.P., Vincenzi, D.A., Maldoon, R.V., Tyler, R.R., Barlow, A. S., & Al-Awar Smither, J. (1998)
  Performance Differences Between Older and Younger Adults for a Virtual Environment Locomotion Task.
  Book chapter, pages 262-269. Book Title: Automation Technology and Human Performance by Scerbo, M.W., & Mouloua, M.

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The implementation of complex, and "intelligent" automated devices and machines in such domains as aviation, medicine, driving, and nuclear power has brought in its wake significant new-challenges-for those who work in human factors, cognitive science, and systems engineering. Recognizing the need for a better understanding of human interaction with complex and automated systems, The Third Automation Technology and Human Performance Conference was held in Norfolk, VA, in March 1998. The purpose of this meeting was to address both basic and applied research issues regarding automation technology across a variety of domains. The present report constitutes the proceedings from that meeting and includes sections human interaction with automated technology, driving systems and driver performance, air traffic control, adaptive automation, situation awareness, monitoring and vigilance, workload and fatigue, simulation technology, design and interface issues, and several others. It is expected that innovative experimental research and design standards presented in this report will play an important role in the development of future Naval systems.

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Ooink, B. (2008, November).
  The Cultural backpack. Training soldiers to operate in unfamiliar environments.

  Radboud University, Nijmegen Royal Netherlands Army.

The objective of this research is to determine whether the current cultural training programmes used by the Dutch military are effective. However, the variables used to measure the effectiveness of culture training programmes are not known. The research's first objective is to determine what the desired effects of cultural training are and then to use these variables to measure the effectiveness of the current cultural training programmes that are delivered to the Dutch soldiers going to Uruzgan in their pre-deployment phase.

Cultural Backpack

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Increasingly, the U.S. Army operates in multinational, and therefore, multicultural, environments. Teamwork within such settings requires the ability to see events as members of other cultures see them. The goal of the research was to define a set of multicultural perspective taking skills that will enable Army leaders to function effectively in multinational alliances.

The initial definition from interview data by Dr. Karol Ross and Carol Thornson. "Thus, we are undertaking a two-tiered approach to an operational definition of CCC by defining it both in terms of psychological variables and in relation to the unique performance challenges required in the context of mission performance.¹ We expect that we will find some constructs that lend themselves to self-report measurement via questionnaire administration and others that are skill-based behaviors and must be measured in a performance context (or at least with "performance-inspired" questionnaire items such as those found in Situational Judgment Tests or SJTs; e.g., Ascalon, 2005) to ensure that CCC is related to mission effectiveness."

¹ Only a preliminary set of interviews can be funded as part of this project. They will allow us to understand the nature of the challenges and competencies, but will not provide results that are extensive enough to fully develop a complete approach to performance-based assessment or a full model of performance-based competency.

The initial definition from a literature review by Dr. Karol Ross and Carol Thornson. "To develop a measurement tool, researchers must first engage in a conceptualization phase. Task 1 of the project, in which we identified measures of cross-cultural competence in the literature and examined their psychometric properties, addressed the first part of our conceptualization process. Here, we continue the conceptualization phase by examining the nature of existing constructs to come up with a definition of what exactly is to be measured."

The initial measures related to Cross-Cultural Competencies by Dr. Karol Ross and Carol Thornson. "The purpose of this task was to identify measures that are reliable and valid for the measurement of cultural competency. Thus, our approach was to identify existing measures in published peer-reviewed literature in order to understand the available instruments, the dimensions and constructs they measure, the purposes and previous uses of these metrics, and their reported psychometric properties. This document provides an overview of the project as a context for this task, provides the findings of this task, and discusses next steps in the project."

The human dimension comprises the moral, cognitive, and physical components of Soldier and organizational development and performance essential to raise, prepare, and employ the Army in full spectrum operations. This study seeks to identify things that must change to meet future challenges. To do this, Army concepts projects requirements from 2015 to 2024 and describe an operational and functional problem to be solved and then express how the future Modular Force will best operate within that set of challenges and environments.