Teamwork Cognitive Diagnostic Modeling

Teamwork involves the collaboration of individuals to achieve shared goals that surpass individual capabilities. As a team-level construct, team cognition underpins effective teamwork by integrating individual expertise and shared understanding. Identifying the causes of inefficiencies or poor team performance is critical for implementing targeted interventions and fostering the development of team cognition. This study introduces and evaluates eight teamwork cognitive diagnostic models (TCDMs) designed to analyze teamwork response data, diagnose individual cognitive attributes, and assess teamwork quality. The models can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in team cognition and determine whether poor performance arises from cognitive deficiencies or collaborative issues. Two simulation studies were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the models under diverse conditions, followed by a teamwork reasoning task to demonstrate their application. The results showed that TCDMs achieve robust parameter estimation, effectively diagnose individual attributes, and assess teamwork quality while pinpointing the causes of poor performance. These findings underscore the utility of TCDMs in understanding, diagnosing, and improving team cognition, offering a foundation for future research and practical applications in teamwork-based assessments.