Neurocognitive Engineering for Systems’ Development - Neurotechnology in National Security and Defense - page 43

suggest the need for, and perhaps the basis of, plausible engineering solutions that are
directed at developing integrated systems that accommodate and maximize individual
structure-function relationships in the brain (for a recent discussion, see Vettel et al. 2014).
TRAINING, EXPERTISE, AND EXPOSURE
Individual differences between operators, such as those associated with the related
factors of training, expertise, and exposure, can change how an individual processes
information and makes decisions. An example of this is how people “naturally” envi-
sion force and motion. Research has indicated that people who have formal education in
Newtonian physics can understand motion differently than neophyte physics students,
who generally have a naïve “impetus” view of motion (Clement 1982; Mestre 1991).
The concept appears to be related to differences in the neural processing involved
with learned knowledge versus simple “beliefs” about physics (Dunbar et al. 2007).
From this example, one can see the potential for different system designs to alter the
cognitive processing associated with performance; if the system is inconsistent with
the operator's view of the world, different and perhaps increased neural resources will
be required to complete tasks. This possibility has been supported by research show-
ing distinct neural and time factors involved in skill acquisition (Chein and Schneider
2005; Kerick et al. 2004; Poldrack et al. 2005). Further, these studies provide insights
into the ways that future systems might employ neuroscience-based technologies to
assess and adapt to how an operator “naturally” interacts with the system.
Both training and expertise are related, in part, to exposure. Many national security
technologies are envisioned that may have unique aspects to which operators have not
been previously exposed. Thus, while they may have been trained on related technolo-
gies, even with extensive exposure, many operators may never achieve expert levels of
performance with new technology. It is known that exposure to an enriched environ-
ment produces changes in synaptic growth, brain morphology, and neurochemistry,
as well as behavior (van Praag et al. 2000). Studies have shown positive effects of
exposure to multiple channels of stimuli (e.g., audio, visual, and tactile, as compared
to unimodal stimuli) in the performance of single tasks (Seitz et al. 2006, 2007).
However, unintended and interference effects of multimodal stimuli have also been
shown (Shams et al. 2002). This latter finding highlights a possible negative effect of
learning: the strength of past events may influence future perceptions when conditions
are sufficiently similar. This illustrates that an operator's expected exposure to a given
technology must be considered in system design and gives insights into potential sys-
tem designs that might be utilized to predict operator perceptual biases over time and
to adapt to and eliminate these potentially negative effects.
FUTURE APPLICATIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS
To be sure, recent advances in neurotechnology are enabling understandings of
neurocognitive functioning in ways, and within environments, that are highly rele-
vant to national security. This is prompting neurocognitive engineering approaches to
materiel development that has the potential to revolutionize human-system design(s).
One of the primary capabilities afforded by these advances is the leveraging of