Examining the convergent validity of shared mental model measures

Despite widespread interest in shared mental models (SMMs) within teams and groups and an extensive empirical literature examining SMM?Cperformance links, very little is known about the convergent validity of commonly used measures of SMMs. In this study, two-person teams (n = 96) engaged in a complex flight task and completed three SMM measures: concept mapping, paired ratings, and causal mapping. Task-based sharedness scores were compared across the measures. Analyses were conducted in two ways: using SMMs of actual team members (n = 96 pairs) and using the SMMs of pairs of participants who worked separately but for whom similarity indices were calculated after the study (n = 18,240). The purpose of the latter pairs, coined pseudo-partners, was to create a sample with considerable power to test the convergent validity of the SMM measures. The results call into some question the convergent validity of these task-based SMM measures.