Cited by 85Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesStress and Burnout ResearchResilience and Mental Health

Metacognition, Hardiness, and Grit as Resilience Factors in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Operations: A Simulation Study

Open access
Matthews, Gerald, Panganiban, April Rose, Wells, Adrian, Wohleber, Ryan W., Reinerman-Jones, Lauren E.·2019·Frontiers in Psychology

Abstract

Operators of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) face a variety of stress factors resulting from both the cognitive demands of the work and its broader social context. Dysfunctional metacognitions including those concerning worry may increase stress vulnerability, whereas personality traits including hardiness and grit may confer resilience. The present study utilized a simulation of UAS operation requiring control of multiple vehicles. Two stressors were manipulated independently in a within-subjects design: cognitive demands and negative evaluative feedback. Stress response was assessed using both subjective measures and a suite of psychophysiological sensors, including the electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and hemodynamic sensors. Both stress manipulations elevated subjective distress and elicited greater high-frequency activity in the EEG. However, predictors of stress response varied across the two stressors. The Anxious Thoughts Inventory (AnTI: Wells, 1994) was generally associated with higher state worry in both control and stressor conditions. It also predicted stress reactivity indexed by EEG and worry responses in the negative feedback condition. Measures of hardiness and grit were associated with somewhat different patterns of stress response. In addition, within the negative feedback condition, the AnTI meta-worry scale moderated relationships between state worry and objective performance and psychophysiological outcome measures. Under high state worry, AnTI meta-worry was associated with lower frontal oxygen saturation, but higher spectral power in high-frequency EEG bands. High meta-worry may block adaptive compensatory effort otherwise associated with worry. Findings support both the metacognitive theory of anxiety and negative emotions (Wells and Matthews, 2015), and the Trait-Stressor-Outcome (TSO: Matthews et al., 2017a) framework for resilience.

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Crossref · 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00640

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  • High operational capabilities and performance during contemporary conflict environments are decisive factors in modern warfare.

    “High operational capabilities and performance during contemporary conflict environments characterized by cognitive warfare, uncertainty and unpredictability, including high-intensity, hybrid and information-driven operations, are decisive factors in modern warfare (Matthews et al., 2019; National Research Council, 2015; Smith et al., 2019; Vernon et al., 2007).”

    From Enhancement of modern defense capabilities by convergence of cognitive neuroscience and artificial intelligence (2026) · cites this paper as Matthews et al., 2019

    The Introduction describes cognitive demands in military UAS operations, and the Results report that increased demand impaired aspects of operator performance. The paper does not establish that operational capability and performance are decisive in modern warfare, or address high-intensity, hybrid, and information-driven conflict as a whole. The passages in our copy have no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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3 of the 85 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 7

  1. Boussemart Y. Cummings M. L. (2008). “Behavioral recognition and prediction of an operator supervising multiple heterogeneous unmanned vehicles,” in Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Humans Operating Unmanned Systems (HUMOUS), Brest.
  2. Carroll M. Winslow B. Padron C. Surpris G. Wong J. Squire P. (2014). “Inducing stress in warfighters during simulation-based training,” in Proceedings of the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL.
  3. Matthews G. Wohleber R. Lin J. (in press). “ Stress, skilled performance, and expertise: Overload and beyond,” in Oxford Handbook of Expertise, eds Ward P. Schraagen J. M. Gore J. Roth E. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press).
  4. Watson D. (2000). Mood and Temperament. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  5. Wells A. (2000). Emotional Disorders and Metacognition: Innovative Cognitive Therapy. New York, NY: Wiley.
  6. Wells A. Matthews G. (2015). Attention and Emotion: A Clinical Perspective (Classic Ed.). New York, NY: Psychology Press.
  7. Zeidner M. (1998). Perspectives on Individual Differences. Test Anxiety: The State of the Art. New York, NY: Plenum Press.

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Authors
Matthews, G., Panganiban, A. R., Wells, A., Wohleber, R. W., & Reinerman-Jones, L. E.
Affiliations
  • University of Central Florida (US)
  • United States Air Force Research Laboratory (US)
Corresponding author
Matthews, Gerald
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Published
2019-03-26
Volume
10
Pages
640-640
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2922987859
Cited by
85
References
85
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1
FWCI
17.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Army Research Laboratory
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
Keywords
metacognition, hardiness, grit, resilience, unmanned aerial systems, occupational stress, cognitive demand, meta-worry, stress reactivity

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