The Impact of Communication on a Human-Agent Shared Mental Model and Team Performance

There is a growing interest in the use of heterogeneous teams comprised of humans and Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVAs). Human teamwork studies have provided cumulative knowledge about team features and performance; however, transfer of this knowledge to human-IVA teams is challenging. Novelly, this paper investigates the impact of multiple communication channels on the development and maintenance of a Shared Mental Model (SMM) between humans and IVAs. The results from two studies involving a collaborative activity show a significant positive relationship between the IVA's verbal and non-verbal communication and the development of a SMM related to taskwork and teamwork as perceived by the human teammate. Moreover, the results indicate that a SMM tends to improve overall team performance.