Representation of Cultural Role-Play for Training

Author: Thomas Santarelli, Aaron Pepe, Ph.D., Larry Rosenzweig, John Paulus, Ahn Na Yi

Date: 2010

Summary:
The Department of Defense (DoD) has utilized many methods for cultural training, one being role-playing. The DoD has shifted its conflict preparation, applying technology like virtual reality or Artificial Intelligence (AI), due to the importance of cultural and negotiations training. Role-playing exercises and focused training classes are implemented into these game-based practices. These methods have been employed at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and the National Training Center (NTC).

The authors discuss two computer-based interactions. The first, role-play through AI with cultural avatars. This gives the trainees a sense of cultural familiarization. The downside to this is that the characters are limited to adjust in different situations. The second involves multiplayer-enabled environments. This is a simulation where multiple human players are engaged, and each have their own avatar to represent in the role-play. The downfall to the game is its ineffectiveness in the use of live face-to-face training.

To address the game’s deficiencies, the authors give four ways to increase the effectiveness of the game-based training method.

1.       Conduct a literature review on potential risks and limitations to role-play in cross-cultural issues

2.       Develop effective role-play strategies to alleviate the challenges faced in the training

3.       Develop training materials to improve and modify both live and virtual role-play

4.       Conduct a pilot study to examine in contrast the trainee’s comfort in both role-play and live interactions.

The authors then give a summary of the literature. They begin by establishing four sections to focus their research on. Three of the areas cover issues regarding general issues in role-playing and the forth concerning game-based usage of role-playing. The research factored in “use of role-play to elicit cross-cultural behaviors, sociological and cultural issues related to group interactions” as well as “interactions involving verbal and non-verbal forms of communication” and finally the “use of game-environment as a mediating form of interaction.”

Table 1: Issues related to role-play in general

• ·         Role-play between cross-cultural users may require more preparation or practice than a culturally homogeneous group.
• ·         Lack of anonymity in face-to-face role-play may prevent engagement.
• ·         Large group size may cause social inhibition during role-play.
• ·         Role-play may represent a threatening context for some players to explore cultural issues.
• ·         Role-play can produce "high cognitive load," particularly for novices.

Table 2: Issues related to game-mediated role-play

• ·         Conveyance and interpretation of emotional disposition may not be intuitive.
• ·         Nonverbal behaviors may be difficult to map to physical and graphical control inputs.
• ·         Fidelity of visual avatars may not be adequate to convey required nonverbal communication in a game-mediated environment.
• ·         Cross-cultural user populations have culture-specific interpretation for use of color, user preferences, and icons.

The authors then provide the process in which they conducted a pilot, and present the results.  For each scenario a twenty-minute session was created that involved four participants, each having a role in both the live and game-mediated simulation. Both simulations involved “proper Mosque etiquette” where a U.S. Lieutenant was required to obtain information on a person of interest from a Sheikh and his nephew while respecting the environment. Three of the four participants spoke Arabic, while one did not. The live role-play was administered at a mosque, and the other virtually. Another role-player, who acted as a “director,” facilitated the scenario in case more dialogue needed to be added.

Results from the live role-play concluded that proper preparation is important for successful role-playing. Although it has some limitations, feedback from the game-based role-play resulted in positive reactions, including, engaging, realistic, and appropriate for training in this type of environment.

Critique:

The scenario created as an experiment was an interesting representation of a real-world situation. I do not have experience with role-playing for military scenarios, but I feel that virtual role-play is a useful method when trying to create a realistic environment for trainees. The authors did address how game-based simulations do lack the intuitiveness of a real situation. This is concerning because unexpected emotions that may arise in a real-world situation are not detected through game-based role-playing. However, the application of the AI seems to be a practical method since you are placed in a somewhat accurate setting. Although it allows for face-to-face interaction, an issue with live role-playing may make trainees uncomfortable which will result in the simulation not being taken seriously.