Does team training save lives? A new science gives it a rigorous evaluation

Whether the task is flying a plane, fighting a battle, or caring for a patient, good teamwork is crucial to getting it done right. That's why team-building and training courses are big business in the U.S., and have been for decades. But lately something has changed: "There's a demand for evaluations—an emphasis on showing that team training makes a difference in safety, decision-making, communication, clinical outcomes—you name the ultimate criteria the industry has," says Eduardo Salas, an organizational psychologist at the University of Central Florida.

The answer to that demand is the subject of a new article in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a publication of the Association for Psychological Science. Eurekalert!