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Strengthening Human Adaptive Reasoning and Problem-Solving (SHARP) Program - Call for Proposals

Synopsis:

Adaptive reasoning and problem-solving (ARP) are increasingly valuable for information-oriented workplaces, where inferences from sparse, voluminous, or conflicting data must be drawn, validated, and communicated-often under stressful, time-sensitive conditions. In such contexts, an ability to apply inductive and deductive reasoning to complex, ambiguous and/or novel problems is critical. Accordingly, optimizing an analyst's adaptive reasoning could pay large dividends in the quality of their analytic conclusions and information products. Given adaptive reasoning tests' high predictive value for performance and productivity, proven methods for strengthening adaptive reasoning and problem-solving could have significant benefits for society in general, as well as for individuals whose work is both analytical and cognitively demanding. Intriguingly, some recent research suggests that these capabilities may be strengthened, even among high-performing adults. Despite some promising results, however, there are methodological and practical shortcomings that currently limit the direct applicability of this research for the Intelligence Community.

Therefore, the Strengthening Human Adaptive Reasoning and Problem-Solving (SHARP) Program is seeking to fund rigorous, high-quality research to address these limitations and advance the science on optimizing human adaptive reasoning and problem-solving. The goal of the program is to test and validate interventions that have the potential to significantly improve these capabilities, leading to improvements in performance for high-performing adults in information-rich environments. The research funded in this program will use innovative and promising approaches from a variety of fields with an emphasis on collecting data from a set of cognitive, behavioral, and biological outcome measures in order to determine convergent validity of successful approaches.

The SHARP Program will consist of two phases. The primary goal of each phase is to test the effectiveness of theory- and evidence-based interventions to improve ARP in high-performing adults, while measuring these changes and their underlying mechanism(s). For both Phases 1 and 2, performers will aim to demonstrate that subjects receiving the intervention(s) produce substantial improvement on valid measures of ARP through comparing intervention conditions to active control conditions on post-intervention scores, controlling for pre-intervention (baseline) differences in ARP. Effect size targets are set for each phase and will increase from Phase 1 to Phase 2. Additionally, in Phase 2 performers will explore methods to tailor interventions to account for individual differences.

For more information, visit http://www.iarpa.gov/Programs/sc/SHARP/solicitation_sharp.html

POC: Dr. Adam Russell, Program Manager, dni-iarpa-baa-13-06@iarpa.gov