Defining Situation Awareness

The more I talk about situation awareness (SA) in the context of cyber security, the more I find myself drawn into conversations about the term. The most common challenge I face is the question of whether it is ‘situation awareness’ or ‘situational awareness’. This issue can be approached from a semantic, terminological or conceptual perspective. However, I will address this issue by making a subjective decision on this matter. This does not mean that the decision is right or wrong, or that it should be followed. It is simply my own decision.

So, what do we have on the table? The terms that one most commonly encounters in SA research are:

• Situation Awareness
• Situational Awareness
• Situation Assesment
• Situational Picture
• Common Operational Picture

Where do we get with this?

My best understanding

The terms situation awareness and situational awareness are often used interchangeably, but they can be distinguished conceptually. Situation awareness refers to the general cognitive capability through which individuals perceive elements in an operational environment, comprehend their meaning, and project their future status, as defined by Mica R. Endsley. By contrast, situational awareness refers to an individual’s understanding of a specific situation at a given moment. In this sense, it can be viewed as the realised understanding produced through the comprehension and projection phases of situational awareness. This is analogous to how the outcome of reasoning reflects the application of the underlying cognitive capability.

Definitions

To take all the terms into account, here is the full list of definitions as I understand them:

• Situation awareness refers to the cognitive capability or conceptual model describing how individuals perceive elements in an operational environment, comprehend their meaning, and project their future status in relation to operational goals.
• Situational awareness refers to the cognitive state of awareness regarding a specific situation, resulting from the perception of environmental elements, the comprehension of their relationships and significance, and the anticipation of their near-future development.
• Situation Assessment refers to the analytical process of interpreting available information to determine the current state of the operational environment and the significance of observed events.
• A Situational Picture is a structured representation or visualization of the operational environment created by integrating and processing information from multiple sources.
• A Common Operational Picture (COP) is a shared, standardized display of operational information that provides multiple stakeholders with a consistent view of the operational environment.

While not all the terms are always needed, the connection between them is presented as follows:

Situational Picture → COP → Situation Assessment → Situation Awareness → Situational Awareness

Why does any of this matter?

From a simple man’s perspective, the importance of defining these terms lies in the structure they create. When developing the components of SA and the relationships and interactions between them, clear definitions of the components are crucial. This structure is more than welcome when dealing with an issue the size of an elephant. Breaking down the development of cyber situational awareness into understandable areas is key, and therefore should be noted.

Final thoughts

I would like to remind you that this is my subjective decision, which is supported by some academic research and confirmation bias (<3). However, as someone who is committed to continuous learning, I want to be challenged. You can find my LinkedIn profile on the front page if you want to get in touch.

• Endsley, M. R. (1995). Toward a theory of situation awareness in dynamic systems. Human Factors, 37(1), 32–64.
• United States Department of Defence, U.S. Department of Defense. (2010). Joint Publication 1-02: Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms.
• Kott, A. (2014). Towards Fundamental Science of Cyber Situation Awareness. In Cyber Defense and Situational Awareness. Springer.