The Group Synergy Metric: Quantifying Teamwork in Triads via Wearable EEG and Total Correlation

Abstract

Effective teamwork monitoring is critical in operational environments, yet current EEG hyperscanning is often limited to dyads and strict synchronization. This study introduces the Group Synergy Metric (GSM), an Information Theoretic framework based on Total Correlation, designed to quantify cooperation in triads using wearable EEG. Unlike traditional coherence, GSM captures non-linear dependencies in mental states (Workload, Approach-Withdrawal) without requiring strict temporal alignment. Triads performed a modified cooperative game ("Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes") across Training, Solo, and Teamwork conditions of varying difficulty. Results demonstrated the GSM’s sensitivity to group dynamics (ANOVA, p < 0.001). Post-hoc analyses revealed that the Training phase elicited the highest synergy, while the Solo condition showed significantly reduced values compared to cooperative scenarios. An analysis of teamwork density over time showed sensitivity to task difficulty highlighting higher density in the training phase. Despite limitations regarding entropy estimation on short windows, these finding benchmark the discriminative power of the proposed index, despite theoretical limitations, verifying if it maintains the robustness necessary to distinguish not only between Cooperative and Solo conditions but also among different degrees of task difficulty.

Keywords: Teamwork, Information Theory, Neurophysiological Signals, EEG

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1007515