Social and Behavioral Sciences

Kerry Buckley

Lindsley Boiney

In this issue of the EDGE, we report on some of the ongoing Social and Behavioral Science (SBS) projects at MITRE. SBS relies on an understanding of human behavior as it relates to perception, learning, beliefs, values, motivation, and intent. Beyond the individual, SBS encompasses the study of systems such as groups, organizations, societies, inter-group relationships, and the dynamics between people and their environment.

MITRE Chief Engineer Lou Metzger recently summed up the importance of our work in this crucial domain. "MITRE provides systems engineering to our customers to help them succeed. As we consider how to bring the best systems thinking to bear, often it's addressing non-technical considerations that can deliver the most improvement."

Our sponsors also realize the importance of accounting for the human factor in systems engineering. In recommending that the Pentagon double the research budget for the behavioral and social sciences, the 2007 National Research Council study Human Behavior in Military Contexts stated, "People are the heart of all military efforts... Scientific research on human behavior is crucial to the military because it provides knowledge about how people work together and use weapons and technology to extend and amplify their forces."

And CIA Director Michael Hayden, in describing his agency's shift away from the natural sciences toward social and cultural awareness and targeting, has said that "the success of American intelligence as a whole is going to be more dependent on our ability to comprehend the full dimension of the target, the full dimension of the situation."

An understanding of SBS is primarily derived from the scientific disciplines of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and social cognition. While the methods across the SBS disciplines may differ, the basic problem is the same—to describe and explain how and why people behave the way they do, including how and why they feel and think about things as they do.

In this issue, we describe how MITRE's growing application of SBS is yielding benefits for our sponsors and our nation.

—Kerry Buckley & Lindsley Boiney

For more information, please contact Kerry Buckley and Lindsley Boiney using the employee directory.

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