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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive and original review of the theoretical development of the individual operational cognitive readiness (OCR) theory. BACKGROUND: Cognitive readiness (CR) is a concept that has the potential to predict the performance of human individuals and teams prior to engaging in complex, dynamic, and resource-limited task environments. However, the current state of the literature is confusing and laborious, with heterogeneous views regarding the theoretical frameworks among leading researchers. METHOD: This review (1) undertakes a systematic approach toward categorizing published CR literature into theoretical and measurement contributions across the different levels of CR, (2) carries a critical evaluation of the CR and OCR theoretical frameworks, and (3) provides directions for future research guided by gaps identified during the review process and other published literatures. RESULTS: Results from the categorization of published CR literature provide a new, valuable, synthesized CR library for researchers to consult to streamline their CR literature review process. Critical examination of the CR and OCR theoretical frameworks leads to positing that new components should be explored for OCR. CONCLUSION: There are many possible directions for future research including evaluating domain-independent components of OCR and evaluating the relationship between biofeedback measures and performance in CR models. APPLICATION: The Defense domain continues to be the focal application of CR. However, CR could be used by other application domains, such as sports and emergency services, that require their working personnel to engage in complex, uncertain, and dynamic task environments.

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Dynamic resilience is a novel concept that aims to quantify how individuals are coping while operating in dynamic and complex task environments. A recently developed dynamic resilience measure, derived through autoregressive modeling, offers an avenue toward dynamic resilience classification that may yield valuable information about working personnel for industries such as defense and elite sport. However, this measure classifies dynamic resilience based upon in-task performance rather than self-regulating cognitive structures; thereby, lacking any supported self-regulating cognitive links to the dynamic resilience framework. Vagally mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) parameters are potential physiological measures that may offer an opportunity to link self-regulating cognitive structures to dynamic resilience given their supported connection to the self-regulation of stress. This study examines if dynamic resilience classifications reveal significant differences in vagal reactivity between higher, moderate and lower dynamic resilience groups, as participants engage in a dynamic, decision-making task. An amended Three Rs paradigm was implemented that examined vagal reactivity across six concurrent vmHRV reactivity segments consisting of lower and higher task load. Overall, the results supported significant differences between higher and moderate dynamic resilience groups' vagal reactivity but rejected significant differences between the lower dynamic resilience group. Additionally, differences in vagal reactivity across vmHRV reactivity segments within an amended Three Rs paradigm were partially supported. Together, these findings offer support toward linking dynamic resilience to temporal self-regulating cognitive structures that play a role in mediating physiological adaptations during task engagement.