Group Processes & Intergroup Relations

Although much of the research on small groups in social psychology has emphasized cognitive, information-processing tasks (decision-making and problem solving), only recently have groups been conceptualized as information-processing systems. Partially due to this new conceptualization, group research is on the rise, yet much of this research is discipline specific. Few attempts have been made to integrate this research to provide common themes or frameworks across disciplinary boundaries. We propose that one potential unifying theme underlying much of the recent research on groups is ‘social sharedness’: the degree to which cognitions, preferences, identities, etc. are shared and are being shared within groups. Through a targeted review of the literature, we attempt to demonstrate that social sharedness is central to understanding group decision-making, provides a tie between past and current group research, and can serve a unifying function for future endeavors.

Findings in previous research on the effectiveness of computer brainstorming groups as compared to other kinds of brainstorming groups are equivocal with regard to the quantity and quality of idea production. Nevertheless, using computer-mediated communication is often recommended to enhance idea production in brainstorming groups. This recommendation is based on the assumption that reading others' ideas leads to mutual cognitive stimulation. To test this assumption, two conceptually similar experiments were run comparing two-member and four-member computer brainstorming groups with and without the opportunity to exchange ideas. Although in conditions with computer-mediated communication there should have been three times as much stimulation for individuals in four-member groups as compared to two-member groups, irrespective of group size neither quantity nor quality measures showed any improvement over conditions without computer-mediated communication. Instead, in both experiments, communication led to uniformity tendencies which lowered flexibility of idea production.

A dynamic model of group performance is suggested that combines the group learning approach and the combination of contributions approach. Three hypotheses are tested in two experiments, comparing individual training conditions with mixed group and individual training conditions on subsequent nominal and collective group performance of rule induction tasks under identical time constraints. As predicted, collective group performance improves as a function of group experience, nominal group performance improves as a function of improved individual resources for performing the task individually, and group experience reduces process losses by improving individuals’ ability to collaborate efficiently. Several experiments from the literature that address issues of group learning are analyzed in the light of the propositions made in the dynamic model. Overall, theoretical and experimental approaches to investigating group learning phenomena are discussed.

Given the importance of group decision-making for organizations, small group research finds itself challenged to contribute to a better understanding and management of the underlying processes. A multi-level interaction process analysis is presented considering group decision- making as a social interaction process. In an illustrative case study, the deliberation of a jury dramatized in the film ‘Twelve Angry Men’ is analyzed. The interactions are coded at the behavioral level using the Conference Coding System, distinguishing task-oriented, social- emotional and procedural aspects of social interaction. At the content level, the focus is on critical incidents in information exchange, looking for argumentational turning points, and critical points in decision-making. Different data analysis strategies are used to study the interaction process at the behavioral and content level and their interdependence. The results are interpreted in the context of different theories on group decision-making and several heuristic hypotheses about the process dynamics of group decision-making are derived.

The metaphor of groups as information processors has been gaining in popularity. If this metaphor’s utility is to be fully exploited, it is first necessary to distinguish - conceptually, theoretically, and empirically - when and how information processing in groups is any different from information processing in individuals. In this paper, several varieties or levels of group information processing are first conceptually distinguished. It is argued that differences between individual and group information processing which are manifest in differences between individual and group output are of greatest interest. However, it is further argued that such individual-group differences in output are not unfailing indicators of such interesting differences in processing. Two empirical illustrations are provided. It is further argued that (a) predictive models assuming little or no individual-group difference in information processing are particularly useful for detecting genuine instances of distinctive group information processing, and (b) that social combination models (such as Davis’ social decision scheme model, 1973) provide one particularly useful class of such models.