Group Dynamics Test 4

teams

a unified, structured group that pursues collective goals through coordinated, interdependent interaction

transitive memory processes

Information to be remembered is distributed to various members of the group who can then be relied upon to provide that information when it is needed.

free riding

Contributing less to a collective task when one believes that other group members will compensate for this lack of effort.

Who created the task circumflex model?

Joseph McGrath

ad hoc teams

Teams, usually of limited duration, formed by selecting members from a pool of eligible and available prospective members; also known as knots.

law of triviality

The amount of time a group spends on discussing any issue will be in inverse proportion to the consequentiality of the issue.

group affective tone

The collective emotional mood of a group.

planning fallacy

The tendency for individuals and groups to underestimate the time, energy, and means needed to complete a planned project successfully.

group polarization

The tendency for members of a deliberating group to move to a more extreme position, with the direction of the shift determined by the majority or average of the members' predeliberation preferences.

sucker effect

The tendency for members to contribute less to a group endeavor when they expect that others will think negatively of those who work too hard or contribute too much (considering them to be a "sucker").

Ringelmann Effect

The tendency, first documented by Max Ringelmann, for people to become less productive when they work with others; this loss of efficiency increases as group size increases, but at a gradually decreasing rate.

Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM)

The use of information technologies, such as computer networks, to track, analyze, and report information about workers' performance.

organizational trust model

a theory of trust in groups and organizational settings that assumes people's trust in others is based on perceptions of ability, benevolence, and integrity

People are more likely to regard the decision as a fair one if the decisional procedure are implemented...

a) consistently b) without self-interest c) on the basis of accurate information d) with the opportunities to correct the decision e) with the interests of all concerned parties represented f) following moral and ethical standards

persuasive-argument theory

as explanations of polarization in groups assuming that group members change their opinions during group discussion, generally adopting the position favored by the majority of the members, because the group can generate more arguments

Why does social facilitation occur?

because humans respond in predictable ways wen joined by other members of their species

How can a group's potential productivity (PP) be predicted?

by determining if its resources match the requirements

executive teams & command teams

carry out both management and leadership functions within an organization

The organization that tries to improve the effectiveness of its teams by using team-building activities as backpacking together or climbing a ropes course is focusing not he team's - team learning rates - action processes, such as system monitoring - shared mental model - degree of cohesion - mission analysis and goal specification

degree of cohesion

as a form of normative influence...

discussions give members the chance to influence each other's opinions on the issue

A collective information-processing model of group decisions making assumes that - groups are motivated to make good decisions - groups seek out and process information in order to formulate decisions - group members are instinctively driven to acquire as much information as possible - decision making errors are most often the result of affective processes - groups select for cognitive content and filter out affective content

groups seek out and process information in order to formulate decisions

self-managing teams

have autonomy; they are charged with both executing the task and managing the team's work

self-designing teams

have the authority to change the ream itself

which one of the following increases social loafing? - involvement in the task - low evaluation apprehension - trust in fellow group members - identifiability - task complexity

low evaluation apprehension

sins of omission

overlooking useful information

sins of imprecision

relying inappropriately on mental rules of thumb, or heuristics, that oversimplify the decision

sins of commission

the misuse of information

Steve Rogelberg

- explored the downside of meetings by asking workers in England, Australia, and the United States about their involvement in meetings and to rate them of a scale from 1 (extremely ineffective) to 5 (extremely effective) - people who thought their meetings were effective felt more enthusiastic about their work, more satisfied and more productive

Four types of goals

- generating ideas/plans: groups concoct the strategies they will use to accomplish their goals or create altogether new ideas and approaches to their problems - choosing a solution: groups make decisions about issues that have correct solutions or questions that can be answered in many ways - negotiating a solution to a conflict: groups resolve differences of opinions among members regarding their goals or decisions or settle competitive disputes among members - executing (performing) a task: groups do thinks, including taking part in competitions or creating some product or carrying out collective actions

orientation stage

- group reviews its objectives and organizes the procedures it will use in its work - members clarify groups goals, identify resources needed, enumerate obstacles that must be overcome or avoided, specify the procedures to be followed in gathering information and making the decision, and agree on procedure to follow during the meeting - by the end of the orientation phase, the group should understand its purpose, procedures, and the tasks that it will undertake

averaging

- groups make decisions by combining each individual's preference using some type of computational procedure - each member would make his/her decision individually, and these private recommendations could then be averaged to yield a group decision - If the group averages without discussion, biases and inaccuracies introduced during the discussion may skew the group's conclusions

the input-process-output (I-P-O)

- inputs: include any antecedent factors that may influence, directly or indirectly, the team members and the team itself - processes: operations and activités that mediate the relationship between the input factors and the team's outcomes - outputs: consequences of the team's activities

advisory teams

- investigatory teams - tasked to examine both routine and unanticipated problems related to the organization's structure and functioning

voting

- members express their individual preferences publicly or, to reduce social pressure, by secret ballot - in some cases, the group selects the alternative favored by the majority of the members, or a two-thirds majority - some groups also use ranking methods with more points awarded to alternatives that are ranked higher than others - the group's decision rule may give single individuals the authority to rule against any impending decision

transitional processes

- mission analysis: focuses on the current situation; the tasks/subtasks that must be completed, the resources available to the team, and any environmental conditions that a may influence the team's work - goal specification: identification and prioritization of goals and subgoals for mission accomplishment - strategy formulation: development of alternative courses of action for mission accomplishment and identification of the sequence in which subtasks will be completed

action processes

- monitoring progress toward goals: members implicitly check their own actions as well as those performed by others - systems monitoring: keeping track of the resources, time, or even energy - team monitoring and backup behavior: occurs when one member of the team delivers assistance to another member, simply because that team member needs help - coordination: involves a change in the behaviors of the team members so that each one's action mesh with other's actions, resulting in synchrony

Which finding is most consistent with Zajonc's com presence hypothesis

- people perform simple tasks better even when the person who is present ignores them

reaching consensus

- people usually express more satisfaction with this procedure than any other decision-making method - groups often prefer to reach consensus on questions that require sensitive judgments, but they favor a majority-rule voting scheme on problem-solving - consensus has long-term positive effects on performance

avoidance tactics

- procrastination: the group postpones the decision rather than studying alternatives and arguing their relative merits - bolstering: the group quickly but arbitrarily formulates a decision without thinking things through completely and then bolsters the preferred solution by exaggerating the favorable consequences and minimizing the importance and likelihood of unfavorable consequences - denying responsibility: he group avoids taking responsibility by delegating the decision to a subcommittee or by diffusing the accountability throughout the entire assembly - muddling through: the group muddles through the issue by consider "only a very narrow range of policy alternatives that differ to only a small degree from the existing policy" - Satisficing: "what satisfies will suffice"; members accept a low-risk, easy solution instead of searching for the best solution - trivializing the discussion: groups obey Parkinson's laws by spending most of their time on trivial issues and too little time on important, consequential ones

service teams and production teams

- responsible for the organization's tangible output

cognitive processes

- teams need to spend time working together before they jell into an effective working unit - teams need time to develop transitive memory systems

How can groups avoid shared information bias?

- they spend more time actively discussing their decisions - increase the diversity - emphasize the importance of dissent - introduce the discussion as a new topic rather than a return to a previously discussed them

James Blascovich

- verified that an audience triggers increases in cardiac and vascular reactivity - discovered that this arousal was physiologically very different when people worked on an easy task rather than on a hard one (when the task was easy, people displayed a challenge response - when the task was difficult, people displayed a threat response - they appeared to be stressed rather than ready for effective action)

two factors contribute the the Abilene paradox

1) Abilene group suffered from a severe case of pluralistic ignorance 2) the group committed to its decision quickly and did not reconsider its choice when negative consequences mounted

Technique requires an open discussion of 4 basic rules

1) be expressive: express any idea that comes to mind, no matter how strange, wild, or fanciful - do not be constrained or timid - freewheel whenever possible 2) postpone evaluation: do not evaluate any of the ideas in any way during the idea-generation phase - all ideas are valuable 3) seek quantity: the more ideas, the better - quantity is desired, for it increases the possibility of finding an excellent solution 4) piggyback ideas: because all ideas belong to the group, members should try to modify and extend others' ideas whenever possible - brainstorming is consisted in a group so that participants can draw from one another

Two sources for reduction in productivity

1) coordination losses 2) motivation losses

What are the two basic causes go group performance that Steiner's theory of group productivity pinpoints?

1) group may lack the resources it needs to complete the particular task it is attempting 2) Even if the group has potential to be successful the group may not use its resources effectively

Why are crowds wiser than individuals?

1) the compensatory method is relative moue to group process loss caused by poor coordination, loafing, or undue influence of the persuasive but unwise 2) a statistically derived group score is more accurate because it is based on multiple measures

nominal groups

A collection of individuals that meets only the most minimal of requirements to be considered a group and so is a group in name only; in studies of performance, a control or baseline group created by having individuals work alone and then pooling their products.

functional theory of group decision making

A conceptual analysis of the steps or processes that groups generally follow when making a decision, with a focus on the intended purpose of each step or process in the overall decision-making sequence.

collective information processing model

A general theoretical explanation of group decision making assuming that groups use communication and discussion among the members to gather and process the information needed to formulate decisions, choices, and judgments.

Delphi Technique

A group performance method that involves repeated assessment of members' opinions via surveys and questionnaires as opposed to face-to-face meetings.

nominal group technique (NGT)

A group performance method wherein a face-to-face group session is prefaced by a nominal-group phase during which individuals work alone to generate ideas.

Group-centrism

A group-level syndrome caused by members' excessive strivings to maintain and support their group's unity that results in perturbations in a group's decision-making capability and intergroup relations.

crew resource management (CRM)

A human factors training program, originally developed in the aviation industry, designed to improve crew coordination and efficiency through structured training in teamwork and communication skills and resource, time, and workload management.

production blocking

A loss of productivity that occurs when group and procedural factors obstruct the group's progress toward its goals, particularly when individuals in a brainstorming session are delayed in stating their ideas until they can gain the floor and when group members are distracted by others' ideas and so generate fewer of their own.

intellective tasks

A project, problem, or other type of task with results that can be evaluated objectively using some normative criterion, such as a mathematics problem with a known solution or the spelling of a word.

Choice-Dilemmas Questionnaire

A self-report measure of willingness to make risky decisions; respondents indicate what the odds of success would have to be before they would recommend the course of action.

maximizing tasks

A task or project that calls for a high rate of production

optimizing tasks

A task or project that has a best solution and outcome, thus the quality of the group's performance can be judged by comparing the product to a quality-defining standard.

disjunctive tasks

A task or project that is completed when a single solution, decision, or recommendation is adopted by the group. - requires discussion and decisions

real teams model

A theoretical analysis of teams that identifies key factors that distinguish effective teams from other collective enterprises, including a compelling direction, an enabling structure, a supportive context, and effective leadership.

Collective Effort Model (CEM)

A theoretical explanation of group productivity that traces losses of productivity in groups to diminished expectations about successful goal attainment and the diminished value of group goals.

KSAs

Acronym for knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that are needed to complete a job or task successfully

Steiner's theory of group productivity

Actual productivity (AP) = Potential productivity (PP) - Process loss (PL) AP = PP - PL

evaluation apprehension theory

An analysis of performance gains in groups arguing that individuals working in the presence of others experience a general concern for how these others are evaluating them and that this apprehension facilitates their performance on simple, well-learned tasks.

self-presentation theory

An analysis of performance gains in groups assuming that social facilitation is caused by individuals striving to make a good impression when they work in the presence of others.

distraction-conflict theory

An analysis of performance gains in groups assuming that when others are present, attention is divided between the other people and the task; this attentional conflict increases motivation, and it facilitates performance on simple, well-learned tasks.

social orientation theory

An analysis of performance gains in groups suggesting individual differences in social orientation (the tendency to approach social situations apprehensively or with enthusiasm) predict when social facilitation will occur. - individuals who display positive orientation are so self-confident that they react positively to the challenge the group may throw their way - individuals who display negative orientation approach social situations apprehensively

Crutchfield situation

An experimental procedure developed by Richard Crutchfield to study conformity. Participants who signaled their responses using an electronic response console believed they were making judgments as part of a group, but the responses of the other members that appeared on their console's display were simulated.

Kohler effect

An increase in performance by groups working on conjunctive tasks that require persistence but little coordination of effort and is likely due to the increased effort expended by the less capable members.

brainwriting

Brainstorming sessions that involve generating new ideas in writing rather than orally, usually by asking members to add their own ideas to a circulating list.

team building

Instructional methods used to promote the development of interpersonal and teamwork skills in individuals and teams.

Irving Janis - President Kennedy's advisory group

Janis sought to identify both the causes of groupthink, as well as the symptoms that signal that a group may be experiencing this malady

self-censorship

Janis's term for a personal ban on expressing disagreements about the group's decisions

shared mental model

Knowledge, expectations, conceptualizations, and other cognitive representations that members of a group have in common pertaining to the group and its members, tasks, procedures, and resources.

shared information bias

Known as the tendency for group members to spend more time and energy discussing information that all members are already familiar with (i.e., shared information), and less time and energy discussing information that only some members are aware of (i.e., unshared information).

Who created the Ringelmann Effect

Max Ringelmann

Coaction

Performing a task or another type of goal-oriented activity in the presence of one or more other individuals who are performing a similar type of activity.

cross-functional teams

Project groups composed of people with differing types of functional expertise, often drawn from various levels, divisions, or segments of an organization.

quality circles (QCs)

Small self-regulated groups of employees charged with identifying ways to improve product quality

discussion

The communication of information between two or more people undertaken for some shared purpose, such as solving a problem, making a decision, or increasing participants mutual understanding of the situation.

Abilene Paradox

The counterintuitive tendency for a group to decide on a course of action that none of the members of the group individually endorses, resulting from the group's failure to recognize and manage its agreement on key issues.

collective memory

The group's combined memories and shared schemas

teamwork

The process by which members of the team combine their knowledge, skills, abilities, and other resources through a coordinated series of actions to produce an outcome.

cognitive closure

The psychological desire to reach a final decision swiftly and completely; also, the relative strength of this tendency, as indicated by a preference for order, predictability, decisiveness, and closed-mindedness.

social matching effect

The tendency for individuals in brainstorming groups to match the level of productivity displayed by others in the group.

Norman Triplett's Experiment

Was interested in the "dynamogenic factors" Arranged for 40 children to performa a simple reel-turning task in pairs and when alone

a tour group is walking from the baggage claim area of the airport to the bus waiting to take them to their hotel. The bus will leave once all suitcases and passengers are on the bus. This is an example of ____ task

a conjunctive

entrapment

a form of escalating investment in which individuals expend more of their resources in pursuing a chosen course of action than seems appropriate of justifiable by external standards

mind-guard

a group member who shields the group from negative or controversial information by gatekeeping and suppressing dissent - the mind guard diverts controversial information away from the group by losing it, forgetting to mention it, or deeming it irrelevant and this unworthy of the group's attention

brainstorming

a method for enhancing creativity in groups that calls for heightened expressiveness, postponed evaluation, quantity rather than quality, and deliberate attempts to build on earlier ideas - developed by Alex Osborn

judgmental tasks

a project, problem, or other types of task with results that cannot be evaluated objectively because there arena clear criteria to judge them against

discretionary tasks

a relatively unstructured task that can be completed by using a variety of social combination procedures, this leaving the methods used in its completion to the discretion of the group or groupleader leader

group decision support system

a set of integrated tools groups use to structure and facilitate their decision making, including computer programs and expedite data acquisition, communication among group members, document sharing, and the systematic review of alternative actions and outcomes

social decision schema

a strategy or rule used in a group to select a single alternative from among various alternatives proposed and discussed during the group's deliberations, including explicitly acknowledged decision rules and implicit decisional procedures

additive tasks

a task or project that a group can complete by cumulatively combining individual members' inputs

compensatory tasks

a task or project that a group can complete by literally averaging together (mathematically combining) individual members' solutions or recommendations

divisible tasks

a task that can be broken into subcomponents that can then be assigned to individuals or to subgroups within the group

conjunctive taks

a task that can be completed successfully only all group members contribute - performance is determined by the "weakest link"

Parkinson's Law

a task will expand to fill the time available for its competition

which is true with regards to KSAs? - because teams are transformative, in team sports, the quality of individual players does not predict the overall quality of the team's performance - a team composed of relatively low caliber members will likely perform poorly - social skills are more important for team success than are KSAs related to task performance - teams are transformative, and so when well-designed they perform well-beyond the KSAs of their memebrs

a team composed of relatively low caliber members will likely perform poorly

Which one is FALSE - many problems with teams could be eliminated if members received proper training in working in teams - quality circles declined in popularity because they were not properly designed and lacked institutional support - a number of groups that are called "teams" do not qualify as true teams, so their failure is not an indication of the limitations of team approaches - training that focuses on improved coordination tends to be more effective than training that concentrates on improving communication among members - according to Hackman, the only criterion that matters when evaluating teams is their overall productivity

according to Hackman, the only criterion that matters when evaluating teams is their overall productivity

Paramedics, a surgery team, and infantry squad a baseball team, and an airliner's flight crew are examples of ___ teams - advisory - service - management - action - project

action

groups as a whole will usually perform better than the best individual member on _____ tasks

additive

Of the Big Five personality factors, ___ is most closely associate with effectiveness working on teams, and ___ is least closely associate with effectiveness

agreeableness; emotional stability

_____ has been used to explain social facilitation - apprehension over evaluation - distraction - arousal

all of them

Diverse groups, relative to homogeneous ones: - are often more creative and innovative - all of these answers are correct - tend to be less cohesive - seem to cope better with changing work conditions

all of these answers are correct

When teams include individuals who vary in terms of their expertise (some are high performers whereas others are low performers) the - high performers often offer assistance to the low performers - high performers often work harder to compensate for the ineffectiveness of the low performers - all of these answers are correct - low performers are assigned easier tasks that better match their skill level - low performers often work harder to try and reach the standard set by the high performers

all of these answers are correct

drive theory

an analysis of human motivation that stresses the impact of psychological or physical needs or desires on individuals' thoughts, feelings, and actions; also an explanation of social facilitation that maintains that the presence of others evoke a generalized drive state characterized by increased readiness and arousal

social impact theory

an analysis of social influence, which proposes that the impact of any source of influence depends upon the strength, the immediacy, and the number of people (sources) present

people perform simple tasks better when another person watches them or when they work in front of a video camera. This finding is consistent with ____ explanation of social facilitation

an evaluation apprehension

social facilitation

an improvement in task performance that occurs when people work in presence of other people

sunk cost

an investment or loss of resources that cannot be recouped by current or future actions

social cohesion

any factor that promotes attraction of the members to one another or to the group as a whole, such as proximity, similarity in attitudes, and the absence of members with negative personal qualities, will augment a group's cohesion

procrastinating, bolstering, denying responsibility, and satisficing are all tactics for what?

avoiding making a decision

Janis' theory of groupthink was developed through - correlation - laboratory experimentation - case-study - naturalistic observation

case-study

Which of the following is a maximizing, unitary, additive task? - running the 400 meter relay - competing in a tug-of-war contest - solving an algebra story problem - playing softball - climbing a mountain

competing in a tug-of-war contest

Because of the Ringelmann effect, drops are not maximally productive. The Ringelmann effect is caused by social loafing and...

coordination losses

Which of the following is NOT a component of Steiner's three-category typology of group tasks? - difficulty of the task - means by which individual contributions are combined into a group product - divisibility of the task - whether quantity or quality is desired

difficulty of the task

As a form of informational influence...

discussions help individuals marshal the evidence and information they need to make good decisions

which conceptual distinction is most relevant to understanding social facilitation? - internal vs. external response - dominant vs. non dominant response - task vs. socioemotional response - unitary vs. discretionary response

dominant vs. non dominant response

Which one is true? - quality circles remain more popular than team approaches in industry - team approaches that focus on improved cohesion are more effective than approaches that focus other elements of teamwork - teams are rarely used in organizational and business contexts - surveys of members of teams typically find most (over 85%) are very satisfied with their teams - empirical evidence offers only mixed support for the effectiveness of teams as they are typically implemented

empirical evidence offers only mixed support for the effectiveness of teams as they are typically implemented

team training

empirically supported instructional methods used to teach individuals and teams the cognitive, behavioral, and affective skills required for effective team performance

self-governing teams

have responsibility for all four of the majority function; they decide what is to be done, structure the team and its context, manage their own performance, and actually carry out the work

which one of the following tends to cause groupthink? - leaders who fail to clearly state their ideas and preferences - insignificant or trivial tasks - high group cohesiveness doubts about the goodness or virtue of the group - overstating an opponents abilities or motivation

high group cohesiveness

fault lines

hypothetical divisions that separate the members of heterogeneous group into smaller, more homogeneous subgroups

Which of the following tactics will NOT lessen the chances that groupthink will occur? - considering the problem and possible solutions in two or more meetings - consulting outside experts - increasing the cohesiveness of the group - breaking the group into subgroups that meet separately - having leaders state their own opinions AFTER a discussion

increasing the cohesiveness of the group

Evidence for choking

it seems that, when the pressure and desire to succeed is highest, the performance of the very best athlete may be lowest

Which list correctly sequences the four levels of team self-management identified by Hackman, from least autonomous to most autonomous? a. self-governing, self-managing, self-designating, self-monitoring b. self-monitoring, self-managing, self-governing, self-designing c. manager-led, self-managing, self-designing, self-governing d. self-managing, self-designing, manager-led, self-governing e. manager-led, self-designing, self-managing, self-governing

manager-led, self-managing, self-designing, self-governing

manager-lead teams

members provide a service or generate a product, but that is not their sole responsibility; an external leader or manager monitors the work, designs the teams, and sets the team's direction

improving brainstorming - mix individual and group approaches

members should be given the opportunity to record their ideas individually during and after the session

Improving Brainstorming - stick to the rules

members should be trained to follow brainstorming rules and be given feedback if they violate any of the basic principles

improving brainstorming - take breaks

members should deliberately stop talking periodically to think in silence

improving brainstorming - do not rush

members should have plenty of time to complete the task groups that work under time pressure often product more solutions initially, but the quality of those solutions is lower than if they had spent more time on the task

improving brainstorming - persist

members should stay focused on the task and avoid telling stories, talking in pairs, or monopolizing the session; they must continue to persist at the task even through periods of low productivity

improving brainstorming - facilitate the session

members' efforts should be coordinated by a skilled discussion leader

Studies of compensatory tasks indicate groups are usually _____ than the average individual member

more accurate

Overall, research on group decision-making shows that groups make - none of these answered is correct - more conservative decisions than individuals - more moderate decisions than individuals - riskier decisions than individuals - more extreme decisions than individuals

more extreme decisions than individuals

Coch and French's (1948) classic study of organizational change did NOT include a ___ group - total participation - participation-through-representation - negative participation - no paricipation

negative participation

when researchers asked groups and individuals to recall words, images, and detailed stories they found that ___ recalled the most information - trained groups - trained individuals - individuals - nominal groups - interacting groups

nominal groups

scientific management

one of the first attempts to apply scientific methods to the analysis of workplace efficiency and productivity; it stressed time management, routinized tasks, and close supervision of the workplace

Studies of groups making decisions indicate that they spend too little time in the ______ stage of decision-making. - discussion - decision - evaluation - orientation - implementation

orientation

what is the sequence of information processing stages common to group decision making

orientation -- discussion -- decision -- implementation

procedural justice

perceived fairness and legitimacy of the methods used to make decisions, resolve disputes, and allocate resources; also, in judicial contexts, the use of fair and impartial procedures

distributive justice

perceived fairness of the amount and allocation of rewards among individuals

Bond and Titus, in a major review of 241 studies of social facilitation, involving more than 24,000 human participants, conclude that...

performance decrements on complex tasks are more pronounced than performance gains on sample tasks

the five-factor model

personality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness

The executors of the trust are deciding whether the majority of a large fund should be invested in stocks (risky) or bonds (cautious). Several executors favor investing the majority of the fund in stocks. A few of the executors favor investing the majority of the funds in bonds. During the discussion six different reasons for investing in stocks are mentioned. Only three different reasons for investing in bonds are offered. The executors' decision to invest the majority of the fund in stocks is most consistent with ___ theory - value - persuasive-arguments - social decision scheme - social comparison

persuasive-argument

according to Steiner, group productivity =

potential productivity - process losses

According to Zajonc, for ___ tasks the presence of others ___ performance

simple; enhances

structural cohesion

smaller teams tend to be more cohesive than larger ones, in part because there are too many member-to-member ties to maintain in large groups

six general clusters of differences

social categories, knowledge and skills, values and beliefs, personality, status and social connections

My personal preference shifts in the direction of recommending that the group make a more cautious decision because, while discussing the decision with other group members, I observe that most of them endorse a more cautious decision. My shift is consistent with the ___ theory of group polarization. - persuasive arguments - leadership preference - diffusion of responsibility - social comparison - familiarization

social comparison

"majority rules" "agree with whatever the boss says" and "all of must agree before we approve it" are all examples of - critical evaluative standards - collective induction - social decision schemes - truth-wins rules - truth-supported-wins rules

social decision schemes

which is NOT a symptom of group think? - illusions of vulnerability - social pressures encouraging excessive dissent - individuals protecting the group from disruptive information - self-censorship of dissenting ideas - defective decision-making strategies

social pressures encouraging excessive dissent

the decision stage

some common social decision schemas

what two things must happen for groups to complete a disjunctive task successfully?

someone in the group must know the answer. the group must accept the answer

Steps of NGT

step 1: the group discussion leader introductions the problem or issue in a short statement step 2: the members share their ideas with one another in a round-robin step 3: the group discusses each item, focusing primarily on clarification step 4: the members rank the five solutions they most prefer, writing their choices on an index card

mere-effort model

suggests that the gains and losses in performance individuals exhibit when they work on simple and complex task are due, in part, to changes in the way they process information (if people think that they are being evaluated, the exert more effort - but this effort causes them to concentrate more on ideas and information that is readily accessible to them)

I believe that a team is, in many respects, like a complex organism in that it takes in inputs from the environment, processes those inputs, and then generates outcomes and outputs in the continuous, recursive process. I am a/an ___ theorist in my approach to teams - motivational - systems - organizational - behavioral - cognitive

systems

unitary tasks

tasks that cannot be divided and must be performed by an individual

task cohesion

teams are unified by members' shared drive to accomplish their goals

Which one is NOT a quality that is characteristic of teams, in general? - teams have collective goals, meaning that success and failure occurs at the group level - team member interaction tends to be concentrated and continuous - team members are highly interdependent rather than self-sufficient - teams tend to be well structured, in that roles, norms, and relations are stage) - teams have leaders who provide support and guidance to the team members

teams have leaders who provide support and guidance to the team members

interpersonal treat

the confidence or certainty that other individuals will do what they are supposed to do even in the absence of social surveillance or pressure

task demands

the effect that a problem or task's features, including its divisibility and difficulty, have on the procedures the group can use to complete the task

cross-cueing

the enhancement of recall that occurs during group discussion when the statements made by group members serve as cues for the retrieval of information from the memories of other group members

romance of teams

the intuitive appeal of teams as effective means of improving performance in business and organizational settings, despite the relative lack of definitive evidence supporting their utility

improving brainstorming - pay attention to everyone's ideas

the key to brainstorming is exposure to other's ideas, but people tend to focus on their own suggestions and pay little attention to other people's suggestions

You are the leader of an organization, and must identify solutions to a specific problem. You should create a team if - you fear that you will be blamed for failure if you make the decision yourself - you can take credit for the team's work should it succeed - you used a team approach to deal with a similar problem in the past - team approaches are currently very popular approaches to management - the problem is so difficult that a single individual, no matter how talented, cannot complete it successfully

the problem is so difficult that a single individual, no matter how talented, cannot complete it successfully

process loss

the reduction in group performance due to obstacles created by group processes, such as problems of coordination and motivation

social loafing

the reduction of individual effort exerted when people work in groups compared to when they work alone

social compensation

the tendency for group members to expend greater effort on important collective tasks to offset the anticipated insufficiencies in the efforts and abilities of their co-members

risky-shift effect

the tendency for groups to make riskier decisions than individuals

illusion of group productivity

the tendency for members to believe that their group is performing effectively

confirmation bias

the tendency to seek out information that confirms one's inferences rather than disconfirms them

Which was NOT a characteristic of the high-performance teams identified by Bennis and Biederman in their study of "great groups"? - members tended to be young rather than old, with very optimistic expectations about their competencies - the teams leaders recruited and retained the right individuals needed by the team - these teams were composed of highly skilled individuals - the creme of the crop - these teams were highly structured lines of authority were clear and uncontested by members

these teams were highly structured lines of authority were clear and uncontested by members

Research on the hidden profile problem has shown that group members tend to share information - inconsistent with information others have already shared - only they possess - they all have in common - consistent with information others have already shared

they all have in common

Moreland's studies cognitive process and team training suggest that when group members train ___ they more quickly develop a more durable and comprehensive transitive memory - individually (each member receives full attention) - together (to focus on team coordination) - online (members can move at their own pace) - offsite (to focus on the individual skills provided)

together (to focus on team coordination)

Crews

trained teams that perform standardized, technical tasks that require coordinated actions, often using tools, equipment or technology

after the surgery the medical team sits over coffee, discusses the case, and identifies ways to perform the next surgery even more effectively by making modifications to their working procedures. Marks, Mathieu, and Zachary would label this meeting part of the team's ___ processing - planning - transition - interpersonal - action

transition

delegating

under an authority scheme, the leader, president, or other individual makes the final decisions with or without the input from the group members - when an oligarchy operates in a group, a coalition speaks for the entire group - delegation saves the group time and is appropriate for less important issues

improving brainstorming - use technology

various computer-mediated communication tools, including sophisticated idea-generating software packages, minimize various types of process loss, including production blocking and social matching

collective cohesion

when members identify with their team - when their sense of self is based on both their personal identity but also on their team-level social identity - the team will likely show heightened unity, increased levels of motivation, and stronger support of the team during period of stress or crisis

voice effect

when people believe that they have a voice in the matter then they tend to be far more engaged in the implementation of the final decision

When is motivation greatest?

when people think that goal is within their reach and they consider the goal to be valuable

performance, medical, response, military, transportation, and sports teams

- action teams that provide a specialized, and often highly desired, good or service through coordinated actions

negotiation teams, commissions, and design teams

- all project teams - created to complete a task that requires judgment, discernment, creativity, or persuasiveness - negotiation teams represent their constituencies and are paired with a team representing another group or faction - commissions make judgments of specific issues, often in situations that require both objectivity and sensitivity to the needs of many parties - design teams grapple with ill defined problems

discussion stage

- an informational processing model of decision making assumes that people strive to make good decisions by acquiring the information that is relevant to the issue and processing that information thoroughly, so that implications are clearly understood

Downside of diversity

- can separate members of the team from one another - individuals are quick to categorize other people based on their membership in social groups

internal process

- conflict management: involves establishing conditions to prevent, control, or guide team conflict before it occurs - reactive conflict management involves working through task and interpersonal disagreements among team members - motivation and confidence building: generating and preserving a sense of collective confidence, motivation, and task-based cohesion with regard to mission accomplishment - affect management: regulating members emotions during mission accomplishment, including (but not limited to) social cohesion, frustration, and excitment

Zajonc's Resolution

- dominant responses are located at the tip of the organism's response hierarchy - behaviors that are part of the organism's behavioral repertoire but are less likely to be performed are non dominant responses - insight = presence of others increases the tendency to perform dominant responses and decreases the tendency to perform non dominant responses