This study examines the impact of one important task characteristic for the process by which groups solve problems. The principal comparison is between a generative problem and a choice task, and whether or not the differences between these types of tasks affect the group's methods for arriving at a decision. Two types of analysis are conducted of…

Mathematical models have been used extensively to describe the judgmental processes and strategies of individual decision makers, but rarely have the procedures been extended to describe the judgmental strategies of decision-making groups. The present study attempts to extend the procedures for the purposes of describing group decision-making…

A study tested a model of bargaining rite by examining procedural rituals, organized fantasies, and ritualistic language in teachers' negotiations. Specifically, it sought to identify the communicative forms that create shared consciousness, to describe shared fantasies, to illustrate the role of group fantasy in forming rhetorical visions, and to…

To provide a theoretical base for investigating the influence of inferential error on group decision making, current literature on both inferential error and decision making is reviewed and applied to the Watergate incident. Although groups tend to make fewer inferential errors because members' inferences are generally not biased in the same…

THIS STUDY WAS DESIGNED TO TEST THE THEORY THAT LABORATORY GROUPS MAKING COMPLEX DECISIONS WILL DISTORT THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF EACH OTHER IN WAYS PREDICTABLE FROM NEWCOMB'S A-B-X MODEL OF PERCEPTUAL DISTORTION IN WHICH "A" REPRESENTS THE PERCEIVING INDIVIDUAL, "B" REPRESENTS ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE GROUP, AND "X" THE…

The effectiveness of the Delphi Technique is evaluated in terms of immediate and delayed controlled information feedback (feedback within 5 seconds as compared with a 24-hour delay); and the relationships that exist among measures of integrative complexity, estimations about the time of occurrence of future events, and time delay between task…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive abstractness levels, interpersonal perception abilities, and task type (factual or social problem solving) on group performance as measured by time consumed and adequacy of solutions. Eighteen college classes from Kearney State College participated in testing of perceptual…

This booklet describes research carried out under sponsorship of the Psychological Sciences Division of the U.S. Office of Naval Research during Fiscal Year 1985. The booklet is divided into three programmatic research areas: (1) Engineering Psychology; (2) Personnel and Training; and (3) Group Psychology. Each program is described by an overview…