Ambiguity and Communication Effects on Small Group Decision-Making Performance

The literature that has characterized the field of group studies has been controversial and confusing with regard to the effect of communicative and noncommunicative variables on group decision making. The research reported here seeks further understanding of the communication-performance relationship. It is postulated that two classes of variables (homogeneity and task) moderate the relationship between group communication and group performance. This is because the variables contribute to the overall ambiguity found in the decision-making situation. The ambiguity model is advanced in an effort to reconcile the contradictory findings, where they exist, and to propose new hypotheses regarding the communication-group performance relationship.     

不同沟通方式下群体决策信息利用分析

以180名被试组成45个四人群体．完成模拟人事选拔的问题解决型任务,通过对群体决策过程的信息提取数量和提取次序的分析,考察不同的沟通方式和信息分享程度对群体决策信息利用的影响。结果表明。（1）在不同沟通方式下,决策成员的讨论前偏好对最终决策的影响很大。（2）在不同的沟通方式下,分享程度不同的信息在决策过程中的提取具有差异,体现了不同的规律。     

Functional Impulsivity and Speeded Ability Test Performance

The current study examines the influence of functional impulsivity on speeded ability test performance. As predicted, functional impulsivity was positively related to number of items attempted (i.e., speed), but its impact on total score was more complex. In particular, analysis of the relations between ability, functional impulsivity and accuracy revealed evidence of a suppressor effect. Specifically, functional impulsivity was found to be negatively related to accuracy, but only after ability differences were controlled. Taken as whole, the current results suggest functional impulsivity may influence test‐taking behavior, but it likely does not result in a systematic influence on observed scores. Directions for further research needed to clarify these relations are discussed.     

A Test of Group Counseling

High school students were counseled in groups designed around either a “traditional” or an “accelerated interaction” format The efficiency of each approach in achieving the goals of guidance in education was studied. Group counseling appeared to be a useful counseling tool if organized on a weekly basis.     

A Group Version of the Stroop Color and Word Test

Summary: The uses of the Stroop Color and Word Test have been limited because of the lack of a standardized form, particularly one which could be used for both individual and group administrations as demanded by the requirements of a research project. The present version of the test counted the number of items completed by the subject in a 45-second time period. In the individual version the subject said the words out loud while in the group version he said the words to himself. Results indicated that the two versions were equivalent to each other as well as to forms requiring the subject to read a whole page of items. It was felt that a group form would greatly enhance the research capabilities of the Stroop Test.     

Gender and Group Process: A Developmental Perspective

Until recently, the study of gender development has focused mainly on sex typing as an attribute of the individual. Although this perspective continues to be enlightening, recent work has focused increasingly on children's tendency to congregate in same-sex groups. This self-segregation of the two sexes implies that much of childhood gender enactment occurs in the context of same-sex dyads or larger groups. There are emergent properties of such groups, so that certain sex-distinctive qualities occur at the level of the group rather than at the level of the individual. There is increasing research interest in the distinctive nature of the group structures, activities, and interactions that typify all-male as compared with all-female groups, and in the socialization that occurs within these groups. Next steps in research will surely call for the integration of the individual and group perspectives.     

A Meta-Analysis of the Relative Effects of Tabular and Graphic Display Formats on Decision-Making Performance

The results of 21 between-subjects experiments assessing the relative effects of tabular and graphic formats of data presentation on decision-making accu- racy were quantitatively reviewed using the meta-analysis procedure developed by Hunter, Schmidt, and Jackson (1982). Sampling error and differential range restriction accounted for variability in the average differences between tabular and graphic presentations, and there was no difference in the effects of the two presentation formats. These results counter recent assertions that task complexity moderates the effect of presentation format. The findings should also discourage further investigation of the effects of tabular and graphic formats using the conventional methodology.     

Rethinking Communication Apprehension: A Myers-Briggs Perspective

This study is an examination of relationships between Myers-Briggs personality type preferences, based on Jungian theory, and communication apprehension. Results showed that participants who preferred introversion or sensing reported significantly higher levels of communication apprehension in general and across the group, dyadic, meeting, and public contexts than did participants who preferred extraversion or intuition. In addition, participants who preferred feeling reported higher levels of communication anxiety in the public context than those who preferred thinking. Findings support the assumption that communication apprehension is biologically based, suggest that the Myers-Briggs type preference framework offers an alternative way of understanding communication apprehension, and point out the need for new approaches to understanding the phenomenon of communication apprehension.     

Computer-Mediated Communication and Group Decision Making: A Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis of research comparing decision making in face-to-face versus computer-mediated communication groups was conducted. Results suggest that computer-mediated communication leads to decreases in group effectiveness, increases in time required to complete tasks and decreases in member satisfaction compared to face-to-face groups. All of the moderators tested (anonymity in the group process, limited versus unlimited time to reach decisions, group size, and task type) were significant for at least one of the dependent variables. The article concludes with cautions about the unbridled rush by organizations to adopt computer-mediated communication as a medium for group decision making and implications of the present findings for theory and research on computer-mediated communication and group decision making.     

Test Anxiety: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

The present paper examines test anxiety from a cross-cultural perspective with specific reference to the Indian and American cultures. The construct of test anxiety has been examined in many cultures all over the world. In this review, the importance of understanding and incorporating contextual factors in cross-cultural research is emphasized. Moreover, some of the methodological issues related to investigating culture-behavior relationship are discussed. Specifically, the derived-etic approach for conducting cross-cultural research is espoused. Then, research findings from western, cross-cultural, and Indian studies on test anxiety are reviewed. Consistent with the individualistic orientation of the western society, much of the research in the western world has adopted a de-contextualized approach. Inasmuch as many of the cross-cultural and Indian studies on test anxiety have their roots in western research, they have ignored the cultural context as well. To address this void, contextual variables relevant to test anxiety in the Indian setting are examined and hypotheses regarding the nature of test anxiety in Indian children are proposed. Finally, a research agenda is presented to examine these hypotheses using a derived-etic approach.     

一个震憾心灵的揭谜表演团

妖风起邪教生寻源治本 　　李岚清副总理在全国科普工作会议上说:“法轮功的泛滥,有多种社会原因.但不少人缺乏科学知识、科学思想和科学精神,是一个重要原因.给反科学、伪科学的泛滥,给一些搞迷信和邪教活动的人,提供了可乘之机.“李副总理一语道破了愚昧无知是滋生邪教和伪科学的土壤和温床,要根除邪教的歪理邪说,必须抓好科学技术普及工作,这是一项杜绝后患的治本措施.……     

A Systemic Perspective of Group Therapy Supervision:

No abstract available for this article.     

Group Productivity and Telematic Communication

Abstract

Evidence offered by Bottger and Yetton has suggested that group performance is a function of member abilities and strategies to use them. This model completed previous ones offered by Steiner and Davis which were developed under the assumption that group communication occurs in a face-to-face situation. However, since the 1980s, a considerable amount of research has focused upon new ways of communication through new technologies. Findings from psychosocial studies suggest that the use of computers for communication changes group processes and outcomes. In this context, a new research question emerges, which is concerned with group performance as a function of the communication channel. New models should be developed for a better understanding of group performance in mediated communication context. This study presents results from a laboratory experiment comparing three communication media: face-to-face, electronic mail, and video-conference, in a multi-decision task (“moon survival”). Its main objective has been to replicate Bottger and Yetton's model but to incorporate the communication channel mentioned above as a moderator variable of group performance. Variables considered have been input variables (members' resources for achieving task); process variables (group composition according to consensus reached, adequate use of resources, and quality of conflict management), and group performance. Our results show the existence of different patterns for predicting group performance according to the communication channel employed. In this sense, in a face-to-face situation groups perform mainly on the basis of their members' knowledge of the task, as in Steiner's model. The performance of video-conference groups was due to the decision schemes, that is, how groups use their resources (the Davis model). Bottger and Yetton's model has been partially replicated in electronic mail situations. The management of the process is crucial for explaining group performance, but it may be necessary to code it in a different way. Therefore, the positive conflict management will be different from face-to-face and video-conference.