Decision Making

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

Functional theory of group decision making

Question 1

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.

Answer 1

Shared mental model

Question 2

A task will expand to fill the time available for its completion.

Answer 2

Parkinson’s law

Question 3

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

Answer 3

Law of triviality

Question 4

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

Answer 4

Collective information processing model

Question 5

A group’s combined memories, including each member’s memories, the group’s shared
mental models, and transactive memory systems.

Answer 5

Collective memory

Question 6

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.

Answer 6

Cross-cueing

Question 7

A process by which 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.

Answer 7

Transactive memory system

Question 8

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

Answer 8

Social decision scheme

Question 9

Perception of the 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.

Answer 9

Procedural justice

Question 10

A theory of decision making and leadership developed by Victor Vroom that predicts the effectiveness of group-centered, consultative, and autocratic decisional procedures across
a number of group settings.

Answer 10

Normative model of decision making

Question 11

The tendency for groups to spend more time discussing information that all members
know (shared information) and less time examining information that only a few members know (unshared)

Answer 11

Shared information bias

Question 12

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

Answer 12

Group decision support systems

Question 13

The tendency to seek out information that confirms one’s inferences rather than disconfirms them

Answer 13

Confirmation bias

Question 14

A self-report measure of willingness to make risky decisions that asks respondents to read a series of scenarios involving a course
of action that may or may not yield financial, interpersonal, or educational benefits, then indicate what the odds of success would have to be before they would recommend the course of action.

Answer 14

Choice-Dilemmas Questionnaire

Question 15

The tendency for groups to make riskier decisions than individuals.

Answer 15

Risky-shift phenomenon

Question 16

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’ pre-deliberation preferences.

Answer 16

Group polarization

Question 17

An explanation 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 favoring
that position.

Answer 17

Persuasive-arguments theory

Question 18

Imbibing alcoholic drinks in a group context; also, the psychological and group-level changes that occur when groups become inebriated.

Answer 18

Groupdrink

Question 19

A group member who shields the group
from negative or controversial information by gatekeeping and suppressing dissent.

Answer 19

Mindguard

Question 20

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.

Answer 20

Abilene paradox

Question 21

When members of a group hold a
wide range of opinions, beliefs, or judgments but express similar opinions, beliefs, or judgments publicly because each member believes that his or her personal view is
different from that of the others in the group.

Answer 21

Pluralistic ignorance

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Entrapment

Question 23

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

Answer 23

Sunk cost

Question 24

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

Answer 24

Group-centrism

Question 25

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.

Answer 25

Cognitive closure