Group Dynamics Ch 10

Question 1

Social Facilitation

Answer 1

An improvement in task performance that occurs when people work in the presence of other people.

Question 2

Coaction

Answer 2

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.

Question 3

Drive Theory

Answer 3

In general, an analysis of human motivation that stresses the impact of psychological or physiological needs or desires on individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and actions; also an explanation of social facilitation that maintains that the presence of others evokes a generalized drive state characterized by increased readiness and arousal (proposed by Robert Zajonc).

Question 4

Evaluation Apprehension Theory

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

Self-Presentation Theory

Answer 5

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.

Question 6

Distraction-Conflict Theory

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

Social Orientation Theory

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Electronic Performance Monitoring, or EPM

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Ringelmann Effect

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

Social Loafing

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Free Riding

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Sucker Effect

Answer 12

The tendency for members to contribute less to a group endeavor when they expect that others will think negatively of anyone who works too hard or contributes too much (considering them to be a “sucker”).

Question 13

Social Compensation

Answer 13

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 comembers.

Question 14

Collective Effort Model (CEM)

Answer 14

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 (developed by Steven Karau and Kipling Williams).

Question 15

Process Loss

Answer 15

A reduction in performance effectiveness or efficiency caused by actions, operations, or dynamics that prevent the group from reaching its full potential, including reduced effort, faulty group processes, coordination problems. and ineffective leadership.

Question 16

Task Demands

Answer 16

A problem or task’s features, including its divisibility and difficulty, that influence the procedures, the group can use to complete the task.

Question 17

Divisible Tasks

Answer 17

A task that can be broken into subcomponents that can be assigned to individuals or to subgroups within the group.

Question 18

Unitary Tasks

Answer 18

A task that cannot be performed piecemeal because it does not break down into any subcomponents.

Question 19

Maximizing Tasks

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Optimizing Tasks

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Additive Tasks

Answer 21

A task or project that a group can complete by cumulatively combining individual members’ inputs.

Question 22

Compensatory Tasks

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Disjunctive Tasks

Answer 23

A task or project that is completed when a single solution, decision, or recommendation is adopted by the group.

Question 24

Crew Resource Management (CRM)

Answer 24

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.

Question 25

Intellective Tasks

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

Judgmental Tasks

Answer 26

A project, problem, or other type of task with results that cannot be evaluated objectively because there are no clear criteria to judge them against.

Question 27

Conjunctive Tasks

Answer 27

A task that can be completed successfully only if all group members contribute.

Question 28

Köhler Effect

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

Discretionary Task

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Synergy

Answer 30

Producing an outcome as a group that is superior to the results that could have been achieved by a simple aggregation or accumulation of group members’ individual efforts; a gain in performance caused by performance-enhancing group processes.

Question 31

Brainstorming

Answer 31

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.

Question 32

Nominal Groups

Answer 32

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.

Question 33

Production Blocking

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

Social Matching Effect

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Illusion of group productivity

Answer 35

The tendency for members to believe that their group is performing effectively.

Question 36

Brainwriting

Answer 36

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.

Question 37

Electronic brainstorming (EBS)

Answer 37

Generating ideas and solving problems using computer-based communication methods such as online discussions rather than face-to-face sessions.

Question 38

Nominal Group Technique (NGT)

Answer 38

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.

Question 39

Delphi Technique

Answer 39

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