Group Performance

Question 1

According to Zajonc Solution (1980), what does the presence of others lead to?

Answer 1

Improvement on easy and/or well-learned tasks; impairment on difficult tasks which are not yet well learned

Question 2

What is the presence of others effect called?

Answer 2

Dominant repsonse

Question 3

Explain why the Zajonc Solution happens.

Answer 3

Presence of others leads to increased arousal, which strengthens the dominant response - which in turn leads to easy/well learned correct response or difficult tasks having incorrect response

Question 4

Explain social facilitation

Answer 4

The process whereby the presence of others enhances performances on easy tasks but impairs performance on difficult tasks

Question 5

What was Steiners (1972) opinion on whether or not groups perform better than individuals

Answer 5

It depends on the task

Question 6

What are the different tasks Steiner (1972) suggested?

Answer 6

Additive tasks. Compensatory tasks. Disjunctive tasks. Conjunctive tasks.

Question 7

How many different tasks did Steiner (1972) suggest

Answer 7

Four

Question 8

Explain what additive tasks are

Answer 8

All members work together, the group performance is the sum of all members contributions. E.G. Rope pulling

Question 9

What is social loafing

Answer 9

A reduction in individual output on easy tasks where contributions are pooled.

Question 10

Name two losses of social loafing

Answer 10

Motivation loss. Co-ordination loss

Question 11

Name 6 ways to prevent social loafing

Answer 11

Make contribution of members identifiable. The task is important to those who perform it. When people believe their own efforts are necessary to succeed. The group expects to be punished for poor performance. The group is small. The group is cohesive

Question 12

Explain what is meant by compensatory tasks.

Answer 12

All people give judgements, the group product is the average judgement. E.G. estimating temperature.

Question 13

Name two aspects of compensatory tasks

Answer 13

All member have to give their opinion. All members must have the same influence.

Question 14

Explain what is meant by disjunction tasks.

Answer 14

This group selects one judgement. Group performance depends on the quality and acceptance of the chosen judgement.

Question 15

Explain what is meant by conjunctive tasks

Answer 15

All members contribute to the task. The weakest performer determines the group performance. E.G. cycling with a group

Question 16

Explain whether or not groups are better than individuals within the four task types.

Answer 16

Additive tasks = better than the best number. Compensatory tasks = better than most members. Disjunctive tasks = often worse than the best members. Conjunctive tasks = equal to the worst member

Question 17

What is group polarisation

Answer 17

When similar minded people discuss a topic the group opinion often becomes more extreme

Question 18

What is informational influence

Answer 18

Discussion generates arguments that mostly favour the position already taken

Question 19

Social comparison

Answer 19

Desire to make a positive impression by being better than the others

Question 20

Describe the process of extreme polarisation

Answer 20

Antecedents: Cohesive group, with similar backgrounds, isolation. Symptoms: Overestimation of the group, poor information search, no risk assessment, no alternative plan. How to prevent: consult widely with others, typically not the strongest point of groups

Question 21

What is Baumeister et al. (2015) view on group performance.

Answer 21

Groups perform best when they bring together people with different expertise who will carry out clearly identifiable tasks. Groups function better when members have differentiated identities than when individuality is lost as people blend into the group.

Question 22

Explain how groups form in two steps

Answer 22

The construction of a shared group identity, which motivates individuals to work on behalf of the group. Then a vast increase in performance and efficiency when different members use different skills to perform different roles in an interlocking, interactive system

Question 23

What did Baumeister et al. (2015) find out

Answer 23

People contributed better as individually identified members and did worse when individual identify was downplayed or lost.

Question 24

Name two ways social loafing can be prevented found by Baumeister (2015)

Answer 24

1. Knowing one’s work would be individually identified and 2. Feeling of being indispensable: People did well if they believed that their individual contribution to the group was unique and necessary for the group’s success.

Question 25

When did Baumeister (2015) conclude groups are a benefit

Answer 25

Groups benefit when members participate as separate, autonomous individuals. Pressures to conform to the group’s consensus often yielded detrimental results, whereas independent thinking and even overt dissent often helped the group reach more accurate judgments and make better chocies.