Objectives CH 8

1.	To analyze the adverse effects of excessive or insufficient information quantity on group decision making and problem solving
2.	To explain the role of mindsets in defective decision making/problem solving
3.	To explore the contribution of collective inferential error to defective decision making/problem solving.
4.	To discuss the troublesome decision-making problem of group polarization
5.	To describe and analyze groupthink as ineffective group decision-making process.


Focus Questions CH 8


229
1.	What problems are created by information overload?
1.	Critical thinking impairment
2.	Indecisiveness
3.	Inattention: difficulty concentrating.
2.	What means do groups have of coping with information overload?
1.	Screening information: Separating the useful from the useless
2.	Shutting off technology
3.	Specializing: knowing more and more about less and less
4.	Becoming selective: on a need-to-know basis
5.	limiting the search: when enough is enough
6.	Narrowing the search: databases and patterns
237
1.	Why does confirmation bias lead to defective decision making/problem solving?
1.	Is our strong tendency to seek and attend to information that confirms our beliefs and attitudes and to ignore information that contradicts our currently held beliefs and attitudes.
2.	Why is dichotomous (either-or) thinking usually false?
1.	the tendency to view the world in terms of only two opposing possibilities when other possibilities are available, and to describe this dichotomy in the language of extremes.
1.	be suspicious of absolutes
2.	Employ the language of provisionalism.
241
1.	What are the primary, general sources of collective inferential errors? Individuals are inclined to make inferential errors, in group they tend to believe others errors.
1.	Unrepresentativeness
2.	Correlation inferred as Causation
2.	Should we avoid making inferences?
3.	Why are most correlations noncausal? elephant stampede spray. Action does not correlate causation.

246
1.	What negative consequences to group decision making emerge from group polarization?
2.	What produces group polarization?
3.	Depolarization—evenly split in membership
1.	Social comparison and Persuasive Argumentation.
2.	Combat by…
1.	Encourage a wide rage of views discussed
2.	Provide well-reasoned and researched material in written and oral form for serious discussion and consideration by group members
3.	Have devil’s advocate
4.	Discuss issues openly before taking a firm position.

249
1.	What causes groupthink?
2.	Do groups have to display all the symptoms of groupthink to exhibit poor-quality decisions like those that accompany full blown groupthink?

Decision requires a choice between two or more alternatives.

Problem solving necessitates decision making, but not all decision making involves a problem to be solved.

Information overload occurs when the rate of information flow into a system and/or the complexity of that information exceed the system’s processing capacity (Farace et al., 1977)

Critical Thinking: requires group members to analyze and evaluate ideas and information in order to reach sound judgments and conclusions.

Perceptual mindsets are psychological and cognitive predispositions to see the world in a particular way.

Combating confirmation bias 238

Irving Janis—Groupthink founder page 255 primary symptoms of Groupthink
1.	Mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action.
2.	1984 double think and crime think
3.	The bay of pigs