In Mixed Company Chapter Seven

1. In Mixed Company Chapter Seven Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

2. Information Overload: Too Much of Good Thing • Information is the raw material of group decision making and problem solving. • 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. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

3. Information Sometimes Impairs Critical Thinking • A glut of information makes it very difficult to distinguish useless from the useful information. • Critical thinking and effective decision making are hampered because group members have trouble digging through the garbage heap of useless information to discover the treasured nugget. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

4. Information Bulimia • Information bulimia is a binge-and-purge cycle of information processing. • Cramming for an exam. • We become so focused on the quantity of information that we hardly is substandard. • Little information is retained, no meaningful decision have been made in the process; no vital answers to problems have been discovered. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

5. Group Attention Deficit Disorder: Difficulty Concentrating • When cell phones and pagers go off during group meetings, classes, and the like everyone is distracted and attention is diverted from decision making and problem solving. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

6. Coping with Information Overload • Screening Information: Separating the Useful form the Useless • Screening information much like you do phone calls by simply choosing to ignore much of the information is one effective method of coping with information overload. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

7. Specializing Knowing More and More about Less and Less • When you specialize you can manage to know a lot about a little. • No individual or group can possibly manage information sufficiently so that experts on vital subjects will never be required. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

8. Becoming Selective: On a Need-to-Know Basis • Another method of coping with information overload is selectivity. • Setting group priorities helps members select which information requires their urgent attention and which can be delayed or ignored entirely. • Setting priorities distinguishes what we need to know from what there is to know. • Selecting the specific information that is required avoids burial by the information dump truck. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

9. Limiting the Search: When Enough is Enough • The search for information must stop at some point to allow time to reflect and evaluate information. • Setting deadlines fro group decisions is critical, deadlines force a group to bring a search for information to a halt. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

10. Information Underload • Information underload refers to an insufficient amount of information (inadequate input) available to a group for decision-making purpose. • Increasing the quantity of irrelevant or minimally useful information will confuse rather than assist the group in making effective decisions and solving problems. • Mindsets are psychological and cognitive predispositions to see the world in a particular way. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

11. The Problem: Poor Decisions and Solutions • The consequences of confirmation bias to group decision making and problem solving are serious. Looking for the potential weaknesses and disconfirming evidence regarding decisions and solutions is a significant element of effective, group decision making and problem solving. • Confirmation bias was common. • Positive information about a candidate that each subject initially favored was readily shared and discussed with group members; negative information, however, was about disfavored candidates but positive information was not. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

12. Combating Confirmation Bias: A Plan • The competent communicator combats the problem of confirmation bias by taking the following steps: • Seek disconfirmation and evidence • Vigorously present disconfirming evidence to the group. • Play devils advocate • Gather allies to help challenge confirmation bias. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

13. False Dichotomies: Either-or Thinking • A false dichotomy is 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. • Describing objects, events, and people in such extreme polarities as more-immoral, good-bad, rich-poor, locks us into a mindset of narrow vision. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

14. False Dichotomies • The competent communicator combats the problem of false dichotomies in small groups as follows: • Be suspicious of absolutes- when group members argue only two extreme possibilities, look for a third or even fourth possibility. • Employ the language of provisionalism. You will be using terms such as sometimes, rarely, occasionally, mostly, usually, unlikely, and moderately, not always, never, or impossible. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

15. Inferences • Inferences are conclusions about the unknown based on what is known. • The principal problem with inferences is that we too often assume our inferences are mere descriptions of fact, even when they rest on insufficient or faulty information • If we don't exercise our critical thinking abilities by closely examining important inferences central to decision making in groups, bad decisions are highly likely to result. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

16. Limited Information Base: Information Insufficiency • Inferential error resulting from severely limited information is equally problematic for a group. • Group members are prone to make inferences based on extremely limited or faulty information without even realizing that they have made a guess, and not identified a fact. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

17. Specified Sources of Inferential Errors • The graphic, outrageous, controversial event draws our attention and sticks in our minds, that is called the vividness effect. • We tend to overvalue shocking example and undervalue statistical information that shows patterns and trends. • Unrepresentativeness distorting the facts- when we make a judgment, we assess the resemblance or accuracy of an object or event presumed to belong to a general category. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

18. Correlation Inferred as Causations • A third specific source of inferential error is correlation. A correlation is a consistent relationship between two or more variables. The are two kinds of correlations: positive and negative. • A positive correlation occurs when X increases and Y also increases. • A negative correlation occurs when X increases and Y decreases. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

19. Error Correction: Practicing Critical Thinking • Group discussion promotes higher-quality of decision making when the following conditions occur: • The validity of inferences is carefully examined. • Inferences are grounded in valid and plentiful information. • As least one member of the group exerts influence to guide the group toward higher-quality decisions. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

20. General Conditions: Excessive Cohesiveness and Concurrence Seeking • Groupthink- a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action. • Cohesiveness and its companion, concurrence-seeking, are the two general conditions necessary for groupthink to occur. • Groupthink is rooted in excessive cohesiveness and a resulting pressure to present a united front to those outside of the group. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

21. Identification of Groupthink: Main Symptoms • Overestimation of the groups power and morality. • Closed-mindedness, clinging to assumptions. • Closed-mindedness is manifested by rationalizations that discount warnings or negative information that might cause the group to rethink its basic assumptions. • Pressures toward Uniformity • To maintain uniformity of opinion and behavior among group members. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

22. Preventing Groupthink: Promoting Vigilance • Groups must become vigilant decision makers. Vigilant decision making requires that several steps be taken. • First, members must recognize the problem of groupthink as it begins to manifest itself. • Second, the group must minimize status differences, high status members exert a disproportionate influence on lower-status group members. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving

23. Preventing Groupthink: Promoting Vigilance • Seeking information that challenges an emerging occurrence. • Close related , developing a norm in the group that legitimizes disagreement during discussion sessions is a final way to prevent groupthink. • Reminder role- the reminder raise questions in a non-aggressive manner regarding collective inferential error, confirmation bias, false dichotomies, and any of he myriad symptoms of groupthink that may arise. Speech 140 Chapter 7 Defective Group Decision Making and Problem Solving