The effect of group participation on brainstorming effectiveness for 2 industrial samples.

Problems were presented for brainstorming to 48 research scientists and 48 advertising personnel employed with the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. Within a counterbalanced experimental design, each S brainstormed certain problems individually and other equated problems as a member of a 4-man team. Individuals produced not only more ideas than groups, but they accomplished this without sacrificing quality. The net superiority of individual performance over group participation is highlighted by the fact that 23 of 24 groups produced a larger number of different ideas under the individual condition. The superiority of individual brainstorming over group brainstorming was relatively greater when it was preceded by group participation. Apparently, group participation is accompanied by certain inhibitory influences even under conditions (e.g., brainstorming) which place a moratorium on all criticism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive stimulation in brainstorming.

Research on group brainstorming has demonstrated that it is less effective for generating large numbers of ideas than individual brainstorming, yet various scholars have presumed that group idea sharing should enhance cognitive stimulation and idea production. Three experiments examined the potential of cognitive stimulation in brainstorming. Experiments 1 and 2 used a paradigm in which individuals were exposed to ideas on audiotape as they were brainstorming, and Experiment 3 used the electronic brainstorming paradigm. Evidence was obtained for enhanced idea generation both during and after idea exposure. The attentional set of the participant and the content of the exposure manipulation (number of ideas, presence of irrelevant information) influenced this effect. These results are consistent with a cognitive perspective on group brainstorming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental study of the effectiveness of brainstorming.

In the study of conditions favorable to creativity 2 different ways of conducting brainstorming groups were compared. 3 groups each composed of 7 university students were given instructions to uncritically invent names for 3 kinds of articles; 3 other groups of students each composed of 7 persons were given instructions to also invent names for the same articles only to do so critically. 150 different students rated the invented names of both groups for quality. "For each product, the noncritical condition produced a greater number or responses than the critical condition… . If it is the purpose of problem solving to produce a specific number of ideas of highest possible quality, these best ideas will tend to be of higher or equal quality when the noncritical method is used." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2HD45W. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship Between Self-Monitoring and Leader Emergence Across Two Task Situations.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence across two types of group tasks. Seventy-eight males and 66 females participated in same-sex, three-person groups assigned at random to either a modified brainstorming task or an anagrams task condition. Subjects' self-monitoring scores were measured prior to their group participation. High self-monitors emerged more frequently as leaders than did low self-monitors in female brainstorming groups but not in male brainstorming groups. The relationship between self-monitoring and leader emergence in male and female anagrams groups was not statistically significant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Computer brainstorms: More heads are better than one.

Research has consistently found nominal group brainstorming (in which members work separately without communicating) to be superior to brainstorming in which group members interact verbally. This article presents the results of an experiment that found the reverse to be true for computer-mediated electronic brainstorming. In this experiment, 12-member electronically interacting groups generated more ideas than did 12-member nominal groups, and there were no differences between 6-member electronic and 6-member nominal groups. The authors attribute these results to the ability of electronic brainstorming to introduce few process losses (production blocking, evaluation apprehension, and free riding) while enabling process gains (synergy and the avoidance of redundant ideas). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Blocking electronic brainstorms.

R. B. Gallupe et al (see record 1991-18315-001) attributed the superiority of electronic brainstorming to a number of factors, including the technology's ability to reduce production blocking. In the present article, the authors manipulated production blocking in 3 experiments and assessed the performance of blocked and unblocked electronic brainstorming groups (EBGs) and verbal brainstorming groups. When normal EBGs were compared with verbal brainstorming groups, EBGs were found to be significantly more productive, which replicated earlier research results. In contrast, blocked EBGs performed at the same (or lower) levels as verbal brainstorming groups in all 3 experiments. The authors conclude that the reduction in production blocking inherent in using the electronic brainstorming technology is 1 reason that EBGs are more productive than verbal brainstorming groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive stimulation and problem presentation in idea-generating groups.

One technique that may facilitate group brainstorming is decomposition of the task so that categories of the problem are considered one at a time rather than simultaneously (A. R. Dennis, J. S. Valacich, T. Connolly, & B. E. Wynne, 1996). Two studies examined this possibility for both solitary and interactive brainstorming in which major categories of a brainstorming problem were presented simultaneously or sequentially. In the 1st study, participants in the sequential presentation condition generated more ideas than did those in the simultaneous condition in both the individual and the group conditions. In the 2nd study, individuals exposed to either a high number or low number of idea categories demonstrated enhanced performance. Simulations of the data demonstrated that the results were consistent with an associative memory model of the idea generation process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promoting creativity in temporary problem-solving groups: The effects of positive mood and autonomy in problem definition on idea-generating performance.

The current study examined the effect of mood and autonomy in problem definition on the idea-generating performance of temporary workgroups. Groups (N=54) were randomly assigned to a mood (positive vs neutral) and autonomy (high vs low) condition and asked to brainstorm ways to improve university student life. It was found that positive mood increased the originality of ideas and that problems that provided low autonomy led to a greater number of ideas. Mood and autonomy interacted to affect group satisfaction. Furthermore, positive mood led to the identification of more important domains for improvement in the high-autonomy condition. Implications for future research using temporary problem-solving groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of group cohesiveness and training upon creative thinking.

In the formation of creative thinking groups, how well does brainstorming work? 48 Ss were divided into trained and untrained samples; and cohesive, noncohesive, and "nominal" subgroups of 2 persons each were formed, based on sociometric choice. Several hypothetical problems were discussed. An analysis of variance statistical technique was used to compare number of responses and number of unique responses between the groups. "Brainstorming by pairs of superior adults will produce more unique ideas when the groups are trained in the method and composed of people who like to brainstorm together. This is true, however, only when they are working on ego-involving problems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of brainstorming instructions and problem sequence on a creative problem solving test.

"The experiment was designed to study the effects on creative problem solving of instructions to express solutions without evaluation (brainstorming) and instructions which required only solutions of good quality and which involved a penalty for solutions of bad quality (nonbrainstorming). Each S [32 college students] was given two problems which required creative ability, in two testing periods." One was with and one without brainstorming. "Significantly more good solutions were produced under brainstorming… . There was no significant difference in the nonbrainstorming performance in the two test periods." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparison of two group brainstorming procedures.

A modified brainstorming procedure that required Ss (male introductory psychology students) to identify psychologically with significant components of the task (called synectics) was compared to standard brainstorming over 3 sessions and 9 different problems. Each treatment condition was also divided into high- and low-interpersonal-effectiveness groups. The synectics groups were superior to the brainstorming groups on all 9 problems, but the differences were statistically significant for only 4. There were no significant main effects due to group composition, nor were there any interactions. It is concluded that synectics is a more effective group-problem-solving strategy than brainstorming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Brainstorming on a "hot" problem: Effects of training and practice on individual and group performance.

Assigned 96 undergraduates to 8 treatments in a 2 * 2 * 2 analysis of variance in which the factors were videotape training, practice, and individual vs. group brainstorming. Ss were asked to generate ways that individuals might influence United States foreign policy. Significant interactions were found between videotape training and practice and between videotape training and individual vs. group brainstorming. Expected facilitation of performance through videotape training did not materialize. Group practice followed by individual brainstorming produced the largest number of ideas. The general superiority of individuals over groups appears even more pronounced when the problem is real and motivation is high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of a written feedback procedure, group brainstorming, and individual brainstorming.

Compared the productivity of a written feedback procedure with that of group and individual brainstorming in 48 undergraduates divided into 4-member groups. The written feedback procedure consisted of group members generating ideas independently, receiving written copies of each other's ideas, and then resuming to work independently. Each group generated solutions to 2 brainstorming problems. The productivity of both the written feedback procedure and individual brainstorming exceeded that of group brainstorming. The productivity of the written feedback procedure did not differ significantly from that of individual brainstorming. Results suggest that, as presently applied, the utility of the written feedback procedure does not exceed that of individual brainstorming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social influence processes in group brainstorming.

A series of studies examined the role of social influence processes in group brainstorming. Two studies with pairs and 1 with groups of 4 revealed that the performance of participants in interactive groups is more similar than the performance of those in nominal groups. A 4th study demonstrated that performance levels in an initial group session predicted performance on a different problem 2 sessions later. In a 5th study it was found that the productivity gap between an interactive and nominal group could be eliminated by giving interactive group members a performance standard comparable with the typical performance of nominal groups. These studies indicate that performance levels in brainstorming groups are strongly affected by exposure to information about the performance of others. It is proposed that social matching of low performance levels by interactive group members may be an important factor in the productivity loss observed in group brainstorming. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of social anxiousness in group brainstorming.

The authors predicted that individuals high in dispositional anxiousness would perform poorly when brainstorming in groups but not during solitary brainstorming. Exp demonstrated this result in a comparison of groups of 4 that were all high or all low in interaction anxiousness. In groups with 2 low- and 2 high-anxious individuals, the low-anxious individuals lowered their performance in the direction of the high-anxious individuals. These results suggest that part of the productivity loss observed in interactive brainstorming groups may be due to the inhibited performance of individuals who are uncomfortable with group interaction. Moreover, these individuals may influence others in the group to lower their performance in line with that inhibited performance level. Exp 2 demonstrated that poor performance of socially anxious groups in interactive brainstorming is not dependent on whether group members have individual microphones or share 1 common microphone. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision Tool for Selecting the Optimal Techniques for Cost and Schedule Reduction in Capital Projects

Projects must meet budget, schedule, safety, and quality goals to be regarded as a success. Many factors come into play, and many decisions are made that influence a project’s outcome. Today, owners are often faced with deciding between an execution strategy that emphasizes either project cost or project schedule. Such a decision may be made not once, but throughout the life of the project. Project teams, when required by the owner to make a cost-schedule trade-off, generate common sense ideas, best practices, and other means of achieving the desired trade-off through brainstorming sessions. This paper offers a tool for systematically identifying the techniques which are most effective in achieving the trade-off goal. Project teams can then use these techniques in a timely fashion to increase the likelihood of project success.     

Design Structure Matrix Implementation on a Seismic Retrofit

A void exists in development of design theory methodology within the structural engineering community. This void hampers efforts to resolve performance deficiencies including cost over-runs, unplanned rework, and suboptimal design. In manufacturing, product design and production improvements have resulted from implementation of the design structure matrix (DSM) methodology. DSM offers a means to represent, analyze, and decompose complex systems in order to improve their performance. DSM use within the architecture engineering construction (AEC) industry has been sporadic and focused primarily in the U.K. Where applied, DSM has proven effective at helping AEC design teams streamline processes to address nonlinearity (nonsequential information flows) introduced by iteration and complexity in design. When a DSM reveals iteration and highly dependent work, group brainstorming, collocated design sessions, rapid feedback, set-based design, and collaborative design aids can be used to increase overall team effectiveness. This paper examines a case study where DSM-based planning software was used on a seismic retrofit project to drive process improvement in design management. DSM correctly identified iterative activities central to design and provided the following; (1) a common vocabulary to discuss rework in the context of a multidisciplinary design team; (2) a rational method to schedule team collocation and brainstorming efforts to maximize their benefit; and (3) a means to consider iterative activities (and associated hand-offs) in design work structuring.     

Is the number of trials a primary determinant of conditioned responding?

Acquisition of conditioned responding is thought to be determined by the number of pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). However, it is possible that acquisition is primarily determined not by the number of trials but rather by quantities that often correlate with the number of trials, such as cumulative intertrial interval (ITI) and the number of sessions. Four experiments examined whether the number of trials has an effect on acquisition of conditioned responding, once cumulative ITI and number of sessions are equated. Results of the experiments with rats and mice favor the hypothesis that over an eightfold range, variation in number of CS-US pairings has little effect. It is suggested that learning curves might more accurately be plotted across cumulative ITI or number of sessions, and not across number of trials. Results pose a challenge to trial-centered accounts of conditioning, as demonstrated by simulations of the Rescorla-Wagner model, a simplified version of Wagner's standard operating procedure model (SOP), and Stout & Miller's sometimes competing retrieval model (SOCR). A time-centered account, rate estimation theory (RET), predicts the main finding but has trouble with other aspects of the learning process more easily accommodated by trial-centered models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The sentinel effect in an outpatient managed care setting.

Psychologists who provide services under managed care must typically cope with session restrictions and time-consuming paperwork to justify session use. This process has been broadly challenged by critics of managed care. This study investigated the effect of allocating sessions in outpatient treatment on session use. Providers were authorized either 6, 10, or 19 sessions (benefit maximum), with additional sessions given without restriction. Results showed that doctoral-level psychologists in the 6-session, 10-session, and 19-session groups used up to 2.5 sessions more than the control group, whereas master's-level providers used up to 5.5 sessions more. Master's-level providers also had an 18% treatment dropout rate, compared with 7% for psychologists. On the basis of cost analysis, session management is financially warranted for master's-level providers but not for doctoral-level psychologists. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Enhancing Value Engineering Process by Incorporating Inventive Problem-Solving Techniques

The creativity phase is critical to the success of a value engineering exercise, in which the brainstorming technique is deployed to generate ideas. One shortcoming of the brainstorming technique is its lack of direction in problem solving, and consequently the efficiency is low in generating innovative and useful ideas. To overcome this shortcoming, this paper has explored the possibility of incorporating the theory of inventive problem solving (TRIZ) into the workshop session of the value engineering exercise by initiating three new procedures in this session: (1) an initial design procedure to examine the functions of a proposed project; (2) a function trimming procedure to fully utilize existing resources and ensure low life-cycle cost and sustainability of the proposed project; and (3) an interaction analysis procedure to assess the proposed project in a broad perspective with social, economic, and environmental awareness. A case study has indicated the workability of the modified workshop procedures and the usefulness of TRIZ tools and techniques in efficiently and effectively creating innovative ideas.