Stepping up to the challenge: A critical examination of face-to-face and computer-mediated team decision making.

The stepladder technique was designed to improve team decision making by staggering members' entry into a discussion (S. G. Rogelberg, J. L. Bames-Farrell, & C. A. Lowe, 1992). After examining the real and perceived influence exerted by members joining the discussion at different stepladder stages, the authors compared the technique's effects on face-to-face versus computer-mediated teamwork. They also tested the impact of electronic communication on members' perceptions of their collaborative processes. Results did not support the hypothesis that stepladder members joining the discussion early in the procedure enjoy disproportionate amounts of perceived influence, yet a prediction concerning the stepladder technique's incongruent effects across different communication media was partially upheld. As expected, face-to-face participants felt more influential and satisfied than their computer-mediated counterparts, regardless of decision technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When ratings from one source have been averaged, but ratings from another source have not: Problems and solutions.

Studies using the single-aggregate approach (L. R. James, 1982), where assessments made by individual respondents are correlated with other assessments that have been averaged across multiple respondents, can exhibit a systematic bias of 20 to 70% or more if they are used to estimate individual level relationships. Not only may results of such studies be erroneous, but theory development based on such studies may be misguided. A comprehensive solution (nested and crossed designs) to the single–aggregation problem is provided through generalizability theory. Results show that the aggregation bias is a function of both the generalizability (reliability) of individual responses and the number of individuals per group. Conceptual parallels to classical measurement theory are discussed. Factors are presented for converting single–aggregated correlations and standard deviations to estimates of the corresponding values using the individual as the level of analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Minority dissent and team innovation: The importance of participation in decision making.

This study integrates research on minority dissent and individual creativity, as well as team diversity and the quality of group decision making, with research on team participation in decision making. From these lines of research, it was proposed that minority dissent would predict innovation in teams but only when teams have high levels of participation in decision making. This hypothesis was tested in 2 studies, 1 involving a homogeneous sample of self-managed teams and 1 involving a heterogeneous sample of cross-functional teams. Study 1 suggested that a newly developed scale to measure minority dissent has discriminant validity. Both Study 1 and Study 2 showed more innovations under high rather than low levels of minority dissent but only when there was a high degree of participation in team decision making. It is concluded that minority dissent stimulates creativity and divergent thought, which, through participation, manifest as innovation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

When feedback is ignored: Disutility of outcome feedback.

On the basis of the theory of human judgment and decision making outlined by K. R. Hammond et al (1980), 2 types of feedback are conceptualized. Outcome feedback is information that describes the accuracy of the response, while cognitive feedback represents information regarding the reasons for this accuracy. The present experiment tested the hypothesis that outcome feedback that contains neither predictive nor explanatory value would be less likely to be used by better- as compared to poorer-performing security analysts. 17 Ss performed a realistic decision-making task using actual fundamental factor information on stock performance. Results support the hypothesis in that better-performing Ss were more likely to ignore outcome-only feedback. Implications for the revision of theories on decision making are discussed. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Older adults prefer less choice than young adults.

Previous research has demonstrated that older adults prefer less autonomy and seek less information when making decisions on their own relative to young adults (for a review, see M. Mather, 2006). Would older adults also prefer fewer options from which to choose? The authors tested this hypothesis in the context of different decision domains. Participants completed a choice preferences survey in which they indicated their desired number of choices across 6 domains of health care and everyday decisions. The hypothesis was confirmed across all decision domains. The authors discuss implications from these results as they relate to theories of aging and health care policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

MINERVA-DM: A memory processes model for judgments of likelihood.

This article describes an integration of most of the disparate likelihood judgment phenomena in behavioral decision making using a mathematical memory model. A new theory of likelihood judgments based on D. L. Hintzman's (1984, 1988) MINERVA2 memory model is described. The model, MINERVA-DM (DM?=?decision making), accounts for a wide range of likelihood judgment phenomena including frequency judgments, conditional likelihood judgments, conservatism, the availability and representativeness heuristics, base-rate neglect, the conjunction error, the validity effect, the simulation heuristic, and the hindsight bias. In addition, the authors extend the model to expert probability judgment and show how MINERVA-DM can account for both good and poor calibration (overconfidence) as a function of varying degrees of expertise. The authors' work is presented as a case study of the advantages of applying memory theory to study decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

When is educational specialization heterogeneity related to creativity in research and development teams? Transformational leadership as a moderator.

The authors examined conditions under which teams' educational specialization heterogeneity was positively related to team creativity. Using a sample of 75 research and development teams, the authors theorized and found that transformational leadership and educational specialization heterogeneity interacted to affect team creativity in such a way that when transformational leadership was high, teams with greater educational specialization heterogeneity exhibited greater team creativity. In addition, teams' creative efficacy mediated this moderated relationship among educational specialization heterogeneity, transformational leadership, and team creativity. The authors discuss the implications of these results for research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of justice in team member satisfaction with the leader and attachment to the team.

This study examined the effects of team decision accuracy, team member decision influence, leader consideration behaviors, and justice perceptions on staff members' satisfaction with the leader and attachment to the team in hierarchical decision-making teams. The authors proposed that staff members' justice perceptions would mediate the relationship between (a) team decision accuracy, (b) the amount of influence a staff member has in the team leader's decision, and (c) the leader's consideration behaviors and staff attachment to the team and satisfaction with the leader. The results of an experiment involving 128 participants in a total of 64 teams, who made recommendations to a confederate acting as the team leader, generally support the proposed model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Improving the peer-review process for grant applications: Reliability, validity, bias, and generalizability.

Peer review is a gatekeeper, the final arbiter of what is valued in academia, but it has been criticized in relation to traditional psychological research criteria of reliability, validity, generalizability, and potential biases. Despite a considerable literature, there is surprisingly little sound peer-review research examining these criteria or strategies for improving the process. This article summarizes the authors' research program with the Australian Research Council, which receives thousands of grant proposals from the social science, humanities, and science disciplines and reviews by assessors from all over the world. Using multilevel cross-classified models, the authors critically evaluated peer reviews of grant applications and potential biases associated with applicants, assessors, and their interaction (e.g., age, gender, university, academic rank, research team composition, nationality, experience). Peer reviews lacked reliability, but the only major systematic bias found involved the inflated, unreliable, and invalid ratings of assessors nominated by the applicants themselves. The authors propose a new approach, the reader system, which they evaluated with psychology and education grant proposals and found to be substantially more reliable and strategically advantageous than traditional peer reviews of grant applications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The mapping model: A cognitive theory of quantitative estimation.

How do people make quantitative estimations, such as estimating a car's selling price? Traditionally, linear-regression-type models have been used to answer this question. These models assume that people weight and integrate all information available to estimate a criterion. The authors propose an alternative cognitive theory for quantitative estimation. The mapping model, inspired by the work of N. R. Brown and R. S. Siegler (1993) on metrics and mappings, offers a heuristic approach to decision making. The authors test this model against established alternative models of estimation, namely, linear regression, an exemplar model, and a simple estimation heuristic. With 4 experimental studies the authors compare the models under different environmental conditions. The mapping model proves to be a valid model to predict people's estimates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The power of “we”: Effects of psychological collectivism on team performance over time.

We examined the influences of different facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, Norm Acceptance, and Goal Priority) on team functioning at 3 different performance depictions: initial team performance, end-state team performance, and team performance change over time. We also tested the extent to which team-member exchange moderated the relationships between facets of psychological collectivism and performance change over time. Results from multilevel growth modeling of 66 teams (N = 264) engaged in a business simulation revealed differential effects across facets of psychological collectivism and across different performance measurements. Whereas facets concerned with affiliation (Preference and Concern) were positively related to initial team performance, reliance was negatively related to initial team performance. Goal Priority was a strong predictor of end-state performance. Team-member exchange moderated the relationship between performance change and 3 of the 5 facets of psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Norm Acceptance). Implications for team composition and team training are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

From acclaim to blame: Evidence of a person sensitivity decision bias.

In a series of studies, the authors established empirical support for a general decision-making bias that they termed a person sensitivity bias. Specifically, a person sensitivity bias consists of a person positivity bias (D. O. Sears, 1983) under positive performance conditions and a person negativity bias under negative performance conditions. The authors conducted the first empirical studies of a direct comparison between individuals and objects performing the same task under both positive and negative performance conditions. Two additional studies tested the boundaries of the sensitivity bias within negatively framed decision dilemmas. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance toward a more comprehensive theory of person-object evaluation differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Team negotiation and perceptions of trustworthiness: The whole versus the sum of the parts.

In a team negotiation context, the authors empirically explored how judgments of team-level trust are derived from individual-level trust. Basing their argument on both the negativity bias and the discontinuity effect, the authors posit that people will focus most on the least trustworthy individual member of a team when making judgments about collective team-level trust. Findings from two studies demonstrate that perceptions of team trust are indeed lower than the average ratings of individual trust and are statistically equivalent to the least trusted member. In addition, compared with average individual trust levels, perceptions of collective team trust were found to be more predictive of (a) impasse rates in distributive negotiations and (b) the level of joint gain in integrative negotiations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multilevel model of minority opinion expression and team decision-making effectiveness.

The consideration of minority opinions when making team decisions is an important factor that contributes to team effectiveness. A multilevel model of minority opinion influence in decision-making teams is developed to address the conditions that relate to adequate consideration of minority opinions. Using a sample of 57 teams working on a simulated airport security-screening task, we demonstrate that team learning goal orientation influences the confidence of minority opinion holders and team discussion. Team discussion, in turn, relates to minority influence, greater decision quality, and team satisfaction. Implications for managing decision-making teams in organizations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Revisiting field experimentation: Field notes for the future.

Field experiments in the social sciences were increasingly used in the 20th century. This article briefly reviews some important lessons in design, analysis, and theory of field experiments emerging from that experience. Topics include the importance of ensuring that selection into experiments and assignment to conditions occurs properly, how to prevent and analyze attrition, the need to attend to power and effect size, how to measure and take partial treatment implementation into account in analyses, modern analyses of quasi-experimental and multilevel data, Rubin's model, and the role of internal and external validity. The article ends with observations on the computer revolution in methodology and statistics, convergences in theory and methods across disciplines, the need for an empirical program of methodological research, the key problem of selection bias, and the inevitability of increased specialization in field experimentation in the years to come. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents and consequences of psychological and team empowerment in organizations: A meta-analytic review.

This paper provides meta-analytic support for an integrated model specifying the antecedents and consequences of psychological and team empowerment. Results indicate that contextual antecedent constructs representing perceived high-performance managerial practices, socio-political support, leadership, and work characteristics are each strongly related to psychological empowerment. Positive self-evaluation traits are related to psychological empowerment and are as strongly related as the contextual factors. Psychological empowerment is in turn positively associated with a broad range of employee outcomes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and task and contextual performance, and is negatively associated with employee strain and turnover intentions. Team empowerment is positively related to team performance. Further, the magnitude of parallel antecedent and outcome relationships at the individual and team levels is statistically indistinguishable, demonstrating the generalizability of empowerment theory across these 2 levels of analysis. A series of analyses also demonstrates the validity of psychological empowerment as a unitary second-order construct. Implications and future directions for empowerment research and theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Across the thin blue line: Police officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot.

Police officers were compared with community members in terms of the speed and accuracy with which they made simulated decisions to shoot (or not shoot) Black and White targets. Both samples exhibited robust racial bias in response speed. Officers outperformed community members on a number of measures, including overall speed and accuracy. Moreover, although community respondents set the decision criterion lower for Black targets than for White targets (indicating bias), police officers did not. The authors suggest that training may not affect the speed with which stereotype-incongruent targets are processed but that it does affect the ultimate decision (particularly the placement of the decision criterion). Findings from a study in which a college sample received training support this conclusion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decision making and the avoidance of cognitive demand.

Behavioral and economic theories have long maintained that actions are chosen so as to minimize demands for exertion or work, a principle sometimes referred to as the law of less work. The data supporting this idea pertain almost entirely to demands for physical effort. However, the same minimization principle has often been assumed also to apply to cognitive demand. The authors set out to evaluate the validity of this assumption. In 6 behavioral experiments, participants chose freely between courses of action associated with different levels of demand for controlled information processing. Together, the results of these experiments revealed a bias in favor of the less demanding course of action. The bias was obtained across a range of choice settings and demand manipulations and was not wholly attributable to strategic avoidance of errors, minimization of time on task, or maximization of the rate of goal achievement. It is remarkable that the effect also did not depend on awareness of the demand manipulation. Consistent with a motivational account, avoidance of demand displayed sensitivity to task incentives and covaried with individual differences in the efficacy of executive control. The findings reported, together with convergent neuroscientific evidence, lend support to the idea that anticipated cognitive demand plays a significant role in behavioral decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The psychology of doing nothing: Forms of decision avoidance result from reason and emotion.

Several independent lines of research bear on the question of why individuals avoid decisions by postponing them, failing to act, or accepting the status quo. This review relates findings across several different disciplines and uncovers 4 decision avoidance effects that offer insight into this common but troubling behavior: choice deferral, status quo bias, omission bias, and inaction inertia. These findings are related by common antecedents and consequences in a rational-emotional model of the factors that predispose humans to do nothing. Prominent components of the model include cost-benefit calculations, anticipated regret, and selection difficulty. Other factors affecting decision avoidance through these key components, such as anticipatory negative emotions, decision strategies, counterfactual thinking, and preference uncertainty, are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"I knew we would win": Hindsight bias for favorable and unfavorable team decision outcomes.

This study examined hindsight bias for team decisions in a competitive setting in which groups attempted to outperform each other. It was anticipated that, because of self-serving mechanisms, individuals would show hindsight bias only when decision outcomes allowed them to take credit for their own team's success or to downgrade another team for being unsuccessful. MBA students playing a market simulation game made hindsight estimates regarding the likelihood that either their own or another team would perform well. Consistent with a self-serving interpretation, when decision outcomes were favorable individuals evaluating their own team, but not those evaluating another, showed hindsight bias. When outcomes were unfavorable individuals evaluating their own team did not show hindsight bias, but those evaluating another team did. Discussion focuses on implications of hindsight bias in team decision-making settings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)