Q&A Hero

Q: Dr. Weitzman (psychiatrist) handles Billys outbursts of anger (e.g., throwing the chair through the glass window; voting on Henrys lobotomy) by a. disengaging from the group b. probing for explanation from Billy c. remaining asymmetrical with Billy d. distracting Billy

Q: Group discussion promotes higher quality decision making when a. the validity of inferences are carefully examined b. inferences are grounded in valid information c. at least one member of the group exerts influence to guide the group toward higher quality decisions d. all of the above

Q: Cliquesa. encourage nonconformity from membersb. can provide social acceptance, support, companionship, and recognition for membersc. have no positive social influence on membersd. typically are non-hierarchical and non-competitive

Q: Jurors used paraphrasing often during the deliberations.

Q: Dialectical inquiry is a. one method of preventing groupthink b. a process in which a single group member challenges an emerging agreement on a controversial issue c. a process in which one member raises questions in a nonaggressive manner regarding potential problems such as Ans : FALSE dichotomies and confirmation bias. d. none of the above

Q: Groups can build cohesiveness among members by a. encouraging compatible membership b. developing strong, competitive goals c. threatening expulsion of any members who trigger disagreement d. focusing most efforts on task accomplishment

Q: The jury was generally effective at handling secondary tension.

Q: A correlation is a. a consistent relationship between two variables b. an inconsistent relationship between two variables c. a generalization about what is unknown based on what is known d. a psychological predisposition to seek information that agrees with our point of view

Q: There are two primary dimensions of every group. They are a. cohesiveness and conformity b. productivity and task c. task and functional d. task and social

Q: The bigot (#10), the man who yelled a lot (#3), and the baseball fan (#7) had one thing in common--they all relied primarily on the competing, power/forcing style of conflict management.

Q: Several group members believe in the power of Therapeutic Touch. They see a program on the Discovery channel that shows examples of TT in action. They are now even more convinced than ever that TT heals people. Another program on PBS, however, announces that it will show TT is a fraudulent, worthless therapy. Group members refuse to watch this program because it casts doubt on their belief in TT. This is an example of a. rationalization of disconfirmation b. Ans : FALSE dichotomy c. group polarization d. confirmation bias

Q: The Twenty Percent Rule refers toa. the amount of time that group members, on average, should spend engaging in casualconversation to reduce primary tensionb. the proper proportion of time that a group should spend socializing when working on a taskc. the minimum standard for the proportion of minority and female group members necessary to discourage discriminationd. the maximum standard for the proportion of competitive opportunities in a group compared to cooperative opportunities for groups to function effectively

Q: One of the key informal roles played by juror #7 (the baseball fan) was devils advocate.

Q: Inferences a. Should be avoided during group discussion b. are generalizations about the known based on the unknown c. are uneducated guesses d. are generalization about the unknown based on the known

Q: Youre a member of [instructors name] Dark Beer Drinking Social Group. You observe a pattern of behavior among group members that discourages loud talking and laughter during discussions. This shows a. an explicit norm b. secondary tension c. an implicit norm d. entropy

Q: The jury did not use the criteria step of the Standard Agenda decision making format.

Q: Collective inferential error is a groups tendency to a. make inferences when engaging in decision making and problem solving b. resist making inferences during group discussion c. make inferences based on too much information d. make inferences based on very limited and faulty information

Q: The ripple effect in a system is always a negative experience for group members.

Q: Juror #8 (the architect) principally used the directive style of leadership.

Q: Rationalization of disconfirmation means a. we invent superficial alternative explanations for information that confirms our beliefs b. we invent superficial alternative explanations for information that disconfirms our beliefs c. we have a psychological predisposition to seek information that confirms our beliefs d. none of the above

Q: According to structuration theory, structures established in small groups both permit throughput to occur while also constraining the process.

Q: Because juror #3 (man who yells) was highly vocal and almost never quiet, you would expect from the leader emergence research that he would emerge as informal group leader.

Q: Potentially, the groups best means of coping effectively with information overload is a. specialization b. expanding the search for only relevant information c. discerning patterns to identify irrelevant information d. shutting off all electronic technology for a month

Q: Structuration theory posits that a system such as a small group establishes structures for discussion and problem solving in the form of rules, roles, norms, and power distribution.

Q: Which of the following strategies were used to gain compliance and extinguish the deviance (defiance) of the lone juror voting not guilty (#8, the architect) during initial deliberations? a. Coercion b. Seduction c. Ostracism d. Reason

Q: Groupthink is a process whereby a. group members get together and think up solutions to problems b. excessive cohesiveness discourages dissent in the group c. group members fear that the decisions made by the group will produce disastrous results d. group members exhibit serious concerns about the morality of their decisions

Q: Throughput is the process of transforming input into entropy.

Q: Juror #5 (lived in a slum) had which of the following power resources during the deliberations? a. Expertise b. Scarce information c. Rewards d. Legitimate authority

Q: Youre the leader of the Interstellar Dark Beer Drinking Doomsday cult. You predict that the world will end when consumption of dark beer declines by 5% or more in a year. Consumption declines 7%, but the world does not end. When this fact is pointed out to you, your response is, Members of the IDBDD drank mass quantities of dark beer, so they saved the world from extinction, proving the validity of my teachings. This is an example of a. confirmation bias b. Ans : FALSE dichotomy c. rationalization of disconfirmation d. groupthink

Q: All living systems must combat entropy and they achieve this with input.

Q: Eleven members of the jury accepted eye witness testimony from the old man and the woman across the El-tracks even after initial discussion. This is an example of a. collective inferential error b. Ans : FALSE dichotomy c. destructive conflict d. correlation as causation

Q: You want to prevent groupthink from becoming a problem in your group. To do this you should a. increase the group members sense of invulnerability to disaster b. increase status differences among group members c. seek information that supports an emerging agreement among members d. develop a norm in the group that legitimizes disagreement

Q: Groups can find that perfect, ideal balance point between stability and change if they try hard enough.

Q: Juror #9 (the old man) exhibited which of the following informal roles during the deliberations? a. Isolate b. Clarifier-elaborator c. Information giver d. Cynic

Q: When groups become more risk-taking or cautious after discussion has occurred than the initial preferences of group members would indicate, this is called a. group synergy b. group cohesiveness c. group productivity d. group polarization

Q: Deep diversity in groups means that members have strong values in common in a world marked by great variation in values.

Q: Juror #10 (the bigot with cold/flu) exhibited which of the following defensive communication patterns? a. Control b. Certainty c. Superiority d. Evaluation

Q: Team empowerment is the process of enhancing the capabilities and influence of individuals in Groups.

Q: Distortion of information is usually a bigger problem in small groups than it is in large organizations because large organizations have more resources to prevent such distortion.

Q: When juror #10, then later #3 advocated that the jury declare itself a hung jury, this was an attempt at a compromise.

Q: Expelling a bad apple team member is never a good option because the difficult group member may have the most relevant knowledge and skills.

Q: Systems are never in a static, unchanging state.

Q: All jurors conformed to the norms of the group.

Q: A team functions most effectively when team members have identical skill sets.

Q: As groups increase in size, formality in processes and procedures decreases.

Q: Jurors made no attempt to address primary tension in the group.

Q: Fear is usually an excellent motivator for team members.

Q: Negative information to the top of a traditional organizational hierarchy tends to be restricted.

Q: The constant bickering and strong disagreements among jurors is an example of negative synergy in action.

Q: Rewards for teams should be distributed based on individual effort or ability.

Q: If speed in decision making is a chief concern, then a group of at least 7 members or more is critical.

Q: Despite their animated disagreements, all jurors abided by the 5 standards of ethical communication.

Q: The general leadership pattern for most teams should be participative, not directive.

Q: Group climate often suffers in large groups of 10 members or more.

Q: Jurors #3 (man who yells) and #10 (bigot) both express verbal contempt for other jurors at some time during the deliberations.

Q: All cultures studied so far value decisive decision making and try to avoid a lengthy decision-making process characterized by chewing over all possible options before choosing.

Q: Larger groups inhibit overt disagreement more than smaller groups.

Q: When juror #3 (yells a lot) changes his mind and takes the position that a hung jury should be declared, he is exhibiting an avoiding conflict management strategy.

Q: Individual accountability in teams means emphasizing individual member failures.

Q: There are usually more non-participating group members in smaller groups than in larger groups.

Q: The disagreements among jurors never drifted into destructive conflict.

Q: A pseudo-team gives the appearance of being a team and of engaging in teamwork without exhibiting the substance of teams and teamwork.

Q: Seven group members is the ideal sized group according to research.

Q: When the old man (juror #9) votes not guilty during the secret ballot, making the vote 10-2 in favor of guilty, he is playing one of the disruptive informal roles.

Q: A team is defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who act independently, are equally committed to a common mission, subscribe to a competitive approach to accomplish that mission, and hold themselves accountable for team performance.

Q: High levels of stress and tension, divisive conflicts, boredom, and poor productivity are just some indicators of excessive openness or closedness in a system.

Q: Juror #8 (the architect) is being assertive when he challenges the juror who yells a lot (#3), finally calling him a sadist.

Q: The essence of all teams is collaborative interdependence.

Q: Openness in a system should always be encouraged and closedness in a system should always be discouraged to produce the most effective decision making and problem solving.

Q: The jury was guilty of groupthink.

Q: Roles for team members should not be designated if a team is expected to be effective. Team members should be allowed to choose roles that they feel best suited to play.

Q: A group should strive to remain completely open to input. Otherwise it might make poor decisions.

Q: Juror #2 who was a bank clerk (cough drop guy) was never a leader in the group because he was too quiet and seemed to lack sufficient verbal skills.

Q: Teams usually require a formal designation of member roles.

Q: Your group creates a specialized language that is mostly incomprehensible to outsiders. This is an example of using a psychological barrier to exercise group boundary control.

Q: When two jurors began playing tic-tac-toe, the architect became angry and tore up the paper. These two jurors were exhibiting indifference to the seriousness of the deliberations and to the architect who was trying to make an important point.

Q: Hierarchy in traditional organizations is the enemy of team empowerment.

Q: A system sustains dynamic equilibrium when it regulates the degree, rate, and consistency of change.

Q: When the architect (juror #8) demonstrated that the old man who was an eye witness couldnt have risen from his bed and walked down a hallway in 15 seconds, he was identifying a faulty inference.

Q: There are two kinds of accountability in teams: individual accountability and team accountability.