Deck 9: Problem Solving and Decision Making in Groups: Theoretical Perspectives

Question 1

Fisher used interaction analysis to discover four phases in decision making by groups, which he called

A) orientation, evaluation, decision, and confirmation.
B) formation, orientation, evaluating, emergence.
C) initiation, information, conflict, and reinforcement.
D) formation, development, evaluating, and decision emergence.
E) orientation, conflict, decision emergence, and reinforcement.

Answer 1

orientation, conflict, decision emergence, and reinforcement.

Question 2

In Effective Group Discussion, critical thinking was used to refer to

A) systematic examination of information and ideas on the basis of evidence and logic rather than intuition, hunch, or prejudgment.
B) establishing and applying explicit criteria.
C) playing a role as a "devil's advocate" for the group.
D) none of these
E) attacking fallacies in another person's statement.

Answer 2

systematic examination of information and ideas on the basis of evidence and logic rather than intuition, hunch, or prejudgment.

Question 3

List the five advantages of an assembly effect (worth 5 points).

Answer 3

NO Answer

Question 4

In an attempt to maintain cohesion, Jana doesn't voice her disagreement with the decision being made. As a result, a poor solution is implemented. Jana's group is a victim of ___________.

Question 5

Each group member possesses information relevant to solving a problem. This means the group is effective at

A) high integrative complexity.
B) low integrative complexity.
C) recognition tasks.
D) disjunctive tasks.
E) conjunctive tasks.

Question 6

"Lacks others' input, so may not be high quality" describes a _____________.

A) Decision by the leader
B) Decision by consensus
C) Decision by majority vote
D) Decision by the leader, with consultation

Question 7

The assembly effect

A) occurs when groups engage in a multistep process to move from its current state to the desired goal.
B) occurs when groups are involved in choosing among alternatives.
C) none of these.
D) occurs when groups achieve a decision that is qualitatively and quantitatively better than an individual decision.
E) the decision of group members collectively is better, qualitatively and quantitatively, than adding or averaging the individual judgments of the members.

Question 8

______________ is the systematic examination of information and ideas on the basis of evidence and logical reasoning.

Question 9

At their best, groups achieve an _________________ in which the decision is qualitatively and quantitatively better than the best individual judgment of any one member.

Question 10

Groupthink discussions are characterized by frequent expressions of

A) agreement.
B) anecdotal evidence.
C) disagreement.
D) procedural conflict.
E) critical judgment.

Question 11

"Members are more satisfied and committed to the decision" describes a

A) Decision by majority vote
B) Decision by the leader, with consultation
C) Decision by consensus
D) Decision by the leader

Question 12

Groups are better than individuals at solving disjunctive tasks.

Question 13

A ___________________ occurs when members collectively hold the information they need to make the best decision; leading to a far less effective solution.

Question 14

According to your authors, why do groups need structure?

A) To facilitate the study of small groups
B) Without it, group problem-solving can be pretty haphazard
C) To avoid violating an organization's charter
D) People tend to naturally create structure
E) In order to justify the role of management

Question 15

During the _________________________ phase of Fisher's Model of Group Phases, members develop a shared understanding of their task, the facts about available options, and how to interpret them.

Question 16

Evaluating information from the World Wide Web poses unique problems. The authors suggest evaluation criteria including

A) recency and coverage.
B) audience and purpose.
C) none of these.
D) all of these.
E) accuracy and authority.

Question 17

Jennifer concludes that because some college students have defaulted on their government-guaranteed loans, most or all college students are irresponsible. This is an example of

A) a fact.
B) a mistake.
C) a faulty analogy.
D) overgeneralizing.
E) an ad hominem attack.

Question 18

_________________ suggests that as members get to know each other's values, they want to appear "correct" and may exaggerate opinions in the direction they believe the group values positively.

Question 19

Define and contrast questions of fact, conjecture, value and policy.

Question 20

"Assembly effect" means that

A) members put their information together to produce a superior decision.
B) all group members line up together.
C) In this kind of positive synergy, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
D) members combine their critical thinking to produce superior decisions.
E) several persons work cooperatively to create something.

Question 21

To claim that public executions would reduce violent crimes in the United States because public executions have reduced violent crimes in Syria would be a valid analogy.

Question 22

An __________ is a conclusion that is not supported by enough data.

Question 23

Standards against which to evaluate the various options are criteria?

Question 24

What is not an advantage of the assembly effect?

A) Members compensate for each other's weaknesses.
B) It takes less time to reach a group decision than an individual one.
C) Members can spot each other's errors and process more information than individuals.
D) All of these.
E) Members provide different perspectives to a problem.

Question 25

A group considers two cases in which wooden bridge beams broke under loaded trucks, then decides that wooden beams are not safe for bridges that must carry trucks. This is an instance of the fallacy of ______________.

Question 26

During the reinforcement state of a decision-making procedure,

A) the decision is restated by every member.
B) a lot of primary tension is released.
C) implementation of the decision is worked out.
D) members confirm and compliment each other.
E) all the other answers are true.

Question 27

Evaluating all information and reasoning and making a decision is called ______________ thinking.

Question 28

A discussant says that taxing the wealthiest citizens at a higher rate than other taxpayers is a poor idea because proponents of that idea are "radical liberals." That is an example of the logical fallacy called a(n) ______________ attack.

Question 29

The advantage groups usually have over individuals in making decisions on complex issues comes more from the combined knowledge of the members than from the interaction process.

Question 30

A verifiable observed event is a(n)

A) fact.
B) systematic examination of information.
C) inference.
D) knowledge.
E) information.

Question 31

The amount of authority and limitations a group has is its

A) area of freedom.
B) power lines.
C) map of influence.
D) corral fence.
E) boundary of operation.

Question 32

Gouran, Hirokawa, and their associates determined that groups must meet what five fundamental task requirements?

Question 33

"Minority side may stay silent out of fear" describes a

A) Decision by the leader
B) Decision by the leader, with consultation
C) Decision by majority vote
D) Decision by consensus

Question 34

"Familiar procedure for Americans and each vote counts equally" describes

A) Decision by the leader, with consultation
B) Decision by majority vote
C) Decision by consensus
D) Decision by the leader

Question 35

The ______________ states that the communicative actions of group members determine decision-making and problem-solving performance.

Question 36

When you act as if only two choices exist, when likely there are several, you have committed what fallacy?

Question 37

A question that refers to what is right, good, preferable or acceptable is a question of

A) conjecture.
B) value.
C) belief.
D) policy.
E) fact.

Question 38

List the four phases in the decision-making cycle theorized by Fisher, and describe the major content of discussion during each phase.

Question 39

Rules about decision making affect the quality of choices made by a small group.

Question 40

The statement, "The best place to spend a vacation is in the snowy mountains," is an example of

A) information.
B) critical thinking.
C) fact.
D) opinion.
E) observation.

Question 41

Which characteristics of members enhance the quality of group outputs?

A) none of these
B) all of these
C) possesses information relevant to solving a problem
D) are predisposed to process information cognitively
E) has the ability to engage in highly complex reasoning processes

Question 42

"Members may resent the decision if their input isn't used" describes

A) Decision by the leader, with consultation
B) Decision by the leader
C) Decision by consensus
D) Decision by majority vote

Question 43

Which statement presents a false dilemma?

A) If you turn left, the road dead ends, but if you turn right the bridge is out.
B) Your name is either on the class list or not on it.
C) A normal human is either male or female.
D) A person is either a citizen of the U.S. or not.
E) A person is either ethical or unethical, moral or immoral.

Question 44

Because something is true about one or a few instances, someone claims it is true of all or most instances of the same type. This is called an overgeneralization.

Question 45

A conjunctive tasks occurs when each member possesses information relevant to solving a problem, but no one member has all the needed information.