Browsing by Subject "Group problem solving"
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Item A comparison of the performance of structured and unstructured groups in three levels of time pressure(Texas Tech University, 1999-12) Sprague, Vicki L.Few comparisons of structured and unstructured group performance in various stressfiil situations exist (e.g., Sprague, 1997; Worchel & Shackelford, 1991; Urban, Bowers, Monday, & Morgan, 1995). Given that time pressure Is the most common stressor in organizations. Experiment 1 compared the performance of three-member structured and unstructured groups in three time-pressure condhions. Structured and unstructured group performance was also compared to the performance of nominal groups. A 3 (no, low, and high levels of time pressure) x 5 (structured and unstructured groups and the best, middle, and worst members of nominal groups) ANOVA using the quaUty of group performance as the dependent variable revealed that structured and unstructured group performance did not differ significantly. The quality of structured and unstructiued group performance was significantly lower than the best nominal groupmember, indicating that structured and unstructured groups experienced a process loss when working on the logic problem task. Although performance quaUty differed significantly between all three time-pressure condhions, the predicted curvilinear relationship between time pressure and performance did not occur. Finally, the rate of group performance did not differ significantly across the three time-pressure conditions. Experiment 2, in a test of the social entrainment hypothesis proposed by Kelly, McGrath, and colleagues (e.g., Kelly & Karau, 1993; Kelly & McGrath, 1985; McGrath & Kelly, 1986), compared the performance of structured, unstructured, and nominal groups in two consecutive high time-pressure conditions. A 5 (structured and unstructured groups and the best, middle, and worst nominal group members) x 2 (costume and skiing versions of the logic problem task) mixed subjects ANOVA revealed that groups and Individuals worked at a lower rate in the second consecutive high timepressure condhion than in the first condhion. This unpredicted finding was attributed to the fact that groups and individuals faced a problem of capability when working on the logic problem task (i.e., the demands of the task exceeded available processing resources; Kelly, Futoran, & McGrath, 1990). Possible explanations for the lack of significant differences between structured and unstructured group performance and the failure to find the predicted curvilinear relationship between time pressure and performance quality are explored.Item Aiding Attainment, System Stability, and Group Effectiveness(Texas Tech University, 1987-12) Stone, Nancy JSince a human group is a system, it is important to identify the components of the functioning group. These include: task type, characteristics of individual members, group structure, physical properties of the environment, and the behavior setting. Since all parts of a system are interrelated, a change in any one part can affect system stability. System stability, in turn, is expected to affect aiding attainment behaviors, and these to affect performance. A split-plot factorial design experiment was conducted to determine when aiding attainment behaviors are most likely to occur and when they are facilitative. Groups were either in a group (appropriate) or an individual (inappropriate) behavior support condition. Group members were either heterogeneous in ability (high, medium, low) or homogeneous (all medium). Group composition and behavior support had significant and additive effects on aiding attainment behavior. A distinction between active and passive aiding attainment behaviors was found. Active aiding attainment behaviors were significantly affected by behavior support; there was a greater amount of aiding attainment in the group behavior support. Neither group composition nor behavior support had a significant effect on passive aiding attainment behaviors. The correlations between passive aiding attainment behaviors and measures of performance indicate that passive aiding attainment behaviors may be more important in inappropriate behavior supports in order to alert other members of potential problems. That is, aiding attainment behaviors ought to help the group meet it's goals and to maintain balanced outcomes. Group composition was found to have a direct effect on the outcome variable, quality, over the third and fourth sessions. Finally, aiding attainment was correlated with quality over all conditions and sessions (r;(38) = .35, D < .05) .Item An examination of the influence of sex and sex role identity on learned helplessness and depression(Texas Tech University, 1983-08) Danker-Brown, Pamela SAttempts have been made to explain why depression occurs more frequently in women than in men. A number of authors have focused particularly on the learned helplessness model of depression and have emphasized the possible effects of sex role identity on exposure and susceptibility to helplessness. The current research was designed to further explore the role of sex role identity in susceptibility to depression. Introductory psychology students who volunteered to participate were given a battery of questionnaires that assessed masculinity and femininity, desire for control over decision making on a team problem-solving task, preference for luck versus skill based tasks, and attributional style. Eighty males and eighty females were selected to participate further. Half of the males and females in each of the four sex role identity groups were exposed to unsolvable concept formation problems and responded to questions concerning attributions for their performance. All students completed measures of mood, self-esteem and an anagram task as measures of symptoms of helplessness. All of the students were then taken to another room to what they thought was a separate experiment and given additional measures of mood, self-esteem and generalizability of helplessness effects. Both sex and sex role identity were found to influence preference for control over decision making and for luck versus skill tasks. Male gender and high masculinity was associated with preference to have control over one's environment. The implications of these findings for differential self-exposure to depression producing experiences is discussed. Contrary to earlier research, only androgynous females appeared to have been affected by the helplessness manipulation. Sex and sex role identity did influence measures of attributions; however, these differences did not parallel differences found in susceptibility to helplessness symptoms. Results are discussed in relation to sex differences in reported rates of depression, the learned helplessness model of depression, and methodological considerations for research on sex or sex role identity differences in susceptibility to learned helplessness.Item An experimental investigation of a graphical problem-structuring aid and nominal group technique for group decision support systems(Texas Tech University, 1986-05) Loy, Stephen LNot availableItem Devising Beauty: A Pedagogy for Devised Theatre(2011-05) Wampler, Katie; Gelber, William F.; Donahue, Linda L.; Steele, Brian D.; Stoune, Michael; Durham, GenevieveThis Professional Problem Dissertation presents a particular method for devising theatre using an educational model. The project addresses a significant gap in scholarship: although it has garnered considerable attention in the United Kingdom, devised theatre is relatively little known in the United States, where it is also referred to as collaborative collaboration. In particular what is lacking in this scholarship is a pedagogy which prepares the students to create an original performance. Madeline Hunter’s seven aspects of a lesson plan can be utilized to facilitate a discussion of the issues involved in creating theatre from a group perspective. Hunter’s seven aspects, in combination with other tools such as Viewpoints, a movement/voice technique, were crucial to my creating and teaching my own course in devised theatre. Devised theatre, which usually originates from the participants, offers the potential advantage of involving students with issues central to their own experiences in order to create a performance which affects their lives and those of the people around them. At the same time, it requires the instructor to adopt roles not always common in educational settings – those of guide and facilitator, for example. Curriculum design is thus a key component; this study augments theoretical approaches to curricular issues with an explanation of the actual realization of lesson plans, rehearsals, and performances. I have also created an assessment and evaluation of the course with perspectives from the audience, students, and the instructor. In conclusion, this new model of devising theatre stimulates collaboration, group problem solving, collective artistic creation, and individual and group reflection on the part of the participants. Devised theatre deserves implementation as an innovative pedagogical method that promotes the development of fundamental educational objectives.Item Diversity, conflict, and systems leadership in project groups: a longitudinal study(Texas Tech University, 2002-12) Agar, Feride PinarThe changing demography of the workforce has made group composition the most actively researched determinant of group effectiveness. The present study examined the effects of a major aspect of group composition, group diversity, on intragroup conflict and group performance. The majority of research on group diversity has considered diversity to be stable and objective. This study proposed a model of diversity that emphasized its perceptual and transient nature. It was postulated that different types of diversity would be salient at different times in a group's life and that these different types of diversity would trigger different group processes. Further, the model proposed in this study incorporated systems leadership, which enabled diverse groups to avoid the unfavorable effects of diversity while reaping its benefits. Seventy-six student project teams in the capstone Strategic Management class offered in the college of business administration of a large southwestern state university participated in a longitudinal survey study to test specific hypotheses derived from the proposed model. The results indicated that diversity had a transient nature and that the salience of different forms of diversity changed throughout groups' development. Also, it was found that different forms of diversity led to different types of conflict, which in turn influenced group performance. Finally, it was found that systems leadership moderated between diversity and conflict.Item Forced and unforced participation in group brainstorming and free discussion(Texas Tech University, 1980-12) Kinnison, Henry LeeNot availableItem Idea generation in brainstorming and turn-taking groups: differences in idea quantity, quality, and task perceptions(Texas Tech University, 1998-08) Manning, RenaThis dissertation is the first to directly compare the production of turn-taking groups to brainstorming groups. The utility of turn-taking had been compared to an idea generation technique called synectics (Bouchard, 1972 ) and to computer-aided brainstorming (Gallupe, Cooper, Grise & Bastianutti, 1994). The data from these studies suggested that turn-taking may yield a greater number of ideas per group than brainstorming. The production of both small (four participants) and large (seven to ten participants) groups was evaluated for quantity and quality under two topic conditions. Participants' task perceptions were also measured. Participants in turn-taking groups produced a greater number of ideas per group than participants in brainstorming groups. Participants in large groups produced more ideas per group than participants in small groups. However, when output is measured on a per-person criteria, small groups performed better than large groups.Item The effect of problem solving procedure, group composition classification and locus of control orientation on idea generation performance and group participant perceived satisfaction levels(Texas Tech University, 1977-08) Ireland, Robert DuaneNot availableItem The effects of behavior type, task variability and number of discussions on the generalizability of influence gained on the basis of participation rate(Texas Tech University, 1982-05) Swaner, Craig KNot availableItem The effects of participation and feedback favorability on perceptions of fairness, satisfaction, and performance(Texas Tech University, 1995-12) Thompson, Richard CThis study examined the effects of participation practices and feedback favorability on perceptions of procedural, distributive, and interactional fairness, as well as satisfaction and performance. Participants worked in five-person groups on two sets of two intellective problems, and on a brainstorming task. Four participation conditions allowed increased control over decision making processes, from no control to both process and decision control. The performance feedback was manipulated to be either favorable or unfavorable for both sets of problems. Perceptions of the fairness of the decision making procedures, satisfaction with the group members and the decision making experience, and performance on the brainstorming task were measured. The results suggested that methods of participation which allow decision control tend to improve perceptions of procedural fairness, when feedback was favorable. When feedback was favorable and input or voice was the only form of control, people perceived less fairness than when they had decision control or no control. The perceived fairness of distributions was not affected by participation. Instead, favorable feedback lead to higher levels of perceived distributive fairness than did unfavorable feedback. Both perceptions of interactional fairness and satisfaction with group members were lowest when the type of participation provided both process and decision control but the feedback was unfavorable. When feedback was favorable, satisfaction with the decision making experience was higher than when feedback was unfavorable. Performance on the brainstorming task that followed repeated feedback was higher for people who had no control on the previous tasks than those who had voice or decision control. This result may have occurred because on the brainstorming task, each person had a direct influence on their outcomes. Overall, the results suggest that methods of participation that increase control tend to lead to higher levels of perceived procedural fairness. This finding may help account for some of the inconsistent findings in the participatory decision making literature.