Additive task A task where the inputs of each group member are added together to create the group performance, and the expected performance of the group is the sum of group members’ individual inputs
Adjourning stage When group members prepare for the group to end
Compensatory (or averaging) task A task where the group input is combined such that the performance of the individuals is averaged rather than added
Conjunctive task When the group performance is determined by the ability of the group member who performs most poorly
Criterion task A task where the group can see that there is a clearly correct answer to the problem that is being posed
Devil’s advocate An individual who is given the job of expressing conflicting opinions and forcing the group (in a noncombative way) to fully discuss all the alternatives
Disjunctive task When the group’s performance is determined by the best group member
Divisible task When each of the group members working on the job can do a separate part of the job at the same time
Dominant response The action that we are most likely to emit in any given situation.
Entitativity The perception, either by the group members themselves or by others, that the people together are a group
Entity theorists People who tend to believe that others’ traits are fundamentally stable and incapable of change
Group polarization When, after discussion, the attitudes held by the individual group members become more extreme than they were before the group began discussing the topic
Group process The events that occur while the group is working together on the task
Groupthink When a group that is made up of members who may actually be very competent and thus quite capable of making excellent decisions nevertheless ends up making a poor one as a result of a flawed group process and strong conformity pressures
Illusion of group effectivity The tendency to overvalue the level of productivity of our ingroups
Injunctive norms Rules that specify how group members are expected to behave.
Intellective task A task that involves the ability of the group to make a decision or a judgment
Interdependence A state in which the group members depend on each other for successful performance of the group goals
Judgmental task A task for which there is no clearly correct answer to the problem
Maximizing task A task that involves performance that is measured by how rapidly the group works or how much of a product they are able to make
Mindguard Someone whose job it is to help quash dissent and to increase conformity to the leader’s opinions
Norming stage When the appropriate norms and roles for the group are developed
Not invented here bias When group members overvalue their own group’s ideas and products over those of other groups
Outcome bias A tendency to look at the outcome too much when we evaluate decision making
Performing stage When group members establish a routine and effectively work together
Prescriptive norms Rules which tell the group members what to do
Process gain When groups work better than we would expect, given the individuals who form them
Process loss When groups perform more poorly than we would expect, given the characteristics of the members of the group
Production blocking When only one person can speak at a time, and this can cause people to forget their ideas because they are listening to others, or to miss what others are saying because they are thinking of their own ideas
Proscriptive norms Rules which tell the group members what not to do
Role stress When individuals experience incompatible demands and expectations within or between the roles that they occupy, which often negatively impacts their ability to be successful in those roles
Shared information bias When group members tend to discuss information that they all have access to while ignoring equally important information that is available to only a few of the members
Social facilitation The tendency to perform tasks better or faster in the presence of others
Social group A set of individuals with a shared purpose and who normally share a positive social identity
Social inhibition The tendency to perform tasks more poorly or slower in the presence of others
Social loafing A group process loss that occurs when people do not work as hard in a group as they do when they are alone
Storming stage When group members may attempt to make their own views known, expressing their independence and attempting to persuade the group to accept their ideas
Sunk costs bias When we choose to stay in situations largely because we feel we have put too much effort in to be able to leave them behind
Unitary task A task that has to be done all at once and cannot be divided up