Bryan L. Bonner

Groups perform better than the best individuals on Letters-to-Numbers problems

Individuals and groups of 2, 3, 4, or 5 people solved 2 letters-to-numbers problems that required participants, on each trial, to identify the coding of 10 letters to 10 numbers by proposing an equation in letters, receiving the answer in letters, proposing a hypothesis, and receiving feedback on the correctness of the hypothesis. Groups of 3, 4, and 5 people proposed more complex equations and had fewer trials to solution than the best of an equivalent number of individuals. Groups of 3, 4, and 5 people had fewer trials to solution than 2-person groups but did not differ from each other. These results suggest that 3-person groups are necessary and sufficient to perform better than the best individuals on highly intellective problems.

Collective Versus Individual Induction With Single Versus Multiple Hypotheses

Four-person cooperative groups and 4 independent individuals solved rule induction problems by proposing 1, 2, or 4 hypotheses per trial while selecting the same amount of evidence per trial. Groups performed at the level of the best individuals and better than the 2nd-best, 3rd-best, and 4th-best individuals for both correct hypotheses and nonplausible hypotheses. Increasing the number of proposed hypotheses from 1 to 2 to 4 did not increase correct hypotheses but increased nonplausible hypotheses. Transition probabilities from hypotheses on trial t to t + 1 indicated superior performance for the groups and best individuals for each of positive and negative hypothesis tests followed by examples and nonexamples; once the groups and best individuals proposed the correct hypothesis, they were more likely to continue to propose it than the other individuals.

Can Customers Detect Script Usage in Service Encounters? An Experimental Video Analysis

Service scripts are predetermined guides for employees to follow when delivering service to customers. Some services require employees to strictly follow a script, whereas others use scripts more flexibly, if at all. Extant research regarding service scripts in the domain of service operations has mainly addressed the topic from more of a process view as a control mechanism for the encounter but minimal research has examined customer perceptions of scripted service. The authors examine a pivotal first question, which is if customers can detect different approaches to script use. To answer the question, the authors conducted a video experiment of face-to-face service encounters in the hospitality industry. The results indicate that customers can detect degrees of script use across both standardized and customized encounter types. This work serves as initial empirical evidence that customers are indeed capable of detecting subtleties in scripting approaches in different service situations and supports that script level is an important service design construct for research. Furthermore, the authors highlight the use of a video experiment as an innovative methodology for assessing customer perceptions of intangible aspects to services in a realistic setting. One implication of this study is that managers need to assess the impact that different script levels have on customer perceptions of various service performance measures. Managers should also consider the effect script detection has on customer perceptions of the service experience and service brand to assure their script approach aligns with the organization’s service strategy.

The Effects of Extroversion on Influence in Ambiguous Group Tasks

Although the generic patterns that groups follow in reaching consensus on problem-solving tasks have been examined in detail, little attention has been given to the role of personality in group decision making. One personality variable that would seem to be especially relevant to group decision making is the extroversion levels of the group members. This study examines the effects that member extroversion has on the group decision-making process. As predicted, it was found that participants with the highest level of extroversion in their group were more influential than other group members under certain conditions. Three factors were found to suppress the influence of extroverts: the existence of a dominant faction within the group, a lack of relevant task information, and an excess of task ambiguity. These results indicate that examining groups at a social permutation level may improve our knowledge of the group decision-making process.

Leveraging member expertise to improve knowledge transfer and demonstrability in groups.

Group success is dependent on both the knowledge of group members and the extent to which the group can access this knowledge. This research focuses on promoting effective knowledge transfer in group members by facilitating their use of extant knowledge when solving novel problems and examines how this affects subsequent discussion, decision making, and performance. Participants (N = 540) answered a series of estimation items individually or in a group. Sessions were recorded to provide insight into the group interactions. Facilitating knowledge transfer promoted (a) a more effective dialogue in which members were able to share more of their knowledge and discuss member expertise, (b) groups giving greater weight to better member preferences in their decision-making process, and (c) improved group performance relative to both average comparison individuals and to groups operating without this intervention. The effectiveness of promoting knowledge transfer in a group context relative to an individual context is discussed and group superiority is related to the concept of task demonstrability.

Member Awareness of Expertise, Information Sharing, Information Weighting, and Group Decision Making

One of a group’s most valuable resources is the expertise of its members. How this expertise is (or is not) used has a major impact on group performance. However, determining expertise is often difficult. Thus the issue of how many group members need to be aware of expertise before the benefits of recognition accrue is of great importance. For example, do all members have to be aware of expertise prior to discussion for the group to benefit, or is a subset of members sufficient? If a subset is sufficient, how large must it be? To address these questions, we manipulated the number of group members possessing foreknowledge of member expertise. We then analyzed perceived expertise, information sharing, information weighting, and group decision making using a series of planned contrasts representing common social combination models. Discussion of unique information followed a majority wins model (i.e., a shift occurred when greater than half of members were made aware of expertise prior to discussion). For weighting of unique information, several models, including majority wins, fit when examining regression-based estimates of weighting whereas only the majority wins model fit when examining self-reported weighting. None of the models tested adequately explained rated expertise.

Phased Training for High-Reliability Occupations Live-Fire Exercises for Civilian Firefighters

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess whether the stress reduction effects of phased training culminating in repeated exposure to a stressful scenario generalize to new scenarios. Background: High-reliability occupations require personnel to operate in stressful situations involving complex environments, high degrees of uncertainty and time pressure, and severe consequences for mistakes. One method of training for such environments culminates in practice in high-fidelity, highly stressful simulations. For some domains, realism necessitates large-scale, difficult-to-modify physical simulations. This necessity often results in repeated exposure to one or very few scenarios. The literature gives reason to question whether the stress reduction effects of such exposure transfer to new scenarios. Method: Anxiety and cognitive difficulties were measured among firefighter trainees during three live-fire drills. For each trainee, two drills involved the same scenario, and the other involved a new scenario that was structurally similar to the repeated scenario. Results: As predicted, anxiety and cognitive difficulties decreased across repetitions of the same scenario. However, the reduction did not generalize to a new scenario, and a nontrivial portion of the sample showed signs of negative transfer. Conclusion: Repeated exposure to the same stressful scenario as the final phase of training has limited practical value for stress reduction. Methods for expanding the range of scenarios to which trainees are exposed or for increasing the value of the exposure are recommended. Application: The findings could help improve design of training programs for high-reliability occupations.

Collective induction : Effects of multiple hypotheses and multiple evidence in two problem domains

This article proposes that collective induction is improved more by multiple evidence than by multiple hypotheses. In Experiment 1, 4-person cooperative groups solved rule induction problems. In 9 conditions, they proposed 1, 2, or 4 hypotheses and selected evidence on 1, 2, or 4 arrays, on each trial. Correct hypotheses increased with multiple evidence but not with multiple hypotheses. Conversely, nonplausible hypotheses increased with multiple hypotheses but not with multiple evidence. In Experiment 2, 4-person cooperative groups solved a random mapping of the letters A-J to the numbers 0-9. On each trial, they proposed 1 or 2 equations in letters (e.g., A + D = ?), learned the answer in letters (e.g., A + D = G), and proposed 1 or 2 hypotheses (e.g., A = 5). Performance was improved by multiple equations (evidence) but not by multiple hypotheses.

Working outside of your wheelhouse: Effects of incentives and framing on transactive memory systems and performance

People collaborate to address tasks that can often be decomposed into smaller components. These components beg different forms of expertise and may differ in value to the group. We show that transactive memory structure is affected by the interaction between task component value, incentive framing (i.e., whether task incentives take the form of gains or losses), and the distribution of expertise with respect to task components. We find that when groups include a member with expertise in a highly valuable task component, that member is exceptionally motivated and puts forth high levels of effort. Only groups with such an expert successfully realized the potential performance benefit associated with high-value domains. Groups recalled more items under loss framing than under gains framing, but only when the potential losses were low and constant across components. We integrate our findings into the extant literatures on transactive memory and gains/loss framing.

Temporality in Negotiations: A Cultural Perspective

This paper discusses national differences in the interpretation of time in mixed motive decision contexts, such as negotiation. Specifically, we consider how members of different national cultures (Portugal, Turkey, and the United States) experience temporality in these situations. We argue that cultural temporality such as polychronicity, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance form part of a broader national environment. The national environment is also expressed in national stability factors such as legal systems, family ties, and homogeneity of populations. We propose that temporality and stability aspects of national environment determine negotiation paradigms, which subsequently influence temporality in negotiations. We conclude by suggesting that inclusion of complex and interdependent national environment factors in the study of negotiation has the potential to substantially advance our understanding of mixed motive decision situations.