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Mind & EverydayFact

Group brainstorming produces fewer ideas than working alone.

In 1987 Diehl and Stroebe compared groups of four with four people working alone and pooling their ideas. The individuals together produced clearly more ideas of equal quality. Main reason: only one person can talk at a time, the others wait and forget. Evaluation anxiety and free-riding, by contrast, explained only a small part of the loss.

Useful: Have everyone write ideas silently for 10 minutes first, then combine them as a group.

Source: doi.org

ArbeitGruppenKreativitaet

Difficulty:

Question on this card

Why do brainstorming groups produce fewer ideas than individuals?

  1. Groups are lazier
  2. Only one can speak; others wait and forget
  3. Groups are too critical
  4. There is no moderator
Show the answer

Correct: Only one can speak; others wait and forget

So-called production blocking: people waiting to speak lose their ideas.

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