CHAPTER SEVEN
Group Discussion: Defective Decision-
making and
Problem Solving
I. Lecture/discussion on mindsets (confirmation bias and false dichotomies)
II. Show “The Angry Eye” videotape by Jane Elliott (college students version of the
blue eyes-brown eyes study).
A. This, and numerous additional Jane Elliott blue eyes-brown eyes tapes are
B. Points
1. Discuss confirmation bias. Numerous examples of this mindset appear in the
movie. Elliott consistently uses errors and mistakes made by college students
in the “inferior” position as “proof” of their inferiority.
2. Discuss false dichotomies. Clear examples of the in-group vs. out-group
III. “Technology and Information Overload” demonstration/discussion
A. Purpose: To explain the bias of technologies and how electronic technologies
have an inherent bias for speed of information transmission, contributing to
information overload.
B. Time required: Approximately 5-10 minutes
C. Instructions
1. Bring a box to class filled with these items: a hammer, a screwdriver, a fork,
2. As you show each item to the class, ask what function it has (i.e., a hammer is
meant to do what? Pound nails.)
1. Ask if it can do other things. Ask if it can be used for
communication(typically participants will say “tap out Morse code”). Ask if a
hammer is an efficient communication technology. Why or why not?
2. Do the same with each item shown to the class (a pager, for example, can
D. Processing
1. Every technology, simple (hammer) or complex (Palm Pilot) has a
technological bias. Hammers are meant to pound nails, screwdrivers are
meant to twist screws, a pencil is made to write, a pager is meant to signal, a
2. Electronic technology (cell phones, faxes, ATMs, television and computers in
particular) have a bias for SPEED: instant transmission of information and
data. Transmitting enormous amounts of information and data at the speed of
light is what computers do best.
3. Electronic technologies have increased the pace of life (see Closer Look,
“Technology and the Bias of Speed,” in text). We are more impatient waiting
4. You can’t expect computers to go slower. That contradicts their
technological bias. You could merely tap a nail with a hammer, but it
would make the hammer a relatively ineffective tool in most instances.
5. Discuss coping strategies for dealing with information overload detailed in
the text.
IV. “Sounds That You Hear” demonstration
A. Purpose: To distinguish between statements of inference and description.
B. Time required: about 5-10 minutes
C. Instructions
1. Have students take out a sheet of paper and a pencil or pen.
2. Tell students to position their paper and writing implement in such a fashion
that they can write with their eyes closed.
3. Instruct students to close their eyes, remain silent, and “write down all of the
SOUNDS that you hear” when you say “go.”
4. Instructors should make several different noises with various materials (jiggle
keys, rustle paper, wad up a piece of paper, run a thumbnail over the teeth of
a comb, drop coins on a table, write on chalkboard) during about a one-
minute period.
5. Have students open their eyes and share what they wrote on their paper.
D. Processing
1. Note that almost everyone writes down what made the sounds, not a phonetic
approximation of the sounds themselves (“biff,” “bam,” “thud,” “kapow”).
2. Inferences are defined in the text as “conclusions about the unknown based
on the known.” Conclusions about what made the sounds (keys, chalk on the
3. Make the point that inferences are not evil. Thinking is inferential. Our brains
do not just absorb data from our senses and do nothing with it. Our brains are
neurologically hardwired to draw conclusions based on sensory data.
V. “Collective Inferential Error” exercise
A. Purpose: To illustrate the error correction function when groups work together
effectively to avoid collective inferential error.
B. Time required: About 20-25 minutes with processing.
C. Instructions:
1. Distribute the “uncritical inference test” (below) to all group members
(divided into term groups or ad hoc groups).
D. Processing the exercise
1. Find out how well each group did (normally very well).
Instructions: Read the following story carefully. For each statement that appears below, circle
either “T” if it can be determined from the information provided in the story that the statement
is completely true, “F” if information in the story clearly indicates that the statement is
incorrect in any way, and “?” if you cannot determine from the story whether the statement is
true or false (more information is needed).
The Story: Pat Doyle was sitting behind the receptionist’s desk typing rapidly
on a computer. The Executive Director of the Atlantic Sports Equipment Company
walked briskly by the receptionist and hurried into the office, grunting a hasty “Good
Morning” to Pat. A man with a briefcase, which had “Wilson’s Sporting Goods”
engraved on it, was leafing through a copy of Newsweek magazine while waiting in a
chair. A few moments later the Director came out, made a beckoning motion, and said,
“Hi, Jim! How’s the sales racket?”
1. Pat, the Executive Director’s receptionist, was typing rapidly on a computer. T/F?
2. Pat was sitting behind a desk while she typed rapidly. T/F?
3. Pat’s boss walked briskly by the receptionist’s desk. T/F?
4. Pat was sitting behind the desk when the Executive Director walked by and said,
“Good Morning.” T/F?
5. The Executive Director hurried into his office. T/F?
6. A man with a briefcase was sitting in a chair. T/F?
7. A man was reading a copy of Newsweek magazine. T/F?
8. The man worked for Wilson’s Sporting Goods. T/F?
9. The man was waiting to see the Executive Director. T/F?
10. The story involves only three people: a receptionist, the Executive Director of the
company, and a salesman. T/F?
E. VARIATION: Have each class member complete the test independently. Then
lecture about collective inferential error. Have the class members congregate in
groups and examine their answers on the test together as a group. Change any
answers deemed incorrect. Correct the test. Is there any error correction when
working in groups following the lecture? Another variation: Have half the class
VI. Excerpt from movie, Being There.
A. Show 6-minute clip from Being There, starting approximately 35minutes into the
film. The scene depicts a meeting between Ben, an older wealthy industrialist
(Melvyn Douglas), Bobby, the President of the United States (Jack Warden), and
B. Begin the clip when Ben and Chauncey enter Ben’s cavernous library and
C. The President and Ben mistake Chauncey’s literal comments about a garden for a
VII. “False Dichotomies” exercise
A. Purpose: To help students understand what a false dichotomy is and why it might
be a problem for group decision-making.
B. Time required: 5-10 minutes
C. Instructions
1. Have students take out a sheet of paper and a pen or pencil.
2. Tell students that you will read a list of words (LEFT column only in list
3. Ask students if they had any difficulty keeping up as the list of words was
given (normally they will have little difficulty).
4. Now read a list that includes the opposites (BOTH columns in list below) and
5. Again ask students if they had difficulty (normally they will have had great
LIST:
Right Wrong
Strong Weak
Stupid Smart
Short Tall
Old Young
D. Processing
1. Students rarely have difficulty writing opposites instantly for the list of
words. They typically have great difficulty finding mid-terms between
opposites.
2. The opposites are dichotomies. They are false dichotomies because inmost
instances such opposites do not describe what is mostly true. Most people are
not old or young, stupid or smart, ugly or beautiful, and so forth. Thus,
dichotomies describe a reality that is mostly false to fact.
3. The difficulty we have finding mid-terms between opposites indicates that
our language reflects and nurtures our dichotomous view of the world. This
makes seeing alternatives to problems that groups try to solve difficult
because third and fourth choices between extreme opposite choices do not
easily come to mind. If groups think only in terms of success or failure,
cutting budgets or raising taxes, and so forth, creative problem solving will be
constrained by this narrow vision of what is possible. What if groups neither
cut budgets nor raise taxes? Does this raise any alternatives? Breaking the
VIII. Lecture/discussion on groupthink.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
CONSEQUENCES
IMPEDES CRITICAL THINKING
PROMOTES INDECISIVENESS
COPING STRATEGIES
SCREENING INFORMATION: limit exposure to information
SHUTTING OFF THE TECHNOLOGY: turn off cell phones,
pagers, etc.
SPECIALIZATION: know a lot about a little
SOURCES OF INFERENTIAL ERRORS
GENERAL SOURCES OF INFERENTIAL ERRORS
SPECIFIC SOURCES OF INFERENTIAL ERRORS
VIVIDNESS EFFFECT
GROUPTHINK
PRIMARY SYMTOMS
OVERESTIMATION OF GROUP’S POWER AND MORALITY
ILLUSION OF INVULNERABILITY
UNQUESTIONED BELIEF IN THE INHERENT MORALITY OF GROUP
CLOSED-MINDEDNESS
RATIONALIZATIONS
PRESSURES TOWARD UNIFORMITY
SELF-CENSORSHIP OF CONTRADICTORY OPINION
ILLUSION OF UNANIMITY
PREVENTING GROUPTHINK
RECOGNIZE GROUPTHINK WHEN IT FIRST BEGINS
MINIMIZE STATUS DIFFERENCES