Group Solution Assembly in Response to a Simulated Emergency

Recent research has argued forcefully and persuasively that to understand creative thinking it is necessary to investigate both convergent and divergent thinking processes. In the context of group decision making in emergency response, the link between these processes is particularly relevant, since stakes are high and, by definition, thinking must conclude with decision. This study investigates convergent and divergent thinking processes in the context of group decision making during the response to two simulated emergency events. The results suggest that level of event severity had little appreciable effect on these processes in one group’s response to two non-routine simulated emergencies.