Statistical Discourse Analysis of Group Problem Solving: Evaluations, Wrong Ideas, Rudeness, Justifications, and Micro-creativity

This study examines how group processes affected microcreativity. I videotaped eighty high school students as they solved an algebra problem in groups of four. Statistical discourse analysis of 2,951 turns of talk showed that correct contributions (CC, a measure of micro-creativity) occurred more often after a group member justified an idea, correctly evaluated an idea, politely disagreed or expressed a wrong, new idea (+36%, +25%, +24%, +4%). CCs occurred less often after a group member disagreed rudely or agreed (–4%, –5%). Correct evaluations had the longest lasting effects, across three speaker turns of talk. Statistically-identified, watershed breakpoints separated time periods of high and low micro-creativity. The effects of agreements and correct evaluations differed across these time periods, and the effects of justifications and questions differed across groups.