Theory and research on small group performance and decision making is reviewed. Recent trends in group performance research have found that process gains as well as losses are possible, and both are frequently explained by situational and procedural contexts that differentially affect motivation and resource coordination. Research has continued on classic topics (e.g., brainstorming, group goal...

In this paper, dual exponential possibility distributions, namely, upper and lower exponential possibility distributions, are identified from the given data to characterize a decision-maker’s knowledge. A decision group’s knowledge can be represented by a set of such dual possibility distributions. The inherent diversity of knowledge among decision-makers is characterized by a conflict index. A...

Identifying factors that affect human decision making and quantifying their influence remain essential and challenging tasks for the design and implementation of social and technological communication systems. We report results of a behavioral experiment involving decision making in the face of an impending natural disaster. In a controlled laboratory setting, we characterize individual and gro...

The optimal aggregation of (expert) opinion has been a focus of much research, and there is a clear resemblance to the problem of the optimal combination of multiple items or tests (e.g. Meehl, 1999). For binary choice situations with a correct alternative, it has been shown that a weighted sum of individual choices is the optimal aggregation rule, where the weights proportional to the odds of ...

Winning bids in reverse auctions are efficient solutions (providing that fairly weak assumptions about the bidders are met). The auctions are efficient, un‐der the assumption that the utilities of all participants are quasi‐linear. This assumption is often unrealistic. Typically then, auctions are inefficient mechanisms. This paper presents the limitations and impracticability of the quasi‐ lin...

At the 1976 Oxford Conference, Aanderaa introduced a new class of machines which he called F machines (later renamed as modular machines). Using these he gave two remarkably short and easy examples of finitely presented groups with unsolvable word problem. Both of these examples, together with an exposition of modular machines, will be found in a paper by Aanderaa and Cohen [2]. The aim of this...

We report results of an experiment in which participants provided certainty equivalents for 15 risky or vague (with imprecise probabilities) two-outcome gambles. Participants made their decisions in three different settings: a) individually without prior social interactions, b) individually after discussing decisions with other participants and c) in groups of three. We also manipulated the deg...

Understanding the processes by which task groups function is a major concern of social psychologists who study small groups. Equally important to the applied group researcher is the understanding of how group processes are altered by the external environment. Research suggests that organizations respond to stress with a centralization of authority so that decision making becomes concentrated in...