6-2 Group Discussion Jury Deliberation Room

Groupthink Activity Guidelines and Rubric.html

PSY 530 Groupthink Activity Guidelines and Rubric

Overview

The groupthink activity provides you the opportunity to work with a simulated murder case to consider how groupthink may impact group decisions. You will then extend your thinking to consider the connection between the concept of groupthink and social welfare.

Prompt

A major movie star, Reginald Chase, is on trial for the murder of his ex-wife, media personality Lucerne Ludlow. You and your group are the jury assigned to this case. Everyone on the jury is somewhat familiar with the celebrities, but no one on the jury comes to the trial with knowledge of all the particulars of the case. In the Groupthink Activity Learning Aid, you will find the list of facts and evidence developed during the trial that you have been instructed to consult to reach your collective verdict. Ultimately, you will be submitting two posts in the group discussion area and two votes using the Initial Vote and Final Vote survey tool.

NOTE: The second post should contain relevant information from the readings and should end with a reference list.

For your initial post, you must make an initial decision about whether to convict or acquit and provide your reasoning.

• Your group's discussion area is your deliberation room.
• Each of you should submit a post stating your reasons for convicting or acquitting by Thursday of Module Six at 11:59 p.m.
• At this point, a straw poll on the question of whether to convict or acquit will also be taken at the beginning of the deliberations. Cast your Initial Vote using your group’s survey tool to indicate whether or not you find the defendant “guilty” or “not guilty.”

Next, you will continue to reflect and cast a final vote.

• Between Thursday and Sunday, review all your fellow jurors' posts and weigh them in your mind.
• You can take your colleagues' opinions under consideration, but your final vote to convict or acquit the major movie star falls upon you.
• By Sunday at 11:59 p.m. cast your Final Vote using your group’s survey tool to indicate whether or not you find the defendant “guilty” or “not guilty.”

Finally, for your second post, you will relate this activity to the readings on groupthink and expand your thinking on groupthink in a groupthink analysis. NOTE: This post is due in Module Seven.

• Examine the results of the jury's decision to convict or acquit and consider the process and the reasoning you and your colleagues gave for your votes.
• Reflect, too, on what you have learned about groupthink from the course materials and readings.
• Write a post that reflects on the deliberation and considers the wider implications of groupthink for society.
• Consider and respond to: To what extent was the verdict in this case an example of "groupthink?" Was your final vote influenced at all by groupthink? If so, how? Where else do you see groupthink in our society? What implications does groupthink have for social welfare and social change?
• Cite your sources in the text of the document and in a reference list using APA style.
• Post your response during Module Seven, by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Groupthink Activity Rubric

6-2 Activity Groupthink Project.html

Major movie star Reginald Chase is on trial for the murder of his ex-wife, media personality Lucerne Ludlow. You and your group (Group A or Group B) are the jury assigned to this case. You and the other members of the jury are somewhat familiar with who these celebrities are, but you are not familiar with the details of the case. (In order to qualify for a jury, jurors must not come to a trial knowing the particulars of the case.) There are three parts to this activity: 1. Initial Vote and Reasons. Your group's discussion area is your deliberation room. Each of you should submit a post stating your reasons for convicting or acquitting Reginald by Thursday at 11:59 P.M. You should also submit a vote to your group’s Initial Vote survey by this time. 2. Further Reflection and Final Vote. Between Thursday and Sunday, you should take care to review all your fellow jurors' posts and weigh them in your mind. You can take your colleagues' opinions under consideration, but your final vote to convict or acquit Reginald falls upon you. You should submit a vote to your group’s Final Vote survey by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. 3. Groupthink Analysis. Examine the results of the jury's decision to convict or acquit and consider the process and the reasoning you and your colleagues gave for their votes. Reflect, too, on what you have learned about "groupthink" from the course materials and readings. Write a post that reflects on the deliberation and considers the wider implications of groupthink for society. Consider: To what extent was the verdict in this case an example of groupthink? Where else do you see groupthink in our society? What implications does groupthink have for social welfare and social change? Post your response during Module Seven, by Sunday at 11:59 pm.

Reading and Resources15.html

Library Article: Bystander Intervention In Emergencies: Diffusion Of Responsibility This article gives an overview of the Kitty Genovese attack and how researchers explained why nobody tried to stop it. 

Library Article: Why Challenger Was Doomed This Los Angeles Times article discusses the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. 

Library Article: Group Decision Fiascos Continue: Space Shuttle Challenger and a Revised Groupthink Framework This article, as well as the L.A. Times article on the Challenger, describes the process of groupthink and how this helped cause the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

Reading: Groupthink, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Disaster 

This article focuses on why qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is a superior method for the study of groupthink and provides an example of groupthink.

Module Overview5.html

Group Processes

Do you remember being in a school or work group where you ended up doing most of the work? That has probably happened a few times. Now, have you ever been in a group where the other people did most of the work? That might have happened too. Regardless of who did the work, these two groups have one important thing in common: whoever did the work, or did not do the work, did not get credit for their effort or their lack of it. In the social psychological study of group processes, this is known as social loafing. Social loafing is defined as a person’s lack of participation in a group that occurs as a result of that person not receiving credit for any work that is done in that group. The larger the group size, the more likely that social loafing will occur (Kassin et al., 2021).

Groupthink

Groupthink theory was pioneered by Irving Janis who used case studies to demonstrate how defective group dynamics could lead to disastrous decision making in crises such as the Bay of Pigs, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the intensification of hostility with North Korea, and the escalation of conflict in Vietnam (Kassin et al., 2021). When members of a group strive for unanimity during the decision-making procedure, they tend to blindly prioritize their own group over others, which can result in biased thinking and decision making (Kassin et al., 2021).

Groupthink can occur in many life settings. Have you ever been on a jury where all of the evidence pointed to a guilty verdict, but the majority of jurors were all voting to acquit the defendant? That is an example of groupthink. When you have a high-powered, closely knit group that has a strong leader and whose members are insulated from any contradictory information, groupthink can occur. In these situations, the group can decide to do whatever they want because nobody else can require them to decide differently.

The good news is that group processes do not always bring out the worst in the group (Spoelma and Chauhan, 2023). You might have been a part of a group project where you had a wonderful outcome that could not have been created just by one or two members of the group. In fact, most major decisions are made by groups because groups can make very good decisions. In short, group decisions can be better than individual decisions if the group relies on the person with the most expertise, and considers every other group member’s comments. It is also the job of the most talented group member to convince the other members to accept his or her beliefs. So, if you are a manager and you are creating a new group, just remember a few key ideas to help make this group effective. It is your responsibility to know how to do every task that every group member has been assigned. You should also know each group member’s area of expertise. Finally, you should make sure the group is between two and six members, because if it gets any larger than that, social loafing will more likely occur (Kassin et al., 2021).

References

Groupthink Activity Guidelines and Rubric.html

PSY 530 Groupthink Activity Guidelines and Rubric

Overview

The groupthink activity provides you the opportunity to work with a simulated murder case to consider how groupthink may impact group decisions. You will then extend your thinking to consider the connection between the concept of groupthink and social welfare.

Prompt

A major movie star, Reginald Chase, is on trial for the murder of his ex-wife, media personality Lucerne Ludlow. You and your group are the jury assigned to this case. Everyone on the jury is somewhat familiar with the celebrities, but no one on the jury comes to the trial with knowledge of all the particulars of the case. In the Groupthink Activity Learning Aid, you will find the list of facts and evidence developed during the trial that you have been instructed to consult to reach your collective verdict. Ultimately, you will be submitting two posts in the group discussion area and two votes using the Initial Vote and Final Vote survey tool.

NOTE: The second post should contain relevant information from the readings and should end with a reference list.

For your initial post, you must make an initial decision about whether to convict or acquit and provide your reasoning.

• Your group's discussion area is your deliberation room.
• Each of you should submit a post stating your reasons for convicting or acquitting by Thursday of Module Six at 11:59 p.m.
• At this point, a straw poll on the question of whether to convict or acquit will also be taken at the beginning of the deliberations. Cast your Initial Vote using your group’s survey tool to indicate whether or not you find the defendant “guilty” or “not guilty.”

Next, you will continue to reflect and cast a final vote.

• Between Thursday and Sunday, review all your fellow jurors' posts and weigh them in your mind.
• You can take your colleagues' opinions under consideration, but your final vote to convict or acquit the major movie star falls upon you.
• By Sunday at 11:59 p.m. cast your Final Vote using your group’s survey tool to indicate whether or not you find the defendant “guilty” or “not guilty.”

Finally, for your second post, you will relate this activity to the readings on groupthink and expand your thinking on groupthink in a groupthink analysis. NOTE: This post is due in Module Seven.

• Examine the results of the jury's decision to convict or acquit and consider the process and the reasoning you and your colleagues gave for your votes.
• Reflect, too, on what you have learned about groupthink from the course materials and readings.
• Write a post that reflects on the deliberation and considers the wider implications of groupthink for society.
• Consider and respond to: To what extent was the verdict in this case an example of "groupthink?" Was your final vote influenced at all by groupthink? If so, how? Where else do you see groupthink in our society? What implications does groupthink have for social welfare and social change?
• Cite your sources in the text of the document and in a reference list using APA style.
• Post your response during Module Seven, by Sunday at 11:59 p.m.

Groupthink Activity Rubric