Development of a Model of Group Cognitive Complexity: A Combined View of a Group Compositional and a Group-as-a-Whole Perspectives

Abstract

Drawing on the input-process-output model (Hackman 1987), this study

attempts to integrate two different perspectives on group-level cognition:

a compositional and a group-as-a-whole perspective. A compositional

perspective focuses on individual member cognitions and then examines

how cognitions of group members combine to produce group-level cognition.

In contrast, a group-as-a-whole perspective views group cognition as an

emergent quality resulting from group interactions. Using the concept

of cognitive complexity, this study explores some aspects of group

compositions as a cause for an emergent property of group cognitive

complexity, which in turn affects group decision-making effectiveness. This

study introduces a causal mapping combined with a group discussion

method as a useful tool to measure group cognitive complexity as a

collective phenomenon.