Communication and Group Cognitive Complexity

This study explores the effects of group size, group composition, and group argument frequency on group cognitive complexity (GCC). We evaluated a sample of 509 students organized into 106 groups who participated in a group cognitive mapping activity. As hypothesized, we found that group argumentati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSmall group research Vol. 50; no. 4; pp. 539 - 568
Main Authors Coman, Andra Diana, Curșeu, Petru Lucian, Fodor, Oana Cătălina, Oțoiu, Cătălina, Rațiu, Lucia, Fleștea, Alina Maria, Bria, Mara
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.08.2019
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Cognitive complexity
Cognitive mapping
Communication
Debates
Familiarity
Group composition
Group size
Mapping
Multiculturalism & pluralism
group arguments
group size
group cognitive complexity
communication
gender diversity
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Summary:This study explores the effects of group size, group composition, and group argument frequency on group cognitive complexity (GCC). We evaluated a sample of 509 students organized into 106 groups who participated in a group cognitive mapping activity. As hypothesized, we found that group argumentation has an inverted U-shaped association with GCC. Group member familiarity did not moderate this relationship. We also found that task-related arguments mediate the relationships between group size and gender diversity on one hand, and GCC, on the other. Moreover, we found that optimal group-level cognitive benefits were observed in group discussions in which the ratio between task-related and nontask-related group arguments was 3 to 1. The discussion focuses on the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.
ISSN:1046-4964
1552-8278
DOI:10.1177/1046496419853624