This article briefly discusses some important elements of group effectiveness, then outlines characteristics of groupthink, provides examples of situations in which it occurs, and recommends actions in each case for preventing or lessening it. (Author/CT)

The decisions President Richard Nixon and his closest advisors made in the Watergate coverup were products of what Irving Janis calls "groupthink." Groupthink, a type of decision-making emphasizing unanimity over objective evaluation, develops when the decision makers (1) form a group of marked cohesiveness, (2) insulate themselves from…

To provide a theoretical base for investigating the influence of inferential error on group decision making, current literature on both inferential error and decision making is reviewed and applied to the Watergate incident. Although groups tend to make fewer inferential errors because members' inferences are generally not biased in the same…

To investigate the influence of group settings on the receiver's perception of an inducement to rhetorical transactions, 45 undergraduates in a basic speech communication course were asked to rank from most important to least important a group of items that might help survivors of an arctic plane crash. After completing individual rankings,…

Outlines four stages of group development in the classroom (Inclusion and Membership, Establishing Shared Influence and Collaborative Decision Making, Pursuing Individual and Academic Goals, Self-Renewal: Adapting to Changes), exercises to facilitate each stage, and the teacher's role throughout. (LC)