The Power of a "Maverick" in Collaborative Problem Solving: An Experimental Investigation of Individual Perspective-Taking Within a Group.

This study investigated collaborative problem solving, focusing on a group member interacting with another member having a different perspective (a "maverick"). It was predicted that mavericks might mitigate disadvantages and facilitate perspective taking during problem solving. Thus, 344 university students participated in two laboratory-based experiments by engaging in a simple rule-discovery task that raised conflicts among perspectives. They interacted with virtual partners whose conversations were controlled by multiple conversational agents. Results show that when participants interacted with a maverick during the task, they were able to take others' perspectives and integrate different perspectives to solve the problem. Moreover, when participants interacted in groups with a positive mood, groups with a maverick outperformed groups having several perspectives. PMID: 29388252 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Cognitive Science - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Cogn Sci Source Type: research