ABSTRACT
Collective intelligence (CI) is a property of groups that emerges from the coordination and collaboration of members and predicts group performance on a wide range of tasks. Previous studies of CI have been conducted with lab-based groups in the USA. We introduce a new standardized online battery to measure CI and demonstrate consistent emergence of a CI factor across three different studies despite broad differences in (a) communication media (face-to-face vs online), (b) group contexts (short-term ad hoc groups vs long-term groups) and (c) cultural settings (US, Germany, and Japan). In two of the studies, we also show that CI is correlated with a group's performance on more complex tasks. Consequently, the CI metric provides a generalizable performance measure for groups that is robust to broad changes in media, context, and culture, making it useful for testing the effects of general-purpose collaboration technologies intended to improve group performance.
- Barlow, J.B. and Dennis, A.R. Not as smart as we think: A study of collective intelligence in virtual groups. Proceedings of Collective Intelligence 2014, (2014).Google Scholar
- Borgatti, S.P. and Cross, R. A relational view of information seeking and learning in social networks. Management Science 49, 4 (2003), 432--445. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Carmel, E. Global Software Development Teams: Collaborating across Borders and Time Zones. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Chabris, C.F. Cognitive and neurobiological mechanisms of the law of general intelligence. In M.J. Roberts, ed., Integrating the Mind: Domain General versus Domain specific Processes in Higher Cognition. Psychology Press, Hove, United Kingdom, 2007, 449--491.Google Scholar
- Daft, R.L. and Lengel, R.H. Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design. Management Science 32, 5 (1986), 554--571. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Deary, I.J. Looking Down on Human Intelligence: From Psychometrics to the Brain. Oxford University Press, New York, 2000.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Devine, D.J. and Philips, J.L. Do smarter teams do better: A meta-analysis of cognitive ability and team performance. Small Group Research 32, 5 (2001), 507--532.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Engel, D., Woolley, A.W., Jing, L.X., Chabris, C.F., and Malone, T.W. Reading the mind in the eyes or reading between the lines? Theory of Mind predicts collective intelligence equally well online and face-toface. PLoS ONE 9, 12 (2014).Google ScholarCross Ref
- Gersick, C.J. and Hackman, J.R. Habitual routines in task-performing groups. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 47, (1990), 65--97.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Hall, E.T. Beyond Culture. Anchor Press--Doubleday, New York, 1976.Google Scholar
- Hertel, G., Konradt, U., and Orlikowsi, B. Managing distance by interdependence: Goal setting, task interdependence and team-based rewards in virtual teams. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 13, (2004), 1--28.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Hinds, P. and Reinecke, K. Advancing Methodologies for Cross- Cultural Studies of Collaborative Systems. Proceedings of the Companion Publication of the 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press (2014), 323--326. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Hofstede, G.H. Culture's Consequences, International Differences in Work-related Values. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, 1980.Google Scholar
- Kayan, S., Fussell, S.R., and Setlock, L.D. Cultural differences in the use of instant messaging in Asia and North America. Proceedings of the 2006 20th Anniversary Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press (2006), 525--528. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kitayama, S. Culture and basic psychological processes: Toward a system view of culture: Comment on Oyserman et al. (2002). Psychological Bulletin 128, (2002), 89--96.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Lafferty, J.C., Pond, A.W., and International, H.S. Desert Survival Situation. Human Synergistics International, 1987.Google Scholar
- Larson, J.R. In Search of Synergy in Small Group Performance. Psychology Press, New York, NY, 2009.Google Scholar
- Lepine, J.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Ilgen, D.R., and Hedlund, J. Effects of individual differences on the performance of hierarchical decision-making teams: Much more than g. Journal of Applied Psychology 82, 5 (1997), 803--811.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Lewis, K. Knowledge and performance in knowledgeworker teams: A longitudinal study of transactive memory systems. Management Science 50, (2004), 1519--1533. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Lorenzo-Seva, U. and Ten Berge, J.M. Tucker's congruence coefficient as a meaningful index of factor similarity. Methodology: European Journal of Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences 2, 2 (2006), 57--64.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Markus, M.L. Electronic mail as the medium of managerial choice. Organization Science 5, 4 (1994), 502--527.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Martins, L.L., Gilson, L.L., and Maynard, M.T. Virtual teams: What do we know and where do we go from here? Journal of Management 30, 6 (2004), 805--836.Google ScholarCross Ref
- McDonough, E. An investigation of the use of global, virtual, and colocated new product development teams. Journal of Product Innovation Management 18, (2001), 110--120.Google ScholarCross Ref
- McGrath, J.E. Groups: Interaction and Performance. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1984.Google Scholar
- Myers, M., D. and Tan, F., B. Beyond models of national culture in information systems research. In Advanced Topics in Global Information Management. Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2002, 14--29. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Neuman, G.A., Wagner, S.H., and Christiansen, N.D. The relationship between work-team personality composition and the job performance of teams. Group & Organization Management 24, (1999), 28--45.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Noftle, E.E. and Robins, R.W. Personality predictors of academic outcomes: Big five correlates of GPA and SAT scores. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 93, 1 (2007), 116--130.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Nye, J.L. and Brower, A.M. What's Social about Social Cognition? Research on Socially Shared Cognition in Small Groups. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, 1996.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Oyserman, D., Coon, H.M., and Kemmelmeier, M. Rethinking individualism and collectivism: Evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin 128, 1 (2002), 3--72.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Probst, T.M., Carnevale, P.J., and Triandis, H.C. Cultural values in intergroup and single-group social dilemmas. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 77, 3 (1999), 171--191.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Ren, Y. and Argote, L. Transactive memory systems 1985--2010: An integrative framework of key dimensions, antecedents, and consequences. The Academy of Management Annals 5, 1 (2011), 189--229.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Rousseau, D.M. Issues of level in organizational research: Multi-level and cross-level perspectives. In L.L. Cummings and B. Staw, eds., Research in Organizational Behavior. JAI, Greenwich, CT, 1985, 1--37.Google Scholar
- Russell, S.J. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2010. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Scissors, L., Shami, N.S., Ishihara, T., Rohall, S., and Saito, S. Real-time collaborative editing behavior in USA and Japanese distributed teams. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, ACM Press (2011), 1119--1128. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Setlock, L.D., Fussell, S.R., and Neuwirth, C. Taking it out of context: Collaborating within and across cultures in face-to-face settings and via instant messaging. Proceedings of the 2004 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, ACM Press (2004), 604--613. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Short, J., Williams, E., and Christie, B. The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. Wiley, New York, 1976.Google Scholar
- Smith, E.E. Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain. Pearson/Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, N.J, 2007.Google Scholar
- Spearman, C. General intelligence, objectively determined and measured. American Journal of Psychology 15, 2 (1904), 201--293.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Tschan, F. Ideal cycles of communication (or cognitions) in triads, dyads, and individuals. Small Group Research 33, 6 (2002), 615--643.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Tucker, L.R. A Method of Synthesis of Factor Analysis Studies. Dept of the Army, Washington, D.C., 1951.Google Scholar
- Wagner, J.A. and Moch, M.K. Individualismcollectivism: Concept and measure. Group & Organization Management 11, 3 (1986), 280--304.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Walther, J.B. Interpersonal effects in computermediated interaction: A relational perspective. Communication Research 19, 1 (1992), 52--90.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Woolley, A.W., Chabris, C.F., Pentland, A., Hashmi, N., and Malone, T.W. Evidence for a collective intelligence factor in the performance of human groups. Science 330, (2010), 686--688.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Collective Intelligence in Computer-Mediated Collaboration Emerges in Different Contexts and Cultures
Recommendations
Collaboration and E-Collaboration: A Study of Factors that Influence Perceived Students' Group Performance
HICSS '15: Proceedings of the 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System SciencesUnderstanding student's perception of collaboration and how collaboration is supported by ICT is important for its efficient use in the classroom. This article aims to investigate how students perceive collaboration and how they use new technologies in ...
The effect of computer-mediated communication on agreement and acceptance
Special section: Data miningThis study develops and tests a model of relationships among computer-mediated communication systems (CMCS), group processes, and group outcomes. The group outcomes examined are agreement and acceptance. Agreement is the extent to which members of a ...
Comments