EFFECTS OF PARTIALLY SHARED INFORMATION AND AWARENESS OF UNSHARED INFORMATION ON INFORMATION SAMPLING

The present study examines the effects of two conditions on the inform ation flow during unstructured discussion in small groups. The experim ental work of Stasser and colleagues on information sampling was our s tarting point. The results of their research suggest that groups often fail in effective information exchange. An experiment with a 2 x 2 fa ctorial design was set up to look for conditions that could facilitate the exchange of unshared information. Video-recorded group discussion s were analyzed on the mentioning of items during discussion. The reac tions to and repetition of items were also studied. The researchers in troduced partially shared information and made group members aware of the unique information that they could contribute. A significant incre ase in the dissemination of unshared information was found under these conditions. An empirical basis wets laid so that guidelines for effec tive information sampling by Stasser could be reformulated.