INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND USE IN SMALL-GROUP DECISION-MAKING

This study examines information exchange and decision-making processes in small groups that interacted verbally or with a group support syst em (GSS). Six-member GSS and non-GSS groups worked to solve a hidden p rofile task in which members had different information and needed to s hare their information to discover the optimal decision Both GSS and n on-GSS groups exchanged only a small portion of the available informat ion. Both made poor decisions because they lacked sufficient informati on and foiled to effectively use the shared information GSS groups wer e less likely to use the shared information, possibly because anonymit y reduced the information's credibility or the GSS impaired members' a bilities to integrate the newly received information into their existi ng bare of information.