THE EMERGING CONCEPTUALIZATION OF GROUPS AS INFORMATION PROCESSORS

A selective review of research highlights the emerging view of groups as information processors. In this review, the authors include researc h on processing objectives, attention, encoding, storage, retrieval, p rocessing response, feedback, and learning in small interacting task g roups. The groups as information processors perspective underscores se veral characteristic dimensions of variability in group performance of cognitive tasks, namely, commonality-uniqueness of information, conve rgence-diversity of ideas, accentuation-attenuation of cognitive proce sses, and belongingness-distinctiveness of members. A combination of c ontributions framework provides an additional conceptualization of inf ormation processing in groups. The authors also address implications, caveats, and questions for future research and theory regarding groups as information processors.