THE EFFECTS OF NUMERICAL AND LOGICAL GROUP-SIZE ON COMPUTER-MEDIATED IDEA GENERATION

A laboratory experiment investigated the effects of numerical group si ze and logical group size (i.e., group heterogeneity in regard to task demands) on the performance of groups addressing an idea generation t ask while using computer-mediated communication. Six different numeric al group sizes were studied, which ranged from 5 to 10 members. Logica l size was manipulated by varying the amount of task-relevant informat ion given to a particular group member. Larger logical group sizes (he terogeneous groups) were induced by distributing unique task-relevant information among group members; smaller logical group sizes (homogene ous groups) were induced by providing all task information to all memb ers. A significant main effect for numerical group size showed that la rger groups outperformed smaller groups. Numerical group size interact ed with logical group size resulting in greater performance gains for increased numerical group size within heterogeneous groups. Average co ntributions per group member diminished with increased numerical group size for homogeneous groups and increased for heterogeneous groups. ( C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.