| Acceptance of Solutions | There are three different types of solutions for problems: (1) high quality, low acceptance; (2) high acceptance, high quality; and (3) high acceptance, low quality.
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| Affection | Affection refers to the friendship and closeness between people.
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| Analyzing Group Process | This is a method for group members to report their views of the group's process.
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| Appropriateness | Appropriateness includes several factors that help determine the timing and extent of self-disclosure.
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| Ascribed Status | Ascribed status is the prestige that goes to a person by virtue of his or her birth.
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| Attained Status | Attained status is the prestige that goes to a person on the merits of his or her own individual accomplishments.
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| Attitudes | An attitude is a mental state that exerts influence over an individual's behaviors. Attitudes have three components: (1) a cognitive component, which refers to a concept; (2) an affective component, which is emotion; and (3) a behavioral component, which is the readiness to act.
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| Brainstorming | A technique used to generate ideas. It emphasizes brain activity. It can be applied as part of the problem-solving process.
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| Bypassing | Bypassing is a misunderstanding that occurs when "the sender . . . and receiver . . . miss each other with their meaning."
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| Casual and Social Groups | Casual and social groups include neighborhood groups, fraternities, and even classmates. The impact of these relationships on behavior is often quite profound.
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| Coercive Power | Coercive power is the power an individual has to give or withhold punishment.
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| Communication Networks | Communication networks are the five patterns of communicating between group members.
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| Conflict of Feelings | When people's ideas come into conflict, the participants often begin to have negative feelings toward one another. These conflicts of feelings can damage the group's functioning.
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| Conflict Grid | A model of conflict management developed by Robert Blake and Jane Srygley Mouton. It is a framework for developing conflict management skills.
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| Conflict of Ideas | Many ideas are generated in group discussions. Sometimes different people's ideas may conflict. It is important to remember that a variety and diversity of ideas is usually desirable in the process of problem solving.
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| Conflict Management | The ability to manage conflict so that there is a healthy conflict of ideas without the unhealthy conflict of feelings.
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| Consistency Theories | Consistency theories all are based on the assumption that human beings have a strong psychological need for consistency. This is often referred to as a need to maintain cognitive balance.
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| Content and Process | Content of a group discussion includes comments about the topic of the discussion. Process is the manner in which the discussion is conducted.
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| Control | Control is our need to influence, lead, and develop power over others or to be influenced, be led, or have others exert power over us.
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| Convergent Thinking | A form of thinking in which ideas come together to form a solution.
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| Cycles | A cycle is characterized by the results of group interaction being fed back to the group and becoming input for future interactions. For example, a team's success adds strength to the group's cohesion in future activities.
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| Defensive-Supportive Communication | Defensive communication occurs when a psychological barrier is created, known as a defense mechanism. This barrier acts to reduce effective communication. Supportive communication minimizes these types of problems.
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| Differentiation | Differentiation is the specialization that occurs among people in small group communication.
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| Divergent Thinking | A form of thinking in which many different aspects of an idea are explored. Brainstorming is one technique of divergent thinking.
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| Dynamic Equilibrium | Dynamic equilibrium is reached at a point at which the forces to change and the forces to resist change are equal.
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| Educational Groups | Educational groups are groups that interact for the sole purpose of study or instruction.
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| Emotional Intelligence | Personal and interpersonal skills that enable one to induce desired responses in others.
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| Empowerment | Empowerment is a leadership style that enables group members to utilize their talents, abilities, and knowledge more effectively.
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| Equifinality | Equifinality is the potential for adaptation that groups possess. This allows for various possible approaches to achieve a goal.
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| Expert Power | Expert power is our acceptance of influence from those whose expertise we respect.
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| Feedback | Feedback is information groups receive and use to modify themselves.
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| Fishbone Technique | A method of examining cause and effect using a fishbone diagram.
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| Forum Discussion | A group presentation in which audience members have an opportunity to ask questions and comment on panel members' presentations.
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| Followership Styles | Followership styles are behavioral tendencies people have toward authority figures (e.g., obedient versus rebellious).
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| Functional Task Roles of Discussants | This is a method of recording which group members made comments that were task-oriented.
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| Group-Building and Maintenance Roles | Group-building and maintenance roles help the interpersonal functioning of the group and alter the way of working by strengthening, regulating, and perpetuating the group.
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| Group Task Roles | Group task roles are identifiable behaviors that are directed toward accomplishing the group's objective.
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| Groupthink | Groupthink refers to the tendency of group members to share common assumptions, which frequently leads to mistakes.
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| Inclusion | Inclusion is our need for belonging, feeling a part of and being together with others.
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| Incrementalism | The process of making decisions that result in change.
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| Individual Roles | Individual roles are roles that are designed to satisfy an individual's needs rather than to contribute to satisfying the needs of the group.
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| Inference Making | Inference making refers to going beyond observations and what we know. Inferences have only a low probability of coming true.
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| Input | Input is the raw material of small group interaction. It includes the six relevant background factors: personality, gender, age, health, attitudes, and values. It also includes information the group receives from outside the group.
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| Integration | Integration in small group communication is synonymous with organization. It is the coordination of the various parts of the group.
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| Intentional-Unintentional Communication | Intentional communication occurs when we communicate what we mean to. Unintentional communication occurs when we communicate something different from what we intend, as when we accidentally offend someone.
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| Interaction Diagram | An interaction diagram is a graphic method for showing who talks to whom in a group discussion.
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| Kepner-Tregoe Approach | A variation of the reflective thinking sequence. Its most important contribution is the way in which a group works through the criteria phase, differentiating between the musts and the wants of a solution.
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| Legitimate Power | Legitimate power is the influence we allow others, such as our bosses, to have over us on the basis of their positions.
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| Mixed Scanning | A decision-making strategy that combines examining a problem comprehensively (the rational approach) and part by part (the incremental approach).
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| Negative Entropy | Entropy is characterized by all systems moving toward disorganization or death. Negative entropies are the forces that maintain the organization of a system.
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| Output | Output includes solutions, interpersonal relations, improved information flow, risk taking, interpersonal growth, and organizational change. It is sometimes called the end result of group interaction.
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| Participant Rating Scale Form | This is a method for group participants to rate their group on a number of different dimensions.
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| Polarizing | Polarizing is the exaggeration that occurs when people attempt to make a point.
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| Postmeeting Reaction Form | This is a method for allowing participants to assess their view of the group's effectiveness after a meeting.
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| Primary Groups | Primary groups are groups that usually include one's family and closest friends.
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| Problem-Solving Groups | Problem-solving groups are groups that form to solve one or more problems.
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| Progress Report on Group Interaction | This is a method for measuring each group member's perceptions of a group meeting.
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| Quality of Solutions | Groups have the potential to make better-quality decisions than the same individuals in those groups would make if working alone.
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| Referent Power | Referent power is based on identification with the source of power, for example, having admiration for someone.
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| Reflective Thinking Process | A pattern for small group problem solving that includes six components:
- What is the problem?
- What are its causes and limits?
- What are the criteria for an acceptable solution?
- What are the available solutions?
- What is the best solution?
- How can it be implemented?
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| Reward Power | Reward power is the power an individual has to give or withhold rewards.
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| Seating Patterns | Seating patterns often affect the type and volume of interaction in a group.
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| Self-Centered Roles of Discussants | This is a method of recording which group members made comments that were more self-promoting than group promoting.
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| Signal Reactions | Signal reactions are learned responses to certain stimuli, such as emotional reactions to offensive swear words or racial slurs.
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| Socio-Emotional Roles of Discussants | This is a method of recording which group members made comments that were more socially oriented. These comments often build the group members' feelings.
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| Symposium Discussion | A group presentation where individual speakers give presentations in front of an audience. It is more structured than a panel discussion and may also be followed by a forum discussion.
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| Tacit Bargaining | Bargaining in which communication is incomplete or impossible.
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| Team Diagnostic Questionnaire | This is a method of determining a group's strengths and weaknesses from the point of view of the group members.
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| Territoriality | The word territoriality was coined by Edward Hall and defined as "the tendency for humans and other animals to lay claim to and defend a particular area or territory."
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| The Collaborative Team Leader—Leader Version | This is a method for team leaders to assess their own group leadership effectiveness.
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| The Collaborative Team Leader—Team Version | This is a method for team members to assess their group leader's effectiveness.
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| Throughput | Throughput refers to all the actual verbal and nonverbal behaviors that occur in the course of a group discussion.
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| Values | Values are fewer in number than attitudes and serve as important predictors of behavior. They appear to be more stable and long-lasting than attitudes.
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| Verbal-Nonverbal Communication | Verbal communication is the use of words to get across a message. Nonverbal communication is the use of physical actions, such as facial expression or tone of voice, to get across a message.
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| Virtual Teams | A virtual team is one in which members communicate with each other through computers and may or may not be located near one another.
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| Work Groups | Work groups are the formations of people on the job.
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