EFFECT OF PERCEIVED EXPERTNESS UPON CREATIVITY OF MEMBERS OF BRAINSTORMING GROUPS

Perceived expertise of other members may make a brainstorming group less effective than the pooled results of members working alone. Ss were 240 undergraduates In an all-experts condition, each member of a brainstorming group was told that all other members had previously worked in such groups; while in a one-expert condition it was stated that only 1 member (unidentified) had this experience. No information was given in a control condition. The Ss felt more inhibited in the all-experts than in the one-expert condition which, in turn, had more inhibition than the control. Originality and practicality of ideas varied according to the degree of felt inhibition, the control condition had the highest originality and practicality scores, followed by the one-expert condition and then the all-expert condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.