Experimental Analysis of Small-Group Performance Effectiveness: Motivational Factors and Social Interactions.
Abstract
Summarized herein are the results of a three-year research program, encompassing the period from 1 July 1977 through 30 June 1980, that focused upon an experimental analysis of the interacting motivational and social factors which influence performance effectiveness in small groups under conditions of continuous residence and observation in a closed ecological environment. Studies were conducted with three-person groups of human volunteers over extended periods in a residential laboratory which provided for programmable work and recreational opportunities within the context of a biologically and behaviorally supportive environmental setting. Investigative emphasis was directed toward (1) the motivational effects on team participants produced by the programmed consequences of individual and group work tasks, and (2) the impact on established and novitiate team participants of a change in group composition and size. Performance effectiveness was evaluated in terms of group productivity and individual accuracy on a multiple-task-performance-battery developed during the course of the research program. The significance of these investigative endeavors is to be understood in terms of the emerging motivational and social-interaction principles having practical relevance to the establishment and maintenance of operational team performance effectiveness. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 10, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA092602
Entities
People
- Henry H. Emurian
- Joseph V. Brady
Organizations
- Johns Hopkins University