Automatic mediation in group problem solving

Abstract

Conflicts over allocation of speaking time often occur in both formal and informal conferencing. In a problem solving experiment, an automatic mediator resolved conflicting requests during telephone conferencing. It combined inputs signaling intention to speak, using preprogrammed rules that then selected the new speaker. Teams of four undergraduate students repeatedly called upon the mechanism to resolve conflicting requests. Participant and mechanism behavior were recorded for later evaluation by a protocol analysis program that checked data strings for correct syntax, simulated behavior of alternative resolution rules, and aggregated group and individual data for processing with a statistical package. This approach to group experimentation yields significant methodological advantages in terms of verification of correct experiment administration, reduction in experimenter effects, and promotion of self-direction by participants.This report presents a computer-based method of studying automatically mediated dialogue in the context of group problem solving. Automatic mediation refers to a procedure for group facilitation in which participants manage their own turn-taking behavior by signaling a computer mediator when they wish to speak. The mediator then stores these requests according to preprogrammed rules, subsequently displaying the name of the new speaker and activating that person's microphone or telephone. The experimental system reported here was developed for the purpose of exploring the effects of different rules for resolving conflicting requests to speak on the communication pattern and on the problem solving performance of groups. Specifically, it details the programs developed at the University of California, Irvine, School of Social Science, for administering a group problem solving experiment and processing the resultant data. The experimental system, like the procedure for resolving conflicting requests to speak, permitted participants to control the sequence of experimental events. A discussion of how the experiment is administered and how the resulting data are checked for accuracy and aggregated by a protocol analysis program is presented.Recent reports by Brown (1979) and Cappella and Streibel (1979) have presen ted automated procedures for analyzing voice chronography data. Their reports emphasize the utility of such talk-silence data for the study of diadic and multiperson communication. With automatic mediation, additional information is available in an anonymous request channel. This information signals people's intention to communicate, while in other methods of studying group communication, intentions must be inferred.

Using the Internet to implement support for distributed decision making

“…Most of these efforts have been in decision analysis and other forms of decision modeling and human information processing through interactive use of computers, electronic storage media, and electronic communications and information display. This evolution of DSS, which focuses on the development of technologically supported means of collecting, managing, and displaying information that might be useful in decision situations (Sprague, 1980;Steeb and Johnston, 1981;Stodolsky, 1981;Turoff and Hiltz, 1982;Vogel and Nunamaker, 1988), sadly, also reflected the failure of the traditional DSSIIS approach with complex DSS (Ginzberg, 1975;Manley, 1975;Lucas, 1976;Alter, 1979). GDSS soon came into the limelight, stemming in part from the rise of interest in the area of technological support for groups.…”