Group Think and Transactive Memory

Group think, in relation to surveillance, can be understood through a series of tests that were done involving a classroom. An experiment was set up to test the effect of group think. One hundred students in a geometry class were given a simple multiple choice problem to solve (i.e. evaluating the length of lines, determining which among a given set was longest).  Everyone in the class room was in on the experiment and told which line to choose, even though it was obviously not the longest line. Two students in the group were "ginny pigs" and were not told which line to choose. When asked as a whole group which line was the longest, 98 students raised their hands to answer incorrectly and as a result the 2 "ginny pigs" answered incorrectly due to group think. It was obvious the line chosen was not the longest, but this experiment shows the power of group think. It also shows the detrimental effect it can have on decision making when the answer is wrong and vice versa for a correct answer. 

Transactive memory involves group processing whereby people in the group are better able to recall information due the contributions of others. Individuals in a group are able to recall individual memory storage from a collective group of information. Much like open source software and computer gaming, everyone who can access the program can contribute to the betterment of the game or program. This may be seen as a downfall to some, as the information or final analysis is not based on one individuals observations but by the observations of many. Transactive memory serves many and is a community oriented process, and is a successful process, as the exercise in discussion last week proved, in gathering a pool of knowledge.