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How intermittent breaks in interaction improve collective intelligence

Author

Listed:
  • Ethan Bernstein

    (Organizational Behavior Unit, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Boston, MA 02163)

  • Jesse Shore

    (Information Systems Department, Questrom School of Business, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215)

  • David Lazer

    (Department of Political Science, College of Computer and Information Science, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115; The Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138)

Abstract

Many human endeavors—from teams and organizations to crowds and democracies—rely on solving problems collectively. Prior research has shown that when people interact and influence each other while solving complex problems, the average problem-solving performance of the group increases, but the best solution of the group actually decreases in quality. We find that when such influence is intermittent it improves the average while maintaining a high maximum performance. We also show that storing solutions for quick recall is similar to constant social influence. Instead of supporting more transparency, the results imply that technologies and organizations should be redesigned to intermittently isolate people from each other’s work for best collective performance in solving complex problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Ethan Bernstein & Jesse Shore & David Lazer, 2018. "How intermittent breaks in interaction improve collective intelligence," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 115(35), pages 8734-8739, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nas:journl:v:115:y:2018:p:8734-8739
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vincenz Frey & Arnout van de Rijt, 2021. "Social Influence Undermines the Wisdom of the Crowd in Sequential Decision Making," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(7), pages 4273-4286, July.
    2. Cheng, Xiu & Long, Ruyin & Wu, Fan & Geng, Jichao & Yang, Jiameng, 2023. "How social interaction shapes habitual and occasional low-carbon consumption behaviors: Evidence from ten cities in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    3. Jonathan Dortheimer, 2022. "Collective Intelligence in Design Crowdsourcing," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-24, February.
    4. Hackett, Edward J. & Leahey, Erin & Parker, John N. & Rafols, Ismael & Hampton, Stephanie E. & Corte, Ugo & Chavarro, Diego & Drake, John M. & Penders, Bart & Sheble, Laura & Vermeulen, Niki & Vision,, 2021. "Do synthesis centers synthesize? A semantic analysis of topical diversity in research," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    5. Sheen S. Levine & Michael J. Prietula & Ann Majchrzak, 2022. "Advice in Crisis: Principles of Organizational and Entrepreneurial Resilience," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 11(4), pages 145-168, December.

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