Self-study
P1
In principle, a cohesive group—one whose members generally agree with one another and support one another's judgments—can do a much better job at decision making than it could if it were noncohesive. ███
intro topic ·
Cohesive group can have better decision-making than non-cohesive group
Cohesive group = members generally agree with each other and support each other's judgments.
Causal mechanism ·
Group members more willing to say what they think
When cohesiveness is low, people are less willing to speak freely because of fear of social harm.
P2
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High cohesion can have risks ·
Can be less likely to deviate from majority opinion
Causal mechanism ·
Groupthink
Members of high-cohesion group may not scrutinize others' proposals. They'll either think the proposal is good without critical thinking, or they'll suppress any doubts for the benefit of group consensus.
P3
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Factors that can lead to groupthink ·
Overestimating group's power and morality, closed-mindedness, pressure toward uniformity
Requirement for groupthink ·
Cohesion in group is necessary, but not sufficient, for groupthink
Let's do some more research on other factors that can lead to groupthink.
Passage Style
Problem-analysis
Single position
26.
In the second sentence of ███ ████████ ███ ██████ ████████
a
contribute to a █████ ████ ████████████ ███ ██ █████████ ██ █ █████ ████████ ██ █████ ██ ██████
This best captures the purpose, which is to support the claim that “a cohesive group—one whose members generally agree with one another and support one another's judgments—can do a much better job at decision making than it could if it were noncohesive.”
b
establish a comparison ███████ ██████████ ████████ ███ ███ ██████████ ██ ████████████ ██████
The topic of groupthink hasn’t been brought up or even alluded to when low group cohesiveness is mentioned. In addition, later in the passage the author never compares the features of groupthink to what occurs in low-cohesion groups.
c
suggest that there ███ ██ ████ ██ ████ ████ ████████ ███ ███████████ ██████ ████ ████ ██ ███████
The author never indicates that there are ways to make groups more open to dissent. Although we, as readers, might infer ways to encourage dissent, the author never chooses to present potential ways to encourage dissent. So (C) can’t be the purpose of the line.
d
indicate that both ████████ ███ ███████████ ██████ ███ ██ ███████████ ██ ██████████ ████████
The topic of groupthink hasn’t been brought up or even alluded to when low group cohesiveness is mentioned. In addition, the author never suggests that low-cohesion can result in groupthink.
e
lay the groundwork ███ █ ██████████ ████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ████████████ ███████ ██ ███ ████████
The author never makes a proposal for overcoming low-cohesion. She never suggests that anyone should do anything to avoid low-cohesion. She simply describes the effects of low-cohesion. Although the author mentions what someone would need to do to “overcome” the fear of recrimination, this isn’t part of a “proposal” for overcoming the effects of low cohesion. Consider this analogy. “In order to get into medical school, you have to take the MCAT.” Am I proposing that you take the MCAT? No. I’m simply describing what you have to do to get into medical school. Similarly, the author isn’t proposing that anyone actually do something to overcome low cohesion. She’s simply describing what someone would have to do to overcome low cohesion.