Chunking and Team Pattern Recognition

A series of experiments was conducted in which teams made resource allocation decisions while physically dispersed and supported with a shared virtual work surface (What You See Is What I See WYSIWIS). The task required teams to recognize patterns of information and collaborate to allocate their resources appropriately. The experimental treatment involved the use of tools specifically designed to minimize the cognitive effort required to recognize and share patterns among team members. Dependent measures included outcome quality, pattern sharing correctness and pattern sharing time. All teams received significant financial rewards in direct proportion to their outcome quality. Teams supported with the pattern-sharing tools had significantly higher outcome quality and significantly less resource movements. Further, the teams that used the chunk-sharing tool performed better than the teams that relied on an itemsharing tool. These results extend the theory of Recognition Primed Decision-Making by applying it to groups.