MindCraft Challenges

Synchronization is a reflection of attachment and close relationships. Synchronization can also help build relationships by strengthening social attachments.

Scott Wiltermuth and Chip Heath conducted several experiments to demonstrate the effects of intentional synchronization on group cooperation. In one study, people walked together and synchronized their steps. In another, people moved plastic cups from side to side in time with a song while they sang along (the song was “O Canada”, the people were Americans, and the point was that the song could be an out-group song). People cooperated more in a group game after synchronizing their actions (compared to unsynchronized pairs).

Challenge: Find a friend. Go for a synchronized walk. (Sing “O Canada” together?) Try working on a project together. Did synchrony make a difference?

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Intentional Synchrony Experiments
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02253.x
Synchrony Across Brains
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-080123-101149

Paul Paulus and his colleagues have studied individuals and groups as they try to come up with new, creative ideas (often known as brainstorming or ideation). They have found that going back and forth between individual idea generation and group idea generation is more effective than individuals working alone—particularly when the individual thinking session is first.

If you have a group project, think about how you might implement this with your group. If you need to work with an AI to generate ideas (a kind of group project!), think about how to interleave individual thinking with group thinking and how to make sure that individual contributions always precede group thinking. Does alternating thinking practices make a difference in the quality and quantity of your ideas?

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Best practices for brainstorming:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2016.11.002
More about the science of teamwork:
http://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000334