Group cognition is a social, largely linguistic phenomenon in which a group of people produces a sequence of utterances that performs a cognitive act, of the kind that would count as an act of thinking if a single person had produced it. The group can be as small as three to five people talking or working together online, or a larger collective. The theory of group cognition is a postcognitivist philosophy that treats a larger unit of analysis than an individual mind as a producer of cognitive activities such as creative problem solving.
Facts
Core ClaimA group of people, not only a single mind, can be the unit that performs a cognitive act: a sequence of utterances a group produces together counts as a genuine act of cognition or thinking, so cognition can be analyzed at the level of the group's own interaction. 1 FAQs
Is group cognition a kind of group mind?
Not a group mind, but what shows when a group's discourse is treated as where shared meaning is built.
No. One account of the theory says group cognition is not a mysterious group mind superimposed on individual cognition. It is what becomes visible when one looks at the group's discourse as the locus of shared meaning construction.
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Associated With
Source Wikipedia: Group Cognition
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Group Cognition
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first sentence
Group cognition is a social, largely linguistic phenomenon whereby a group of people produce a sequence of utterances that performs a cognitive act. That is, if a similar sequence was uttered or thought by an individual it would be considered an act of cognition or thinking.
Associated With: Situated Learning, Concepts section
One or more people may interact within a social setting, such as a culture or a socio-technical system, resulting in social cognition or situated learning.
In Group: Learning Communities and Networks, Lead
Group cognition is a social, largely linguistic phenomenon whereby a group of people produce a sequence of utterances that performs a cognitive act.
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