Measures for Collective Intelligence

From civicintelligence


Here we are focusing on collective — not civic — intelligence.

Everybody should contribute at least one type of collectivity to this page. Everybody should add three or more attributes to any of the listed collectivities that you believe might help make that collectivity intelligent. I've listed a few examples of each. Don't worry if you're not certain about what you write here — these are just hypotheses! BTW, you can also add attributes that think might not be relevant (see below)

Example Template

Challenges:This refers to the obstacles that the group or other collectivity is trying to overcome.

Attributes: This refers to characteristics of the group (itself) that we suspect would play a role in determining the intelligence of that group.

Dynamics:Taking a cue from Devin, I believe this would refer to characteristics of the group processes that we suspect would play a role in determining the intelligence of that group.

Comments: or questions that are pertinent to the exploration but don't necessarily belong in the sections above.

use this if you want...

Challenges:

Attributes:

Dynamics:

Comments:


Small groups (used in the experiments conducted by Woolley et al to identify a group intelligence measure (c))

Challenges:

  • solving visual puzzles
  • brainstorming
  • making collective moral decisions
  • negotiating over limited resources


Attributes:

  • social sensitivity
  • number of females in group (may be subsumed by "social sensitivity" score)
  • groups were 2-5 people, of similar range of IQs


Dynamics:

  • equality/mediation of voices/turn-taking


Comments: (I don't know where these go...)

  • Supports a manageable formation of participants
  • Less resistance to change
  • Less space required
  • More space for innovation
  • Community building
  • Addresses shared concerns and common objectives


Attributes found not to be highly correlated with intelligence of small groups

  • group cohesion
  • average IQ of team members
  • motivation of team members

Civic Intelligence Research and Action Laboratory

Challenges:

  • maintain long-term, effective relationships with community groups on shared projects
  • necessity to maintain high academic standards
  • ability to attract students, faculty, strategic partners, etc.


Attributes / Measurements:

  • ability to maintain adequate documentation
  • diversity of portfolio (not too small or too large)
  • number of committed students (should define "committed")
  • number of committed faculty
  • administrative support


Dynamics:

  • routine maintenance/revisions of the wiki, possibly adding more aesthetics.
  • encouraging more diverse independent projects.
  • implementing new core models to gauge the effectiveness of change.
  • addressing how students are conditioned to use a learning space, and exercising more practical ways of using the entire classroom.
  • making use of free services provided by the college that could enhance the learning environment.

Married Couple (or equivalent)

Challenges:

  • Maintaining commitment
  • Maintaining responsibility
  • Maintaining restraint
  • Maintaining tolerance
  • Establishing priorities


Attributes:

  • ability to discuss things calmly and come to conclusions
  • ability to empathize with each other's emotions so as to understand each other's needs
  • ability to recognize and respect mutual property

Dynamics:

  • marriage counseling
  • family events/gatherings
  • vacations
  • producing/raising offspring

Professional Sports Teams (While playing their sport, e.g. basketball)

Challenges:

  • trying to score more baskets by the end of the game

Attributes:

  • knowledge of each other's skills
  • ability to read each other's signals and react quickly
  • utilizing all team members effectively
  • good all around skills (such as?)
  • Adequate Funding
  • Regulations for Honesty
  • Public Support
  • Successful coaching

Dynamics:

  • replacing/substituting players
  • stadium remodeling
  • mascot/uniform revisions
  • purchasing new equipment
  • recruiting players from diverse ethnicities

Professional Sports Teams (administratively)

Challenges:

  • Technological Advantages
  • Brand Management
  • Reputation
  • Injuries
  • Politics
  • Recruitment
  • Inadequate coaching

Attributes:

  • knowledge of each other's skills
  • ability to read each other's signals and react quickly
  • good all around skills
  • Adequate Funding
  • Regulations for Honesty
  • Public Support
  • Successful coaching

Seminar Group

Challenges:

  • Collective Social Sensitivity
  • Establishing a framework for effective communication
  • Distinguishing between fact and opinion

Attributes:

  • ability to build on each other's comments —and slow hunches
  • opportunities to test and identify dynamics of collective intelligence
  • opportunities to stimulate the spread of memes.

Dynamics:

  • randomized seating arrangements
  • implementing exercises to get everyone talking
  • delegating a weekly facilitator to keep things rolling efficiently, and making sure that everyone has a turn to facilitate by creating a sign up sheet.
  • having everyone contribute to the seminar's agenda

Occupy Wall Street groups

Challenges:

  • Identifying a Collective Purpose
  • Agreeing on Pragmatic Statements, Chants, and Slogans
  • Planning for police intervention
  • Informally electing a civilian to facilitate movement/action through speech
  • Informing uninformed participants of the purpose of the gathering

Attributes:

  • Influential Public Demonstrations
  • Participatory Democracy
  • Civil Activism
  • Inertia of Ideas

Contributors to a Wiki Page

Challenges:

  • Learning to navigate throughout the wiki
  • Editing/Trimming
  • Developing pages without excessive repetition

Attributes:

  • ability to build on each other's comments (similar to Seminar Group)
  • place to compile online resources
  • rewards of creating a "Liquid Network of Ideas." -(Steven Johnson)

Distributed Research and Action Network

Challenges:

  • Coordination
  • Communication
  • Managing of Distribution
  • Creating a Commons
  • Shared Language(s) and Lingo(s)
  • Describing transcendant goals
  • Keeping things fresh
  • Translating abstract thought from mind to mind and putting it into practice
  • Acting as communication facilitators for each other
  • Recognizing emergent phenomena and giving it a place


Attributes:

  • Flexible
  • Free-flowing information
  • Synergy
  • High Creative Output
  • Redundancy in Network Architecture

School District in Economically Disadvantaged Location

Challenges:

  • Distribution of limited resources
  • Lack of Family/Community support
  • Language Barrier
  • Dropout Rates
  • No Child Left Behind

Attributes:

  • Connecting the Schools with the Communities
  • Impressionability of the Youth
  • Educators who are willing to work for change
  • Alternative Education System

Sales Crew (General Employee Teams in Business)

Challenges:

Attributes:

  • Increased Sales?

Dynamics:

  • Workspace
  • Tech Tools
  • Roles and Responsibilities
  • Social Skills
  • Flexibility
  • Group Synergy


 

Ultimately we could use these to help us actually measure collective intelligence.