What is the narrowing of thought in a group where members believe there is only one possible correct answer?

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Table of Contents Show

1. Convergent Thinking
2. Divergent Thinking
3. Lateral Thinking

by TeachThought Staff

TeachThought is about, more than anything else, human improvement.

A core tenet of humanity is our ability to think critically and with imagination and creativity. Therefore, it makes sense that our ability–and the decision to–do this consistently in some ways defines us as a species. Critical thinking, in part, involves simply avoiding cognitive biases.

See also What It Means To Think Critically

Further, it’s not a huge leap to say that the ability and tendency to think critically and carefully and creatively supersedes content knowledge in importance, but that’s a discussion for another day. In general, it is our position that critical thinking is of huge importance for students, and as such is a big part of our content and mission at TeachThought.

In pursuit, the sketch note above from Sylvia Duckworth is a nice addition to that index of content. Sylvia has consistently done a great job converting ideas into simple visuals–on our 12 Rules Of Great Teaching, for example.

You can follow Sylvia on twitter here.

We’ve taken the visual and fleshed it out with some commentary from Wikipedia (a resource we love, by the way).

1. Convergent Thinking

Summary: Using logic

Also called: Critical Thinking, Vertical Thinking, Analytical Thinking, Linear Thinking

‘Convergent thinking is a term coined by Joy Paul Guilford’ (who also coined the term for the ‘opposite’ way of thinking, ‘Divergent Thinking’).

‘It generally means the ability to give the “correct” answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativity, for instance in most tasks in school and on standardized multiple-choice tests for intelligence.

Convergent thinking is often used in conjunction with divergent thinking. Convergent thinking is the type of thinking that focuses on coming up with the single, well-established answer to a problem.[1] Convergent thinking is used as a tool in creative problem-solving. When an individual is using critical thinking to solve a problem they consciously use standards or probabilities to make judgments.[2] This contrasts with divergent thinking where judgment is deferred while looking for and accepting many possible solutions.’

2. Divergent Thinking

Summary: Using imagination

Also called: Creative Thinking or Horizontal Thinking

‘Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It is often used in conjunction with its cognitive colleague, convergent thinking, which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution, which in some cases is a ‘correct’ solution. By contrast, divergent thinking typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, ‘

By contrast, divergent thinking typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, ‘non-linear’ manner, such that many ideas are generated in an emergent cognitive fashion. Many possible solutions are explored in a short amount of time, and unexpected connections are drawn. After the process of divergent thinking has been completed, ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent thinking.’

3. Lateral Thinking

Summary: Using both Convergent and Divergent Thinking

Also called: ‘Thinking Outside the Box’

‘Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.[1]

To understand lateral thinking, it is necessary to compare lateral thinking and critical thinking. Critical thinking is primarily concerned with judging the truth value of statements and seeking errors. Lateral thinking is more concerned with the “movement value” of statements and ideas. A person uses lateral thinking to move from one known idea to creating new ideas.’

3 Modes Of Thinking: Lateral, Divergent & Convergent Thought

groupthink, mode of thinking in which individual members of small cohesive groups tend to accept a viewpoint or conclusion that represents a perceived group consensus, whether or not the group members believe it to be valid, correct, or optimal. Groupthink reduces the efficiency of collective problem solving within such groups.

The theory of groupthink was first developed by the social psychologist Irving Janis in his classic 1972 study, Victims of Groupthink: A Psychological Study of Foreign-Policy Decisions and Fiascoes, which focused on the psychological mechanism behind foreign policy decisions such as the Pearl Harbor bombing, the Vietnam War, and the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Janis’s attempt to determine why groups consisting of highly intelligent individuals often made bad decisions renewed interest in the study of how group behaviours, biases, and pressures affect group decision making. Groupthink has become a widely accepted theory particularly in the fields of social psychology, foreign policy analysis, organizational theory, group decision-making sciences, and management. As such, the notion was revived to help explain the interpretation of intelligence information regarding weapons of mass destruction before the Iraq War (2003–11).

Janis identified a number of structural conditions leading to groupthink, related to the cohesiveness of a given decision-making group, the formal rules governing its decision-making process, the character of its leadership, the social homogeneity of participants, and the situational context they face.

The eight symptoms of groupthink include an illusion of invulnerability or of the inability to be wrong, the collective rationalization of the group’s decisions, an unquestioned belief in the morality of the group and its choices, stereotyping of the relevant opponents or out-group members, and the presence of “mindguards” who act as barriers to alternative or negative information, as well as self-censorship and an illusion of unanimity. Decision making affected by groupthink neglects possible alternatives and focuses on a narrow number of goals, ignoring the risks involved in a particular decision. It fails to seek out alternative information and is biased in its consideration of that which is available. Once rejected, alternatives are forgotten, and little attention is paid to contingency plans in case the preferred solution fails.

Proposals to prevent groupthink have included the introduction of multiple channels for dissent in decision making and mechanisms to preserve the openness and heterogeneity of a given group and have focused on the specific type of leadership required to prevent groupthink from occurring.

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Critiques have underlined that decision-making processes do not always determine eventual outcomes. Not all bad decisions are necessarily the result of groupthink, nor do all cases of groupthink end up as failures. In certain contexts, groupthink may also positively enhance members’ confidence and speed up decision-making processes.