Originally published in 1989, this title showcased new developments, providing a systematic and in-depth overview of some of the basic issues in the field of group psychology. Subject areas range from basic group processes to complex interactive phenomena. There are international contributions, with chapters covering the latest developments in the field at the time. The volume provided students and professionals with a comprehensive, coherent, and interrelated picture of the broad scope of group influence processes. The volume was motivated by the belief that group psychology is a central and important activity for social psychology.

Originally published in 1989, this title showcased new developments, providing a systematic and in-depth overview of some of the basic issues in the field of group psychology. Subject areas range from basic group processes to complex interactive phenomena. There are international contributions, with chapters covering the latest developments in the field at the time. The volume provided students and professionals with a comprehensive, coherent, and interrelated picture of the broad scope of group influence processes. The volume was motivated by the belief that group psychology is a central and important activity for social psychology.

This book focuses on the emergence of creative ideas from cognitive and social dynamics. In particular, it presents data, models, and analytical methods grounded in a network dynamics approach. It has long been hypothesized that innovation arises from a recombination of older ideas and concepts, but this has been studied primarily at an abstract level. In this book, we consider the networks underlying innovation - from the brain networks supporting semantic cognition to human networks such as brainstorming groups or individuals interacting through social networks - and relate the emergence of ideas to the structure and dynamics of these networks. Methods described include experimental studies with human participants, mathematical evaluation of novelty from group brainstorming experiments, neurodynamical modeling of conceptual combination, and multi-agent modeling of collective creativity. The main distinctive features of this book are the breadth of perspectives considered, the integration of experiments with theory, and a focus on the combinatorial emergence of ideas.

Creativity often involves the development of original ideas that are useful or influential. Most research and writing on creativity has focused on individual creativity. However, with the information explosion and growing necessity of specialisation, the development of innovations will increasingly require group interaction at some stage of the process. Most organisations and much of the scientific process now rely on work of teams with diverse skills and knowledge. Fortunately, in recent years there has been an increasing acknowledgement of the importance of social and contextual factors in creativity. Group Creativity summarises the exciting new developments in the research on the processes involved in group or team creativity and innovation.

The volume draws from a broad range of perspectives, such as cognition, groups, creativity, information systems, and organisational psychology. These different perspectives have been brought together in one volume in order to focus attention on this developing literature and its implication for theory and application. The chapters of this volume are organized into two sections. The first section deals with group processes in creative groups, and considers issues of cognitive fixation and flexibility, group diversity, minority dissent, group decision-making, brainstorming, and group support systems. Special attention is devoted to the various processes that can inhibit or facilitate group creativity. Although much research on group processes has demonstrated that groups often fail to meet their productivity or problem solving potential, recent studies have highlighted conditions and processes related to effective functioning of teams or groups that work on creative tasks. The second section deals with the impact of various contextual or environmental factors on the creative group process. The chapters deal with issues of group autonomy, group socialisation, mentoring, team innovation, knowledge transfer, and creativity at the level of cultures and societies. It is argued that a full understanding of group creativity cannot be accomplished without adequate attention to the group environment.

The volume provides a basis for future theoretical development and application. It will be a useful source of information for scholars, practitioners and students and can be used as a textbook on courses on creativity and innovation.