Group Intelligence
When cognitive scientist P. Read Montague of Virginia Tech's Carilion Research Institute administered intelligence tests to people individually and in groups of five, they found that IQ actually dropped in the social setting.
"Individuals express diminished cognitive capacity in small groups," wrote Montague's team, and they're not sure why, though they suspect that social pressure plays a role. Groups have hierarchies and pecking orders; stress and intimidation could translate into compromised cognition.
Image: Fang Guo/Flickr
Citation: "Implicit signals in small group settings and their impact on the expression of cognitive capacity and associated brain responses." By Kenneth T. Kishida, Dongni Yang, Karen Hunter Quartz, Steven R. Quartz and P. Read Montague. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, Vol. 367 No. 1589, March 5, 2012.