A new dynamical model of brainstorming: Linear, nonlinear, continuous (simultaneous) and impulsive (sequential) cases

Abstract

In this paper, we extended the linear dynamical model of [Brown, V., Paulus, P. B. (1996). A simple dynamic model of social factors in group brainstorming. Small Group Research, 27, 91-114] on two accounts. First, we modelled the sequential type brainstorming using impulsive differential equations by treating each category as an impulse and tested its validity in the two experiments that investigated and demonstrated the beneficial effects of sequential priming and memory in individual brainstorming. Finally, we considered the nonlinear case of brainstorming in writing or brainwriting where dyads exchanged their ideas in a written format and that eliminated negative factors occurring in oral brainstorming (e.g., evaluation apprehension, free-riding, production blocking) and enhanced the upward performance matching, and conducted the second experiment in order to test its validity in this paradigm with the effects of sequential priming and memory. Comparisons showed good agreement between results of experiments and those of the mathematical model.