Oxford AQA A Level Psychology: DECISION-MAKING IN GROUPS [3.3.4 Work and The Individual]

This fully editable lesson on Decision-Making in Groups explores the psychological processes that shape group decisions, with a focus on concepts such as group polarisation, risky shift, and groupthink. Aligned with the OxfordAQA International A-Level Psychology (9685) specification, this lesson provides insights into how group dynamics can lead to extreme, risky, or biased outcomes, impacting real-world settings like juries and organisational teams.

Key Features:

• Comprehensive Lesson Slides: The slides cover essential theories of group decision-making, detailing concepts such as group polarisation, the risky shift phenomenon, and groupthink. Students learn how these processes influence collective behaviour, with real-world examples like jury decisions and political deliberations. Visual aids and case studies, such as Janis’ analysis of historical policy failures, help illustrate how group dynamics affect decision-making.

• Interactive Activities: Engaging activities, including “Do Now” prompts and structured Think-Pair-Share discussions, encourage students to consider why individuals may act differently in groups than alone. Scenario-based questions and extensions, such as analysing the factors influencing extreme decision-making in climate change discussions, allow students to apply theories of group polarisation and risky shift to practical contexts. Additional questions contrast online and offline group settings, examining how factors like anonymity impact polarisation.

• Evaluation Points and Assessment Materials: The lesson includes structured PEEE (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Evaluation) tasks, enabling students to critically evaluate group decision-making theories. Evaluation worksheets cover strengths and limitations of groupthink, group polarisation, and risky shift, addressing aspects like cultural variability, empirical challenges, and the influence of group cohesiveness. Exam-style questions reinforce understanding, challenging students to explain factors that influence group decisions and analyse real-world examples where group processes led to poor outcomes.