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托福口說測驗 Task4例題 (2)   

Groupthink的意思是團體迷思，又叫做集體錯覺， 是一個心理學現象，指的是團體在決策過程中，由於成員傾向讓自己的觀點與團體一致，因而令整個團體缺乏不同的思考角度，不能進行客觀分析。一些值得爭議的觀點、有創意的想法或客觀的意見不會有人提出，或是在提出之後，遭到其他團體成員的忽視及隔離。團體迷思可能導致團體作出不合理、甚至是很壞的決定。部份成員即使並不贊同團體的最終決定，但在團體迷思的影響下，也會順從團體，此亦為短文的部分內容。而聽力內容則是由教授關於groupthink的過往工作經驗，這題內容本身不是很生澀的冷門知識或研究，相較來說反而是比較容易理解的內容。所以為何說多方閱讀以及多看老托福的內容，其實都是有助於了解ETS本身的出題方向，不至於在茫茫題海中找不到方向。

一、短文閱讀 

Groupthink      

One process by which groups may make bad or irrational decisions is known as groupthink. Individual members of a group attempt to conform their opinions to what they believe to be the group consensus even though the result may be negative. There are many reasons why groupthink happens. These include the desire to be liked,fear of losing a job, or even not wanting to be the one employee delaying a decision that seems inevitable. These kinds of implicit pressures to conform lead group members to ultimately make decisions that each, by himself or herself, might normally not make.     

二、聽力對話內容

Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in a business management class. 

(male professor)      

So, let me tell you about my own experiences when I was working for a computer company a couple of years ago. 

So, one day a co-worker and I suggested we should give our computers a design make-over: make them look more up-to-date. Market research was showing that new customers said they would be more interested in buying our computers if they looked cooler. Our technology was advanced but the outside design looked really old-fashioned.

At first, more than half the group supported us. There were a few senior managers here who didn’t support the design change. One o f the senior manager said, “Our focus has always been on technology, changing the look is an unnecessary cost.”       Almost immediately, some of our supporters changed their minds! Even my co-worker changed his mind! When I asked him why after the meeting, he told me he didn’t want to make a bad impression on the senior managers. He thought that disagreeing with them might jeopardize his chances of getting a promotion by not looking like a team-player.     

 What about me? I hate to admit it, but, after a few hours of discussion, I started wondering if it was worth everyone’s time to argue about this? As more people sided with the senior management, I started to feel that I was the only one holding up the vote. Everyone else seemed to think change wasn’t necessary. I voted against my own idea in the end.      

So we unanimously decided to stay with the current old-looking design. But this decision ended up costing us a lot of money. That same year, our competitor came out with a new design that attracted some of our customers and prevented us from profiting from new customers.

三、回答

Explain groupthink and its effects. Using the example of the computer company.