Psychological Science and Society Plenary Session: Collective Cognition

This panel brings together speakers carrying out novel research to address how group interaction influences cognitive processing, going beyond the typical approach of studying cognition through observing individuals acting alone.
Learning, memory, and decision-making often involve individuals working together such as in group projects in classroom environments or in workplace teams, and other everyday settings such as family, community, and social media where people influence one another. However, much research on these topics has focused on individuals working alone. This panel will present recent findings on the effects of group interaction including collaborative remembering, allocation of roles among team members, and the impact of artificial intelligence on teamwork. The speakers will address whether the findings can be derived from principles uncovered by individuals and how group members arrive at collective representations and joint action.
The Psychological Science and Society plenary session is made possible by generous support from the Alan Kraut-Jane Steinberg Family Fund (KSFF). This plenary session is held annually during the APS Annual Convention to showcase the use of psychological science in the public sphere.