Interpersonal Dynamics and Cognitive Processes Associated with Innovation in Multidisciplinary Engineering Teams

这项研究促进了人们对冲突解决和表达过程如何导致科学和工程创新的理解。许多创新归功于将多学科团队聚集在一起解决复杂的跨学科问题；这样的团队被认为能够产生比单一学科团队更新颖的解决方案。然而，这样的团队在沟通和协调方面存在问题。这项研究考察了冲突解决和表达的特定模式如何与最终的工程团队创新成功相关。智力优势：该项目整合了三个非常不同的文献：关于团队冲突和凝聚力的社会心理学研究；关于类比、心理模拟和不确定性的认知心理学研究；以及关于长期婚姻成功的文献，以确定围绕冲突的哪些互动模式会导致成功的长期关系。以前的研究通常是孤立地研究这些变量。要知道如何在长期、多学科的团队中进行干预以增加工程产出，必须了解这些之间的关系。该项目考察了从48个本科生多学科工程团队收集的现有大型音频视频数据集，这些团队最终的产品从差到强再到创新。这个项目有几个优点：整合不同的文献以更好地理解团队过程，参与多学科工程设计的团队的外部有效性，不同团队具有不同的结果，以及详细、可观察的过程数据打开黑匣子？创新。更广泛的影响。美国在科技领域和当前的经济形势下都面临着严峻的挑战。多学科团队对于解决复杂的国家问题至关重要，但往往无法兑现承诺。必须利用创新创造就业机会，创造新产品，刺激经济长期增长。科学和工程团队的蓬勃发展应该像其他重要的人类努力一样受到同样严格的审查。该项目对工程教育也有影响。当发现具体的、可观察到的后期创新或创新失败的警示信号时，就可以根据经验发现制定教育学建议。

This research advances understanding about how the processes of conflict resolution and expression can lead to innovation in science and engineering. Much innovation is due to bringing together multidisciplinary teams to solve complex cross-disciplinary problems; such teams are thought to be able to generate more novel solutions than single disciplinary teams. However, such teams are plagued by problems in communication and coordination. This research examines how particular patterns of conflict resolution and expression can be associated with eventual engineering team innovation success. Intellectual Merit: The project integrates three very different literatures: social psychological studies of team conflict and cohesion; cognitive psychological research on analogy, mental simulation, and uncertainty; and the literature on long-term marital success to determine what interaction patterns surrounding conflict result in successful versus unsuccessful long-term relationships. Prior research has typically studied these variables in isolation. To know how to intervene to increase engineering output in long-term, multidisciplinary teams, the relationships between these must be understood. The project examines a large existing audio-video dataset collected from 48 undergraduate multidisciplinary engineering teams, whose eventual products ranged from poor to competent to innovative. This project has several merits: the integration of different literatures to better understand team processes, external validity in teams engaged in multidisciplinary engineering design, different teams with a variety of outcomes, and detailed, observable process data unpacking the ?black box? of innovation.Broader Impacts. The US is facing serious challenges in the fields of science and technology and with the current economy. Multidisciplinary teams are vital to solving complex national problems but often fail to live up to their promise. Innovation must be harnessed to create employment opportunities, generate novel products, and spur long-term economic growth. The flourishing of science and engineering teams should be examined with the same rigor as other important human endeavors. This project also has implications for engineering education. As specific, observable warning signs for later innovation or failure to innovate are discovered, suggestions for pedagogy can be formulated based on empirical findings.