Thread by @anniemurphypaul

Communicating via videoconference makes us LESS intelligent, as a group, than we would be if we communicated by phone with just our voices. That’s the surprising finding of a new study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University. The reason why is fascinating. 1/8

Research previously found that SYNCHRONY among group members—the alignment of non-verbal behaviors—promotes collective intelligence. You might think that synchrony would be easier to achieve when members can see each other—but in fact such visual cues act as distractions. 2/8

Groups that communicated using voice only paid close attention to auditory cues and achieved higher levels of synchrony. They were also more equal in their turn-taking—another factor that promotes collective intelligence. 3/8

In groups that communicated by video, some individuals used visual signals to grab a larger share of airtime.

Because of these two factors—better synchronization, more equal turn-taking—groups that communicated by voice only were better at solving problems together. 4/8

“Our study underscores the importance of audio cues, which appear to be compromised by video access," says Anita Williams Woolley, one of the researchers. "We found that video conferencing can actually reduce collective intelligence." 5/8

That's a larger lesson here. Research shows that collective intelligence is dependent on members’ ability to pick up on subtle nonverbal cues, and is strongly associated with teams’ ability to engage in 'tacit' coordination—that is, coordination without verbal communication. 6/8

Moreover, individuals who are more prosocial and more attentive to social cues are more likely to achieve synchrony and cooperation with interaction partners.

In groups, social and emotional intelligence IS intelligence, full stop. 7/8

Here's the Carnegie Mellon study: journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

And here's the accompanying press release: eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2…

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