Beyond being in the lab: using multi-agent modeling to isolate competing hypotheses

In studies of virtual teams, it is difficult to determine pure effects of geographic isolation and uneven communication technology. We developed a multi-agent computer model in NetLogo to complement laboratory-based organizational simulations [3]. In the lab, favoritism among collocated team members (collocators) appeared to increase their performance. However, in the computer simulation, when controlled for communication delay, in-group favoritism had a detrimental effect on the performance of collocators. This suggested that the advantage of collocators shown in the lab was due to synchronous communication, not favoritism. The canceling-out effects of in-group bias and communication delay explained why many studies did not see performance difference between collocated and remote team members. The multi-agent modeling in this case proved its value by both clarifying previous laboratory findings and guiding design of future experiments. Author Keywords Virtual team, computer supported...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2005
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Ning Nan, Erik W. Johnston, Judith S. Olson, Nathan Bos
• Keywords: CHI 2005, Communication Delay, Computer-mediated Communication Acm, Human Computer Interaction, In-group Favoritism