Making group brainstorming more effective: Recommendations from an associative memory perspective

Much literature on group brainstorming has found it to be less effective that individual brainstorming. However, a cognitive perspective suggests that group brainstorming could be an effective technique for generating creative ideas. Computer simulations for an associative memory model of idea generation in groups suggest that groups have the potential to generate ideas that individuals brainstorming alone are less likely to generate. Exchanging ideas by means of writing or computers, alternating solitary and group brainstorming, and using heterogenous groups appear to be useful approaches for enhancing group brainstorming.