One of the oldest puzzles of human interaction is why some groups of people, but not all of them, learn to operate on the same wavelength—to think, and act, as one. Scientists who study group dynamics have found some evidence that over time, when a group of individuals become accustomed to performing a task together, they can develop something called shared cognition. Their collective knowledge and experience help them to form a reciprocal mental model that allows them to anticipate one another’s responses and coordinate their work more effectively.
