The correlation between a groups collective intelligence and the average general intelligence of its members is only moderate. Basically, a group comprised of smart people does not necessarily make a smart group. 

Correlation between Average General Intelligence and Collective Intelligence

One factor in collective intelligence is the average social perceptiveness of the group members, evaluated through the Reading the Mind in the Eyes test. In this assessment, participants analyzed images of people's eyes to deduce their mental states. Originally designed to measure autism, the test revealed variations in individuals' social intelligence even among neurotypical adults. Notably, groups with a higher percentage of members performing well on this social perceptiveness test tended to display greater collective intelligence than those with lower scores.

Correlation Between Average Social Perceptiveness and Collective Intelligence

Groups with a better distribution of participation were found to be more intelligent than groups were one or only a few dominated. Collective intelligence is higher in groups where everyone is sharing in the participation. 

Correlation Between Participation and Collective Intelligence

Collective intelligence in groups was notably linked to the group's gender composition, with a higher proportion of women being associated with increased intelligence. However, this relationship could be predominantly explained by the level of social perceptiveness within the group. It is a known fact that women, on average, score higher in social perceptiveness tests than men. Therefore, the crucial factor for enhancing group intelligence appears to be the social perceptiveness of its members rather than their gender. In essence, a group tends to exhibit higher intelligence when it includes individuals with strong social perceptiveness, regardless of their gender. Consequently, if individuals are chosen for a group solely based on their gender, there is a greater likelihood of finding social perceptiveness in women than in men.

Correlation Between Number of Women and Collective Intelligence

Groups with an intermediate level of cognitive style diversity had more collective intelligence than those with a lot or very little diversity. This could be because groups with too much diversity could not effectively communicate and groups with too little did not have an adequate range of skills to perform better. 

Correlation Between Cognitive Style Diversity and Collective Intelligence

- Average General Intelligence of the Group
- Average Social Perceptiveness
- Average Participation
- Number of Women
- Cognitive Style Diversity

San Jose State University

Anita Woolley and their team found that groups, like individuals, possess a single statistical factor, akin to individual intelligence, which predicts their performance across various tasks. Termed collective intelligence, this group factor mirrors the concept of general intelligence found in individuals, shedding light on what makes groups effective across tasks. In initial studies, it was assessed whether collective intelligence could predict performance on tasks not included in its calculation. Groups were assigned complex tasks requiring a combination of abilities, like playing checkers against a computer or constructing structures with building blocks under specific rules. Results revealed that collective intelligence scores strongly predicted performance on these complex tasks, surpassing the predictive power of either the group members' average or maximum individual intelligence.

Collective Intelligence is a Group's General Intelligence

Malone, Thomas W. 2018. Superminds: The Surprising Power of People and Computers Thinking Together. Little, Brown Spark.

https://cci.mit.edu/superminds-by-thomas-w-malone/

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