Was the declaration of independence intended to be a formal declaration of war? why or why not?
a. yes. though fighting preceded the writing, it was intended to be a formal declaration of war.
b. no. the war started a year before the declaration of independence was written.
c. yes. the declaration of independence formally united the militias of the individual colonies.
d. no. there was no need to declare war, as this power had yet to be established.

Recall that in one condition of the experiment conducted by stasser and titus (1985) about student council president candidates, all group members had access to the same information, and that in another condition, members had unique information that other group members didn't know. in the second (unshared information) condition, the group made a worse decision than in the first (shared information) condition. this occurred because groups seldom can agree on who is most expert. focus discussion on the information that all members know. often ignore dissenting opinions. avoid differences of opinion, given conformity pressures.