Abstract
This study focuses on the development of an experimental system for collaborative problem solving in large groups. The goal of this study was to construct and investigate the following two points: (1) to design a prototype of a computer-based conversation system for problem solvers that are distributed in a local network, and (2) To use this system as illusionary collaborative partners and investigate the factors that influences perspective change during problem solving. A conversation agent was constructed where conversations were generated based on the rule based system. In the verification experiment, the participants' attitude was directed in a way that they thought they were interacting with real human partners. The main point of the experiment was to test the reliability of the experimental paradigm. Results show that the use of the conversational agents as illusionary partners was successful. Throughout the experiment, the so-called `minority influence' was tested and it was found that the presence of a member with different perspectives can influence the problem solvers thinking strategy.
