What does brainstorming typically involve?

Brainstorming is primarily characterized by unrestrained and spontaneous participation in discussions. This collaborative technique encourages individuals to freely express their ideas and thoughts without fear of criticism or immediate evaluation. The aim is to generate a wide range of ideas that can then be refined or built upon later. This free-flowing approach fosters creativity and innovation, allowing participants to think outside the box and contribute diverse perspectives.

The other options do not accurately represent the essence of brainstorming. Formal decision-making processes involve structured methods of evaluating and choosing among options, which contrasts with the open and informal nature of brainstorming. Documenting research findings focuses on recording and organizing information rather than the idea generation that defines brainstorming. Designing full-scale models comes at a later stage of the engineering design process, where concepts from brainstorming might be translated into tangible prototypes. Thus, the distinct feature of brainstorming relies on its emphasis on spontaneous and unrestricted idea sharing.