EEG alpha activity is moderated by the serial order effect during divergent thinking

Kraus, Brian; Cadle, Chelsea E.; Simon-Dack, Stephanie L.

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2019.04.003

Cited by 14 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…The serial position analyses across experiments also shed further light on the differences that were seen across experiments due to the modality of the examples. As in prior research, an increase in originality was observed in all conditions in Experiment 1, which is common with typical divergent thinking instructions (Beaty & Silvia, 2012;Benedek & Neubauer, 2013;Christensen et al, 1957;Glaveanu et al, 2018;Hass, 2017;Hass & Beaty, 2018;Kraus et al, 2019;Kudrowitz & Dippo, 2013). Interestingly, this improvement in originality was also observed in the Examples+Avoid condition of Experiment 1people produced original ideas early on and increased their originality over time.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…By examining how originality changes across the series of ideas that are generated, this can help further clarify any potential benefits or decrements of example exposure. Although people frequently experience mental fixation when attempting to generate ideas, it also appears that people can often overcome this fixation and eventually improve the novelty of their ideas over the course of idea generation (Beaty & Silvia, 2012;Benedek & Neubauer, 2013;Christensen et al, 1957;Hass, 2017;Hass & Beaty, 2018;Glaveanu et al, 2018;Kraus et al, 2019;Kudrowitz & Dippo, 2013). One way of viewing any lack of improvement in originality from earlier to later ideas (i.e., no serial position effect) may be as a form of continued fixation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Idea position was also logged for analysis of serial order. The use of idea position for analysis of changes in originality over the course of idea generation is common (Christensen et al, 1957;Benedek & Neubauer, 2013;Glaveanu et al, 2018;Hass, 2017;Hass & Beaty, 2018;Kraus et al, 2019;Kudrowitz & Dippo, 2013). Although cumulative response time could be used to analyze how ideas change over time, the issues with the accuracy of RT logging mentioned above make this an unsuitable approach.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In more open-ended tasks, such as the AUT, a dominant initial strategy is based on memory-retrievalpeople often start off by producing known uses (or ideas closely based on known uses)and these initial ideas are often the least creative (Beaty & Silvia, 2012;Gilhooly, Fioratou, Anthony, & Wynn, 2007;Nusbaum & Silvia, 2011). This relates to the well-documented serial position effect in tasks intended to measure divergent thinking: earlier ideas tend to be more common, while later ideas are more original (Beaty & Silvia, 2012;Benedek & Neubauer, 2013;Christensen, Guilford, & Wilson, 1957;Hass, 2017;Hass & Beaty, 2018;Glaveanu, Gillespie, & Karwowski, 2018;Kraus, Cadle, & Simon-Dack, 2019;Kudrowitz & Dippo, 2013). The majority of responses to these idea-generation prompts are typically unoriginal or limited to a restricted set of categories (Beaty & Silvia, 2012;Ezzat, Agogué, Le Masson, Weil, & Cassotti, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Need something different? Here’s what’s been done: Effects of examples and task instructions on creative idea generation

George

Wiley

2020

Mem Cogn

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Creative idea generation involves search and retrieval of memory. There is a default tendency to rely too heavily on familiar or easily accessible information during idea generation, especially in tasks such as the alternate uses task (AUT) that involve generating novel uses for common objects. Knowing which obvious ideas to avoid may be important in creating more original ideas. The present experiments tested whether instructions encouraging participants to avoid a set of common example ideas would enhance originality or cause fixation on the AUT. The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that presenting a verbal list of common example uses along with a warning to avoid those uses enhanced originality. In contrast, when the example ideas were presented in the absence of any "avoid" instructions, there was no benefit on originality, indicating that mere example exposure did not stimulate more creative idea generation. The design of Experiment 2 was parallel to that of Experiment 1, but the verbal examples were replaced with visually depicted examples. Exposure to the visual examples led to reduced originality, suggesting fixation. Although the "avoid" instruction helped to mitigate this fixation, it did not enhance originality beyond the no-example condition. The results suggest that under some conditions presenting unoriginal examples along with an "avoid" warning can allow people to shift their focus away from easily retrieved ideas and toward more novel approaches. The results are also consistent with prior work showing a negative impact of visual presentation of examples on creativity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Need something different? Here’s what’s been done: Effects of examples and task instructions on creative idea generation

George

Wiley

2020

Mem Cogn

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“…However, it is also known that original ideas are rarely those that come to mind immediately. Research has documented the serial-order effect of idea creativity, where ideas that are thought of early on tend to be obvious, while later ideas tend to be more original (Beaty & Silvia, 2012; Benedek & Neubauer, 2013; Christensen et al, 1957; Hass, 2017; Hass & Beaty, 2018; George & Wiley, 2020; Glăveanu et al, 2019; Kraus et al, 2019; Kudrowitz & Dippo, 2013). In other words, it is often the most accessible information that needs to be overcome in order to arrive at less obvious ideas.…”

Section: Effects Of Images On Predictions Of Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Great expectations: Misleading effects of images in the alternate uses task.

George¹,

Mielicki²,

Wiley³

2023

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

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What factors influence predictions of creative performance? Prior work indicates that images can skew predictions in the contexts of learning, memory, and decision making, but little work has devoted attention to the metacognitive effects of images in creative thinking. Metacognitive frameworks indicate that people often base predictions of performance on the subjective ease with which related information comes to mind. The present experiments tested whether the presence of object photographs in the alternate uses task (AUT) inflates predictions of creativity. In Experiments 1–4, participants made ratings about their predictions of creative performance for various objects in the AUT either with or without photographs of the object. Participants provided higher ratings and were faster to make ratings in the image than no-image condition. In Experiment 5, participants actually attempted to generate creative uses for the objects, half of which were accompanied by object photographs. Creativity scores for these responses were lower in the image condition than no-image condition, but participants’ retrospective judgments indicated the opposite. These results provide a novel extension of metacognitive work showing that images inflate predictions of performance and fit with prior research showing that images can limit creativity.

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Beyond neurons and spikes: cognon, the hierarchical dynamical unit of thought

2023

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From the dynamical point of view, most cognitive phenomena are hierarchical, transient and sequential. Such cognitive spatio-temporal processes can be represented by a set of sequential metastable dynamical states together with their associated transitions: The state is quasi-stationary close to one metastable state before a rapid transition to another state. Hence, we postulate that metastable states are the central players in cognitive information processing. Based on the analogy of quasiparticles as elementary units in physics, we introduce here the quantum of cognitive information dynamics, which we term “cognon”. A cognon, or dynamical unit of thought, is represented by a robust finite chain of metastable neural states. Cognons can be organized at multiple hierarchical levels and coordinate complex cognitive information representations. Since a cognon is an abstract conceptualization, we link this abstraction to brain sequential dynamics that can be measured using common modalities and argue that cognons and brain rhythms form binding spatiotemporal complexes to keep simultaneous dynamical information which relate the ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘when’.

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EEG alpha activity is moderated by the serial order effect during divergent thinking

Cited by 14 publications

References 53 publications

Need something different? Here’s what’s been done: Effects of examples and task instructions on creative idea generation

Need something different? Here’s what’s been done: Effects of examples and task instructions on creative idea generation

Great expectations: Misleading effects of images in the alternate uses task.

Beyond neurons and spikes: cognon, the hierarchical dynamical unit of thought

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