How can neuroscience help understand design and craft activity? The promise of cognitive neuroscience in design studies

A framework for studying design thinking through measuring designers’ minds, bodies and brains

“…The EEG method to record brain activity suits design thinking studies because of its high temporal resolution and usability, due to the availability of wireless headsets that allow free movement. Experiments studying design with EEG measurements can integrate sketching (Nguyen & Zeng 2010;Vieira et al 2019b) and modeling tasks (Kruk et al 2014;Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al 2016), which is not currently possible with fMRI monitoring (Alexiou et al 2009). Results from early EEG studies of designers are generally consistent with cognitive findings in design thinking research such as differences between problem-solving and open-ended design tasks (Vieira et al 2019a), domain related divergences (Vieira et al 2019b), the effect of expertise in problem solving (Göker 1997) and drawing (Belkofer, Van Hecke & Konopka 2014) and design reasoning defined by a sequence of design moves (Nguyen & Zeng 2010;Nguyen, Nguyen & Zeng 2015, 2019.…”

“…Experiments in design with fMRI have mainly focused on visual reasoning or analogical reasoning since movements are limited while in the fMRI scanner (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al 2016). Participants are often limited to clicking with a computer mouse without being able to sketch.…”

Why our brains love arts and crafts

“…Because the equipment and methods of cognitive neuroscience are constantly developing, there are increasing opportunities to conduct brain research studies outside laboratories, using modern mobile research devices, focusing attention on more natural tasks and approaching everyday issues (Figure 1). However, the strictly specified methods that need to be applied in experimental brain research settings are still the largest restricting factor in the whole research area, and there are still several phenomena that cannot be studied (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen et al, 2016). The main challenges lie in the inability to capture phenomena occurring during creative activity, as most brain imaging devices require the phenomenon or event to be replicated several times and the participant to be still.…”

Embodied Making, Creative Cognition and Memory

“…Lately, knowledge from the rapidly developing neurosciences has informed creative practices and embodied making from novel perspectives (Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, 2015). Such knowledge opens up the field for other nuanced perspectives explaining the biological functions behind the phenomenological descriptions from the last century.…”

“…Such knowledge opens up the field for other nuanced perspectives explaining the biological functions behind the phenomenological descriptions from the last century. In particular, studies conducted jointly by researchers from the practice fields and the science field have advanced our understanding of the biological basis for the designer's or artist's experiences (Goguen & Myin, 2000;Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, 2015;Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, Huotilainen, Mäkelä, Groth, & Hakkarainen, 2014;Varela et al, 2003;Zaidel, 2005). Similar results emerge from the fields of education or development studies, where such interdisciplinary perspectives have been found to support and expand previous research on complex human behaviors, development, or experiences (Ansari & De Smedt, 2012;De Smedt et al, 2011;Juelskjaer, Moser, & Schilhab, 2008;Simons & Klopack, 2015).…”