Partly versus Completely Out of Your Mind: Effects of Incubation and Distraction on Resolving Fixation.
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| Title: | Partly versus Completely Out of Your Mind: Effects of Incubation and Distraction on Resolving Fixation. |
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| Authors: | KOHN, NICHOLAS1 nkohn@tamu.edu, SMITH, STEVEN M. |
| Source: | Journal of Creative Behavior. 2009 2nd Quarter, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p102-118. 17p. 1 Diagram, 4 Charts. |
| Subject Terms: | *Creative ability testing, *Remote associates test, *Association tests, *Ability testing, *Creative thinking testing, *Thought & thinking |
| Abstract: | Incubation has long been proposed as a mechanism in creative problem solving (Wallas, 1926). A new trial-by-trial method for observing incubation effects was used to compare the forgetting fixation hypothesis with the conscious work hypothesis. Two experiments examined the effects of incubation on initially unsolved Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems. Following exposure to misleading clues designed to induce initial fixation on RAT problems, versus no clues, participants were retested on problems either immediately after their first attempt (no-incubation), or after a 40-second incubation period. Resolution of initially unsolved RAT problems (fixated versus non-fixated) was examined as a function of complete interruption (Experiment 1) or partial distraction (Experiment 2). An incubation effect, that is, better resolution of initially unsolved problems retested after a delay rather than retesting immediately, was seen only in Experiment 1, in which unsolved problems were completely removed from sight. Furthermore, an incubation effect was found only for initially fixated problems, and not for problems that were not accompanied by misleading clues. The results are consistent with the forgetting fixation hypothesis (Smith & Blankenship, 1989), which states that putting unsolved problems completely out of mind allows initial fixation to dissipate, and the results indicate that the opportunity for some conscious work during incubation periods may not be optimal for resolving fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Creative Behavior is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 42838603 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Partly versus Completely Out of Your Mind: Effects of Incubation and Distraction on Resolving Fixation. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22KOHN%2C+NICHOLAS%22">KOHN, NICHOLAS</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> nkohn@tamu.edu</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22SMITH%2C+STEVEN+M%2E%22">SMITH, STEVEN M.</searchLink> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Creative+Behavior%22">Journal of Creative Behavior</searchLink>. 2009 2nd Quarter, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p102-118. 17p. 1 Diagram, 4 Charts. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Creative+ability+testing%22">Creative ability testing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Remote+associates+test%22">Remote associates test</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Association+tests%22">Association tests</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ability+testing%22">Ability testing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Creative+thinking+testing%22">Creative thinking testing</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Thought+%26+thinking%22">Thought & thinking</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Incubation has long been proposed as a mechanism in creative problem solving (Wallas, 1926). A new trial-by-trial method for observing incubation effects was used to compare the forgetting fixation hypothesis with the conscious work hypothesis. Two experiments examined the effects of incubation on initially unsolved Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems. Following exposure to misleading clues designed to induce initial fixation on RAT problems, versus no clues, participants were retested on problems either immediately after their first attempt (no-incubation), or after a 40-second incubation period. Resolution of initially unsolved RAT problems (fixated versus non-fixated) was examined as a function of complete interruption (Experiment 1) or partial distraction (Experiment 2). An incubation effect, that is, better resolution of initially unsolved problems retested after a delay rather than retesting immediately, was seen only in Experiment 1, in which unsolved problems were completely removed from sight. Furthermore, an incubation effect was found only for initially fixated problems, and not for problems that were not accompanied by misleading clues. The results are consistent with the forgetting fixation hypothesis (Smith & Blankenship, 1989), which states that putting unsolved problems completely out of mind allows initial fixation to dissipate, and the results indicate that the opportunity for some conscious work during incubation periods may not be optimal for resolving fixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Creative Behavior is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1002/j.2162-6057.2009.tb01309.x Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 17 StartPage: 102 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Creative ability testing Type: general – SubjectFull: Remote associates test Type: general – SubjectFull: Association tests Type: general – SubjectFull: Ability testing Type: general – SubjectFull: Creative thinking testing Type: general – SubjectFull: Thought & thinking Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Partly versus Completely Out of Your Mind: Effects of Incubation and Distraction on Resolving Fixation. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: KOHN, NICHOLAS – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: SMITH, STEVEN M. IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 06 Text: 2009 2nd Quarter Type: published Y: 2009 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 00220175 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 43 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Journal of Creative Behavior Type: main |
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