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Chapter 8 - Jumping About

The Role of Mind-Wandering and Attentional Flexibility in Facilitating Creative Problem Solving

from III - Pathways to Insight

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 May 2024

By
Nicholaus P. Brosowsky ,
Madeleine E. Gross ,
Jonathan W. Schooler  and
Paul Seli
Edited by
Carola Salvi ,
Jennifer Wiley  and
Steven M. Smith
Carola Salvi
Affiliation:
John Cabot University, Rome
Jennifer Wiley
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Chicago
Steven M. Smith
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
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Summary

Research has shown that taking a break, or an "incubation interval," can facilitate creative problem solving. One interpretation of this phenomenon is that it allows for task-switching and attentional flexibility, which can improve creative performance. Task-switching may allow individuals to break their mental set and identify solutions that were previously unavailable. It may also encourage the alternation between idea generation and evaluation, leading to attentional flexibility. This chapter discusses the evidence for the benefits of attentional flexibility and its relationship to mind-wandering, and presents a new study on the potential sources of benefit for task-switching on creativity.

Keywords

insightaha!problem-solvingcreativitymind wonderingattentionflexibility
Type
Chapter
Information
The Emergence of Insight , pp. 163 - 180
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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