Don’t wait to incubate: Immediate versus delayed incubation in divergent thinking

Previous evidence for the effectiveness of immediate incubation in divergent creative tasks has been weak, because earlier studies exhibited a range of methodological problems. This issue is theoretically important, as a demonstration of the effects of immediate incubation would strengthen the case...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Memory & cognition 2012-08, Vol.40 (6), p.966-975
Main Authors: Gilhooly, Kenneth J., Georgiou, George J., Garrison, Jane, Reston, Jon D., Sirota, Miroslav
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Cognition. Intelligence
Cognitive Psychology
Creativity
Decision making
Experiments
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Hypotheses
Laboratories
Male
Memory
Problem solving
Problem Solving - physiology
Psychological Tests
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Space Perception - physiology
Studies
Thinking - physiology
Time Factors
Visual Perception - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Previous evidence for the effectiveness of immediate incubation in divergent creative tasks has been weak, because earlier studies exhibited a range of methodological problems. This issue is theoretically important, as a demonstration of the effects of immediate incubation would strengthen the case for the involvement of unconscious work in incubation effects. For the present experiment, we used a creative divergent-thinking task (alternative uses) in which separate experimental groups had incubation periods that were either delayed or immediate and that consisted of either spatial or verbal tasks. Control groups were tested without incubation periods, and we carried out checks for intermittent conscious work on the target task during the incubation periods. The results showed significant incubation effects that were stronger for immediate than for delayed incubation. Performance was not different between the verbal and spatial incubation conditions, and we found no evidence for intermittent conscious working during the incubation periods. These results support a role for unconscious work in creative divergent thinking, particularly in the case of immediate incubation.
ISSN:0090-502X
1532-5946
DOI:10.3758/s13421-012-0199-z