Creativity and Aging: Positive Consequences of Distraction

Diminished inhibitory control in cognitive functioning renders people vulnerable to the effects of distracting information. Older adults' decreased ability to ignore information makes them especially susceptible to the disruptive effects of distraction. We show that in the domain of creativity,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 2020-08, Vol.35 (5), p.654-662
Main Authors: Carpenter, Stephanie M., Chae, Rebecca L., Yoon, Carolyn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Differences
Aging
Cognitive Ability
Cognitive Control
Cognitive functioning
Creativity
Distractibility
Distraction
Female
Human
Inhibition (Personality)
Male
Older people
Response inhibition
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Summary:Diminished inhibitory control in cognitive functioning renders people vulnerable to the effects of distracting information. Older adults' decreased ability to ignore information makes them especially susceptible to the disruptive effects of distraction. We show that in the domain of creativity, distraction can have beneficial consequences. In the first study, both younger and older adults generated more creative recipes when presented with distracting information that was congruent with target information, compared to no distracting information, in a subsequent creativity task. This increase in creativity with congruent distraction was preserved, and even slightly enhanced, among older relative to younger adults. In the second study, we sought to replicate and extend our findings to a new task. We found that following exposure to distracting information, older adults generated more creative solutions than younger adults on a subsequent unusual uses for a brick task. Present findings suggest ways that distraction can boost creativity among older adults.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/pag0000470