Modal Preferences in Creative Problem Solving
Author
Deininger, Gina
Loudon, Gareth
Norman, Stefanie
Date
2012-08Type
Article
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
ISSN
1612-4790
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Embodied cognitive science appeals to the idea that cognition depends on the body as well as the brain. This
study looks at whether we are more likely to engage just the brain or enlist the body for complex cognitive
functioning such as creative problem solving. Participants were presented with a puzzle based on De Bono's
lateral thinking puzzles. The puzzle consisted of rotating and joining two-dimensional shapes to make a three
dimensional one. In one condition participants were given the choice of either solving the puzzle mentally or
through manipulation of the images on a computer screen. In another condition the subjects had to solve the
puzzle first mentally and then report which mode they would have preferred to solve the puzzle. Two more
conditions were applied with slight variations. In all conditions an overwhelming majority of participants chose
to solve the puzzle by manipulation, even though there was not a significant increase on performance. It appeared
that participants were making a conscious choice for the body to play a feedback-driven role in creative cognitive
processing. This strong preference for manual manipulation over just mental representation, regardless of the
impact on performance, would seem to suggest that it is our natural tendency to involve the body in complex
cognitive functioning. This would support the theory that cognition may be more than just a neural process, that it
is a dynamic interplay between body, brain and world. The experiential feedback of the body moving through
space and time may be an inherently important factor in creative cognition.
Citation
Deininger, G., Loudon, G. and Norman, S. (2012) 'Modal preferences in creative problem solving', Cognitive processing, 13(1), pp.147-150.
Collections
- User Centred Design [78]
- User Centred Design (UCD) [54]
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