The susceptibility of compound remote associate problems to disruption by irrelevant sound: a Window onto the component processes underpinning creative cognition?Show others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Journal of Cognitive Psychology, ISSN 2044-5911, E-ISSN 2044-592X, Vol. 33, no 6-7, p. 793-822Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Controversy exists regarding the processes involved in creative thinking with the Remote Associates Test (RAT) and the Compound Remote Associates Test (CRAT). We report three experiments that aimed to shed light on the component processes underpinning CRAT performance by using the mere presence of task-irrelevant sound as a key theoretical tool. Experiments 1 and 2 revealed that CRAT performance was impaired relative to a quiet condition by the presence of sequences of changing letters and tones, respectively. In both experiments a non-changing sound (a repeated letter or a repeated tone) produced no disruption relative to quiet. Experiment 3 established that additional disruption was engendered by having to ignore meaningful speech as compared to meaningless speech. These experiments demonstrate that both semantic activation and subvocalisation are important determinants of successful creative thinking with CRAT problems. We suggest that semantic activation underpins solution-generation processes whereas subvocalisation underpins solution-evaluation processes.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Taylor & Francis, 2021. Vol. 33, no 6-7, p. 793-822
Keywords [en]
Compound remote associates test, insight, auditory distraction, component processes
National Category
Applied Psychology
Research subject
Engineering Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-83384DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2021.1900201ISI: 000630677300001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85102927762OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-83384DiVA, id: diva2:1539429
Note
Validerad;2021;Nivå 2;2021-11-09 (beamah);
Finansiär: British Academy and Leverhulme Trust (SG162930)
2021-03-242021-03-242021-11-09Bibliographically approved