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Journal ArticleDOI

The Incubation Effect: Illusion or Illumination?

Beverly A. Browne, +1 more
- 01 Sep 1988 - 
- Vol. 1, Iss: 3, pp 177-185
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors examined the effects of a break (incubation) on solutions to a geometric insight problem and found that subjects receiving an analogical hint during incubation obtained more solutions than continuously working controls.
Abstract
This research examined the effects of a break (incubation) on solutions to a geometric insight problem. Experiment 1 showed that subjects receiving an analogical hint during incubation obtained more solutions than continuously working controls. Experiment 2 tested the hypothesis that incubation effects are due to the total time (including intermittant problem solving during incubation) spent on a problem. Subjects given relaxation instructions and no task during a problem-solving break were more successful than those who worked continuously for 20 min or were given demanding mental work as an intervening task. Self-report data supported the explanation that incubation effects are a result of covert effort and that the effectiveness of an analogical hint depends on the solver's ability to relate it to the problem.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Does Incubation Enhance Problem Solving? A Meta-Analytic Review

TL;DR: The existence of multiple types of incubation effect provides evidence for differential invocation of knowledge-based vs. strategic solution processes across different classes of problem, and it suggests that the conditions under which incubation can be used as a practical technique for enhancing problem solving must be designed with care.
Journal ArticleDOI

Creative and analytic thinkers differ in their use of attentional resources

TL;DR: This article used a remote associates test (RAT) to measure creativity and deductive reasoning problems to measure analytic ability and found that RAT scores predicted ability to use peripheral cues, whereas scores on the deductive task did not.

Teaching Creativity in Engineering

TL;DR: In this article, an operable tool based on Treffinger's creative learning model that can be implemented in a classroom setting to facilitate creativity has been proposed, which can be used to help engineers overcome the blocks to creativity.
Journal ArticleDOI

The Use of Environmental Clues During Incubation

TL;DR: The authors found that participants who saw answers during incubation resolved more items than those who saw related words during the incubation period, while participants receiving no instructions did not differ across clue conditions, wher...
Journal ArticleDOI

The effects of time and incubation on design concept generation

TL;DR: Comparing the two studies shows that incubation generates a greater quantity of ideas, while extended time aids in high quality and novelty, and a 50-min ideation period is effective for developing high quality, novel solutions.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Analogical problem solving

TL;DR: The use of an analogy from a semantically distant domain to guide the problemsolving process was investigated in five experiments as discussed by the authors, where subjects who first read a story about a military problem and its solution tended to generate analogous solutions to a medical problem, provided they were given a hint to use the story to help solve the problem.
Book

Creativity - Genius and Other Myths

TL;DR: The second edition of as discussed by the authors offers an analysis of the relation of 'ordinary' thinking to 'creative' thinking, including computer modelling of thought, and an examination of the creative processes that led to mechanical inventions, scientific discoveries and works of art.
Journal ArticleDOI

Memory for unattended events: Remembering with and without awareness.

TL;DR: Results of the present shadowing study, involving the recognition and spelling of previously unattended homophones, suggest an affirmative answer to this question.