Spontaneous or Deliberate: The Dual Influence of Mind Wandering on Creative Incubation

Abstract

Two experiments examined the dual influence of mind wandering (MW) on the incubation of both deliberate and spontaneous modes of creativity. Specifically, using a modified version of Sustained Attention Response Task as the incubation task, this study assessed whether taking a break from a creative task and engaging in either an MW‐allowed task or an MW‐prevented task can exert differential effects on different aspects of creativity. Results showed that after engaging in an incubation task that allowed MW rather than prevented MW, participants generated ideas more flexibly but less persistently in the subsequent divergent thinking tasks, and were more likely to solve creative insight problems through intuitive insight but not systematic analysis. The results suggest that MW during incubation may simultaneously facilitate the spontaneous mode of creativity while suppressing the deliberate mode of creativity. These findings also indicate that creativity must be parsed into different subtypes in order to identify more specific ways to enhance creativity.

A Wandering Mind is Not Always a Creative Mind: How Thought Dynamics Explain the Relationship between Mind Wandering and Creativity

“…The manner in which off‐task thoughts interact with thought dynamics, therefore, does not appear to enhance creativity more so than when thoughts are fixated on the task at hand. Thought dynamics, which are often not measured in studies about the mind wandering–creativity link, might therefore nuance and help explain the inconsistent scientific evidence available (Baird et al., 2012; Frith et al., 2021; Hao et al., 2015; Irving et al., 2022; Murray et al., 2021; Smeekens & Kane, 2016; Smith et al., 2022; Steindorf et al., 2021; Teng & Lien, 2022; Yamaoka & Yukawa, 2020; Yang & Wu, 2022).…”

“…Finally, no information could be provided about the reliability of the self‐reports due to the use of single items to measure the constructs. While the methods used in the presented studies have not been previously validated, these are intended to benefit the ecological validity of the research, which, bar some exceptions (e.g., Gable et al., 2019), has been a major limitation in previous studies about the mind wandering–creativity link (Baird et al., 2012; Frith et al., 2021; Hao et al., 2015; Irving et al., 2022; Murray et al., 2021; Smeekens & Kane, 2016; Smith et al., 2022; Steindorf et al., 2021; Teng & Lien, 2022; Yamaoka & Yukawa, 2020; Yang & Wu, 2022).…”

“…Regarding freely moving thoughts, related work suggests that engaging in moderately difficult tasks can benefit performance on subsequent tests of creative potential (e.g., Baird et al., 2012; Irving et al., 2022; Teng & Lien, 2022; Vannucci & Agnoli, 2019; Yang & Wu, 2022). The underlying assumption is that moderately difficult tasks place fewer constraints on the free movement of thoughts than difficult tasks do while also arousing the mind sufficiently such that it does not fully disengage.…”

“…Preliminary findings suggest that mind wandering tends to cause new ideas to be experienced as an Aha! moment (Gable et al., 2019; Yang & Wu, 2022), and which might affect creativity (Palhares, Branco, & Gonçalves, 2022). One example of an antecedent that might influence mind wandering to occur spontaneously is the modality of thought.…”

“…Previous work suggests that mind wandering while doing something else can enhance the production of variation, that is, divergent thinking (Guilford, 1967), when re‐engaging with a divergent thinking task (Baird et al., 2012; Frith et al., 2021; Irving, McGrath, Flynn, Glasser, & Mills, 2022; Teng & Lien, 2022; Yamaoka & Yukawa, 2020; Yang & Wu, 2022). However, these effects are often not replicated (Murray, Liang, Brosowsky, & Seli, 2021; Smeekens & Kane, 2016; Smith et al., 2022; Steindorf, Hammerton, & Rummel, 2021), whereas mind wandering during a divergent thinking task reduces productivity and originality (Hao, Wu, Runco, & Pina, 2015).…”