masses often describe originative thinking in the build of metaphors . We talk about “ think outside the boxwood , ” “ putting two and two together , ” and “ visualise both side of the problem . ” But what if we could encourage our creativity by take up these metaphor literally ? We bed our minds interact in all sorts of interesting ways with our bodies — what if we enacted these metaphors physically ?
That ’s the questionAngela Leung and her colleaguesexamine in a new field of study put out in the journal Psychological Science . Their findings from five study demonstrate how a person can become more creative simply by convert their bearing , ground a data link between creativeness and what psychologist refer to as “ be cognition . ” Here ’s how you may put their finding to use .
1 . On one deal … on the other hand
Creative thought are often get at by bringing together two manifestly unrelated thoughts . When we can call up about a problem in condition of two different side , we are more likely to find oneself a way to integrate them . This is encapsulate by the set phrase “ On the one hand … on the other hired man … ”
So , what if while trying to solve a job you physically concord up one hand followed by the other ? Might this send a signaling to the unconscious to advance it to consider the trouble from more than one slant ?
Leung and her confrere found that trial run subjects who gestured with both work force come up with more new mind than those who motion with just one hand .
2 . Literally sit outside a box
“ think outside the box ” is an terribly overused cliché . Nevertheless , it does capture the idea that in creativeness you have to essay and search young areas .
In their inquiry , Leung ’s squad had participants literally either sitting in box or sit next to box while doing creativity tests . unco , the researcher found that this simple manipulation worked . mass who were literally sit down outside of a box came up with more idea than those sitting in the boxful .
3 . tramp around , but not in a satisfying
If you do n’t have a corner handy , you might like to strain just digress around randomly , but whatever happens do n’t take the air in a lame .
The researchers find that people come up with more ideas when they wind around arbitrarily than when they walked in a lame ( or did n’t walk at all ) .
4 . Put two and two together
Not all creative thinking is about plunk awing ideas out of the ether ; sometimes we need to do the oink study of logically equip together estimation or object we ’ve already find in front of us . We ’ve get to put two and two together and make indisputable the resolution is n’t 17 , metaphorically verbalise . This is what psychologists call “ convergent thinking , ” and it ’s where we convey our logical system , noesis and skills to bear on a problem .
A fourth study prove the idea that assort piles of cards from two stacks into one would encourage convergent thinking .
It did . Participants who sorted the menu from two piles into one did better on a trial of convergent thinking than those who just fiddled around with the cards in one pile .
5 . Imagine it
Too faineant to get a box or cuckold around randomly ? Then this last study is for you . Here , test participant watched a Second Life avatar that was either wind freely or walking in a square .
fit in to the results , this form of “ psychological embodiment ” worked , as well . Test subjects catch their freely wandering avatar come up with more unlawful ideas for gifts than those watching the square - walking embodiment . This result is especially interesting because it designate that the postures are n’t as crucial as the state of idea that they encourage . The mere suggestion that someone might adopt these strength was enough to cue a more creative country of mind .
And lie down
This new research get together previous studies which have paint a picture that elementary postures can affect creativity .
In one field of study , mass lying down were good at solving anagrams ( Lipnicki & Byrne , 2005 ) ; in another their tightness was boosted bywearing a snowy coat . Another used nous - body disagreement - e.g. think an unhappy thought while smile - to supercharge creativity ( How To Promote Visionary Thinking ) .
All of these study show how the position of our bodies feed back into the state of our minds — what the researcher call “ a connexion between concrete corporal experiences and creative cognition . ” It also reveals how profoundly metaphors for creativeness are embedded in our consciousness .
This billet byJeremy Deanoriginally appear onPsyBlog — a website ( melt down entirely by Dean ) dedicated to exploring the scientific discipline of psychology by examining unexampled , interesting , and exciting peer - reviewed psychological science research .
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