ABSTRACT

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.

摘要

关于远程助理测试 (RAT) 和复合远程助理测试 (CRAT) 的创造性思维过程存在争议。我们报告了三个实验，旨在通过使用与任务无关的声音作为关键理论工具来阐明支持 CRAT 性能的组件过程。实验 1 和实验 2 显示，相对于安静条件，CRAT 的性能分别因字母和音调变化序列的存在而受损。在这两个实验中，相对于安静，不变的声音（重复的字母或重复的音调）不会产生干扰。实验 3 表明，与无意义的演讲相比，必须忽略有意义的演讲会产生额外的破坏。这些实验表明，语义激活和发声是 CRAT 问题成功创造性思维的重要决定因素。我们建议语义激活支持解决方案生成过程，而默读支持解决方案评估过程。