TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘‘Close, and ye shall find’’
T2 - eye closure during thinking enhances creativity
AU - Yonemitsu, Fumiya
AU - Sasaki, Kyoshiro
AU - Gobara, Akihiko
AU - Kosugi, Koji
AU - Yamada, Yuki
N1 - Funding Information:
We disclose receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: this research was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP17J05236 (K.S.), JP15H05709, JP16H01866, JP16H03079, JP17H00875 (Y.Y.).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - Facilitation of creative thinking is an important element for innovation. It has been suggested that cognitive resources are involved in creative thinking; however, little evidence of this involvement has been found. To address this issue, the present study focuses on eye closure, which saves more cognitive resources than open eyes. Forty participants experienced both close-eyed and open-eyed conditions, and all of them were asked to generate new names for rice and tea. The results revealed that in the close-eyed condition, participants generated 1.6-times more divergent (unrestricted and flexible) ideas than in the open-eyed condition, suggesting that closing eyes during thinking enhances creativity. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the necessity of cognitive resources in creative thinking.
AB - Facilitation of creative thinking is an important element for innovation. It has been suggested that cognitive resources are involved in creative thinking; however, little evidence of this involvement has been found. To address this issue, the present study focuses on eye closure, which saves more cognitive resources than open eyes. Forty participants experienced both close-eyed and open-eyed conditions, and all of them were asked to generate new names for rice and tea. The results revealed that in the close-eyed condition, participants generated 1.6-times more divergent (unrestricted and flexible) ideas than in the open-eyed condition, suggesting that closing eyes during thinking enhances creativity. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the necessity of cognitive resources in creative thinking.
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U2 - 10.1057/s41599-018-0138-0
DO - 10.1057/s41599-018-0138-0
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85064898465
SN - 2055-1045
VL - 4
JO - Palgrave Communications
JF - Palgrave Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 80
ER -