Tests of Remote Association

Do Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems measure the process of remote association? In the present study a new set of RAT problems was generated, and association norms were determined for each test word, providing an index of the remoteness of die association needed to solve each problem. The observed remoteness of each problem correlated with the difficulty of the problems

Internally Generated Remindings and Hippocampal Recapitulations

A hippocampal phenomenon known as the sharp wave is correlated with a cell firing pattern that recapitulates an earlier cell firing pattern. The earlier cell firing pattern is driven by external stimuli while the recapitulative cell firing arises spontaneously from within the hippocampus. We postulate that the sharp wave associated cell firing that occurs in the awake state provides the basis for several well-known phenomena that involve self remindings. The hypothesis explains the resolution of cognitive impasses by hypothesizing an explicit, localized, internal mechanism that reminds one of an initially unsuccessful memory retrieval. Combining this hypothesis with ideas expressed by others provides a two-fold view of sharp wave associated cell firing: Recapitulative cell firing (1) mediates the consolidation of intermediate hippocampal memory into long-term neocortical memory during slow wave sleep, and (2) drives implicit (unconscious) neocortical reprocessing of unresolved issues

Instructions to Incorporate Music Themes into a Haiku Increases PerceivedCreativity of the Haiku

The current research examines the degree to which thematic/referential music affects performance in Amabiles AmericanHaiku task. Thematic music conveys meaning to the listener by activating concepts associated with the music in semanticmemory. Ward (1994) demonstrated that generating novel exemplars is influenced by activated concepts in memory. Con-sequently, participants listening to thematic music before writing a haiku should be more likely to incorporate thematicelements into the haiku which increases the perceived creativity of the haiku. Participants specifically instructed to incor-porate thematic elements into the haiku should include more thematic elements and write more creatively than participantsnot instructed to include thematic elements and participants who wrote their haiku without having listened to thematicmusic beforehand. 206 undergraduates listened to a 90 second sample of unfamiliar lullaby- or war-themed music. Partic-ipants were instructed to write a haiku inspired by the music (Inspire), write a haiku after listening to the music (Neutral)or write a haiku before listening to the music (Control). We found a significant main effect of the Inspire instruction onincorporation of thematic elements into the haiku. Participants in the Inspire condition included significantly more the-matic elements of the music into their haiku than participants in the Neutral condition or Control conditions. Participantsin the Inspired condition wrote haikus that were marginally more likely to be rated as more negatively valenced and weremore creative than the haikus written in the Neutral and Control conditions. Results suggest ways of increasing creativitythrough use of thematic music

Decreasing Music Familiarity Increases Incorporation of Music Themes in a Generation Task

We examine whether the familiarity of thematic music affects the degree to which concepts associated with the music are activated after listening to the music and subsequently affect generation task performance. In two experiments, participants listened to one of two excerpts of war-themed music varying in familiarity either before or after completing Amabile’s (1985) American Haiku task. Haikus were examined to determine the degree to which concepts associated with the music were affected by music familiarity. Experiment 1 demonstrated that associated music concepts for both familiar and unfamiliar music were included in the haiku at equal rates when the music was listened to prior to writing the haiku. Experiment 2 demonstrated that listening to moderately familiar rather than unfamiliar music before the haiku task resulted in more music associates being included. Explanations of how familiarity and other factors affect incorporation of war-themed music concepts into the haiku will be discussed

Clue Insensitivity in Remote Associates Test Problem Solving

Does spreading activation from incidentally encountered hints cause incubation effects? We used Remote Associates Test (RAT) problems to examine effects of incidental clues on impasse resolution. When solution words were seen incidentally 3-sec before initially unsolved problems were retested, more problems were resolved (Experiment 1). When strong semantic associates of solutions were used as incidental clues, however, it did not improve resolution (Experiments 2 and 4). The semantic associates we used as incidental clues primed our RAT solution words in a lexical decision task, but they did not facilitate impasse resolution unless participants were explicitly instructed to use the associates as hints to the retested problems (Experiment 4). The results do not support the theory that spreading activation is a sufficient cause of incubation effects, and suggest that serendipitously encountered clues (i.e., words that are semantically related to RAT solutions) have no automatic benefit on impasse resolution in RAT problem solving

ANALOGY AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNICATING ABOUT INNOVATION

Many techniques have been developed to enhance innovative thinking within a company. However, many innovations never make it through the development process due to the difficulty inherent in communicating new ideas to others. This article discusses the obstacles to innovation that occur during the development process and how these obstacles can be overcome through the use of analogy. Described is an empirically derived seven-step process for constructing suitable analogies for communicating about innovations. The use of the seven-step processes to develop an analogy to communicate about an automotive "step-rim" innovation developed by General Motors and the lessons learned during the development of the analogy are also discussed.Analogy, innovation, barriers to innovation, communication goals