Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Volume 43, Issue 6, Pages 933-946Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2006.10.014
Keywords
brainstorming; group creativity; domain knowledge; idea generation; originality; deep exploration; priming
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
In brainstorming research, quantity is assumed to breed quality. However, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms underlying this relationship. A parsimonious explanation assumes a random process, in which every idea has an equal chance of being a high-quality (original and feasible) idea. In contrast, a 'deep exploration' approach suggests that the originality (but not the feasibility) of generated ideas is dependent on the degree to which people engage in deep exploration of their knowledge. We conducted two experiments to test the latter hypothesis. Prior to a brainstorming task, participants were primed with subcategories of the brainstorming topic. Priming caused a higher relative productivity and average originality within the primed subcategory, but did not affect global productivity and originality across categories. This effect was replicated in dyadic interactions. These results support the deep exploration hypothesis, and suggest that the relationship between quantity and quality is more complex than has previously been assumed. (C) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available