A researcher at the University of Massachusetts has discovered a tricky technique to overcome what academics call “functional fixedness” – or, in plain English, our tendency to only focus on the common use of an object or its parts. To develop this technique, 1,001 innovative inventions from history were analysed, and in all inventions, itRead more
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A researcher at the University of Massachusetts has discovered a tricky technique to overcome what academics call “functional fixedness” – or, in plain English, our tendency to only focus on the common use of an object or its parts. To develop this technique, 1,001 innovative inventions from history were analysed, and in all inventions, itRead more
Are you a lark or an owl? If you are reading this in the morning and nursing a badly needed cup of coffee, then you are probably an “owl” – someone who is most alert at nighttime. Whereas if you are feeling all sprightly and it’s before lunch, you are probably more of a “lark”.Read more
Normally, if we don’t like something, we cross our arms. And if we feel neutrally about something, our arms may rest by our sides. A couple of psychologists from the University of Rochester decided to see if these simple body poses actually impact on our ability to generate great ideas, or how body language can stifleRead more
You might have heard us mention that when people are happy, they think more creatively and generate better ideas. Some interesting research from Michigan State University has warned against fake smiling to get yourself into a happy mood. After tracking a large group of people and their facial expressions, the researchers found that putting onRead more
Several neuroscientists have been on the case to understand how to get to more a-ha moments. Here is what they found: 1. Be quiet Insights come from connections between a small number of neurons, which can be hard for us to notice when we have a lot of other distractions. Science has shown we areRead more
Broadening your knowledge and experience is an effective way to increase creativity. The more places we look, the more thoughts are likely to be triggered, which increases our ability to think creatively. Richard Friedman from the University of Maryland and several of his colleagues took this finding a step further to see if the facialRead more
Do you see the silver lining in every cloud? If so, you are probably more creative than people who see their coffee mugs as half empty. Despite popular images of the miserable creative genius, new research from Portugal suggests that people who are optimistic are also more creative. The researchers argued that optimists are moreRead more
In previous issues, we have mentioned that when people are relaxed they tend to be more creative. Specifically, when we feel relaxed, our focus actually widens which increases our ability to digest large amounts of information. This can then be used for more effective problem solving. Researchers in Hong Kong have found that Mindfulness MeditationRead more
As we have mentioned in previous issues, when people are happy, they perform better in idea generation tasks. Here is a little technique you can use to increase happiness… Researchers over at Harvard and the University of Columbia gave two groups of people $20 to spend on a particular day. One group was instructed toRead more