Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation

Behavioral and Brain Functions

Xiaoqian Ding¹  Yi-Yuan Tang²  Rongxiang Tang³  Michael I Posner² 

[1] Institute of Neuroinformatics and Laboratory for Body and Mind, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China

[2] Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA

[3] Department of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78705, USA

关键词: Cross-lagged analysis;    Integrative body-mind training;    Short-term meditation;    Negative affect;    Positive affect;    Emotion;    Creativity;   

Others  :  791899
DOI  :  10.1186/1744-9081-10-9

 received in 2013-11-28, accepted in 2014-03-08,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

One form of meditation intervention, the integrative body-mind training (IBMT) has been shown to improve attention, reduce stress and change self-reports of mood. In this paper we examine whether short-term IBMT can improve performance related to creativity and determine the role that mood may play in such improvement.

Methods

Forty Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned to short-term IBMT group or a relaxation training (RT) control group. Mood and creativity performance were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) questionnaire respectively.

Results

As predicted, the results indicated that short-term (30 min per day for 7 days) IBMT improved creativity performance on the divergent thinking task, and yielded better emotional regulation than RT. In addition, cross-lagged analysis indicated that both positive and negative affect may influence creativity in IBMT group (not RT group).

Conclusions

Our results suggested that emotion-related creativity-promoting mechanism may be attributed to short-term meditation.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Ding et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

【 参考文献 】

• [1]Sternberg RJ, Lubart TI: The concept of creativity: prospects and paradigms. In Handbook of Creativity. Edited by Sternberg RJ. New York: Cambridge University Press; 1999:3-15.
• [2]Hennessey BA, Amabile TM: Creativity. Annu Rev Psychol 2010, 61:569-598.
• [3]Gough HG: A creative personality scale for the adjective check list. J Pers Soc Psychol 1979, 37:1398-1405.
• [4]George JM: Creativity in organizations. Acad Manag Ann 2007, 1:439-477.
• [5]Davis GA: Identifying creative students and measuring creativity. In Handbook of Gifted Education. Edited by Colangelo N, Davis GA. Needham Heights: Viacom; 1997:269-281.
• [6]Swartz JD: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. In Test Critique. Volume 7. Edited by Keyser DJ, Sweetland RC. Kansas: Test Corporation of America; 1988:619-622.
• [7]Johnson AS, Fishkin AS: Assessment of cognitive and affective behaviors related to creativity. In Investigating Creativity in Youth: Research and Methods. Edited by Fishkin AS, Cramond B, Olszewski-Kubilius P. Cresskill: Hampton; 1999:265-306.
• [8]Kim KH: Can we trust creativity tests? A review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Creativ Res J 2006, 18:3-14.
• [9]Torrance EP: Prediction of adult creative achievement among high school seniors. Gifted Child Quart 1969, 13:223-229.
• [10]Torrance EP: Predictive validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. J Creative Behav 1972, 6:236-252.
• [11]Torrance EP: Growing up creatively gifted: a 22-year longitudinal study. Creative Child and Adult Quarterly 1980, 5:148-158.
• [12]Yamada H, Tam AY: Prediction study of adult creative achievement: Torrance’s longitudinal study of creativity revisited. J Creative Behav 1996, 30:144-149.
• [13]Plucker JA: Is the proof in the pudding? Reanalyses of Torrance’s (1958 to present) longitudinal data. Creativity Res J 1999, 12:103-114.
• [14]Murphy M, Donovan S, Taylor E: The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research. San Francisco: Institute of Noetic Sciences; 1997.
• [15]Ball OE: The Effect of TM and the TM-Sidhi Program on Verbal and Figural Creativity (TTCT), Auditory Creativity (S and I), and Hemispheric Dominance (SOLAT). Atlanta: University of Georgia; 1980.
• [16]Colzato LS, Ozturk A, Hommel B: Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking. Front Psychol 2012, 3:116.
• [17]Ren J, Huang Z, Luo J, Wei G, Ying X, Ding Z, Wu Y, Luo F: Meditation promotes insightful problem-solving by keeping people in a mindful and alert conscious state. Sci China Life Sci 2011, 54:961-965.
• [18]Strick M, Van Noorden THJ, Ritskes RR, De Ruiter JR, Dijksterhuis A: Zen meditation and access to information in the unconscious. Conscious Cogn 2012, 21:1476-1481.
• [19]Ding X, Li S, Tang YY: Short-term meditation improves creativity [abstract]. Second World Congr Positive Psychol Poster Abstr 2011., 167
• [20]Horan R: The neuropsychological connection between creativity and meditation. Creat Res J 2009, 21:199-222.
• [21]Baas M, De Dreu CKW, Nijstad BA: A meta-analysis of 25 years of mood-creativity research: hedonic tone, activation, or regulatory focus? Psychol Bull 2008, 134:779-806.
• [22]Davis MA: Understanding the relationship between mood and creativity: a meta-analysis. Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 2009, 108:25-38.
• [23]Hirt ER, Devers EE, McCrea SM: I want to be creative: exploring the role of hedonic contingency theory in the positive mood-cognitive flexibility link. J Pers Soc Psychol 2008, 94:214-230.
• [24]Grawitch MJ, Munz DC, Kramer TJ: Effects of member mood states on creative performance in temporary workgroups. Group Dynam: Theor, Res, Pract 2003, 7:41.
• [25]Smith GJW, Carlsson IM: The Creative Process: A Functional Model Based on Empirical Studies from Early Childhood to Middle Age. Madison, CT: International Universities Press; 1990.
• [26]Isen AM, Daubman KA: The influence of affect on categorization. J Pers Soc Psychol 1984, 47:1206.
• [27]Ashby FG, Isen AM, Turken U: A neuropsychological theory of positive affect and its influence on cognition. Psychol Rev 1999, 106:529-550.
• [28]Zeidan F, Johnson SK, Gordon NS, Goolkasian P: Effects of brief and sham mindfulness meditation on mood and cardiovascular variables. J Altern Complement Med 2010, 16:867-873.
• [29]Subramaniam K, Kounios J, Parrish TB, Jung-Beeman M: A brain mechanism for facilitation of insight by positive affect. J Cogn Neurosci 2009, 21:415-432.
• [30]Lyubomirsky S, King L, Diener E: The benefits of frequent positive affect: does happiness lead to success? Psychol Bull 2005, 131:803-855.
• [31]Arch JJ, Craske MG: Mechanisms of mindfulness: emotion regulation following a focused breathing induction. Behav Res Ther 2006, 44:1849-1858.
• [32]Broderick P: Mindfulness and coping with dysphoric mood: contrasts with rumination and distraction. Cognit Ther Res 2005, 29:501-510.
• [33]Goldin PR, Gross JJ: Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder. Emotion 2010, 10:83-91.
• [34]Tang YY, Ma Y, Wang J, Fan Y, Feng S, Lu Q, Yu Q, Sui D, Rothbart MK, Fan M, Posner MI: Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007, 104:17152.
• [35]Zeidan F, Gordon NS, Goolkasian P: The effects of brief meditation training on experimentally induced pain perception. J Pain 2009, 11:199-209.
• [36]Zeidan F, Johnson SK, Diamond BJ, David Z, Goolkasian P: Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: evidence of brief mental training. Conscious Cogn 2010, 19:597-605.
• [37]Austin JH: Zen and the Brain: Toward an Understanding of Meditation and Consciousness. Cambridge: MIT Press; 1998.
• [38]Moore A, Malinowski P: Meditation, mindfulness and cognitive flexibility. Conscious Cogn 2009, 18:176-186.
• [39]Niedenthal PM: Embodying emotion. Science 2007, 316:1002-1005.
• [40]Tang YY, Posner MI: Attention training and attention state training. Trends Cogn Sci 2009, 13:222-227.
• [41]Bernstein DA, Borkovec TD: Progressive Relaxation Training: A Manual for the Helping Professions. Champaign, IL: Research Press; 1973.
• [42]Tang YY, Lu Q, Geng X, Stein EA, Yang Y, Posner MI: Short-term meditation induces white matter changes in the anterior cingulate. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2010, 107:15649.
• [43]Tang YY, Ma Y, Fan Y, Feng H, Wang J, Feng S, Lu Q, Hu B, Lin Y, Li J, Zhang Y, Wang Y, Zhou L, Fan M: Central and autonomic nervous system interaction is altered by short-term meditation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2009, 106:8865-8870.
• [44]Watson D, Clark LA, Tellegen A: Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. J Pers Soc Psychol 1988, 54:1063-1070.
• [45]Cohen J, Cohen P, West SG, Aiken LS: Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum; 2003.
• [46]Finkel SE: Causal Analysis with Panel Data. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Incorporated; 1995.
• [47]Kessler RC, Greenberg DF: Linear Panel Analysis: Models of Quantitative Change. New York: Academic Press; 1981.
• [48]Bateman TS, Organ DW: Job satisfaction and the good soldier: the relationship between affect and employee “citizenship”. Acad Manage J 1983, 26:587-595.
• [49]Huang L, Yang TZ, Ji ZM: Applicability of the positive and negative affect scale in Chinese. Chin Ment Health J 2003, 17:54-56.
• [50]Wu JJ, Gao QD, Wang JR, Ding YX: The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Norms-Technical Manual Figural Forms A. Taiwan: Yuan Liu Publishing; 1981.
• [51]Torrance EP, Ball OE, Safter HT: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service; 1981.
• [52]Torrance EP, Ball OE: The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Streamlined (revised) Manual, Figural A and B. Bensenville: Scholastic Testing Service; 1984.
• [53]Kenny DA, Harackiewicz JM: Cross-lagged panel correlation: practice and promise. J Appl Psychol 1979, 64:372.
• [54]Marmor GS, Montemayor R: The cross-lagged panel design: a review. Percept Mot Skills 1977, 45:883-893.
• [55]Guilford JP, Paul J: The Nature of Human Intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1967.
• [56]Kim KH: Meta-analyses of the relationship of creative achievement to both IQ and divergent thinking test scores. J Creative Behav 2008, 42:106-130.
• [57]Feist GJ: A meta-analysis of the impact of personality on scientific and artistic creativity. Pers Soc Psychol Rev 1998, 2:290-309.
• [58]Csikszentmihalyi M: Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. New York: Harper Collins; 1997.
• [59]Kasof J: Creativity and breadth of attention. Creat Res J 1997, 10:303-315.
• [60]Bolte A, Goschke T, Kuhl J: Emotion and intuition effects of positive and negative mood on implicit judgments of semantic coherence. Psychol Sci 2003, 14:416-421.
• [61]Gasper K, Clore GL: Attending to the big picture: mood and global versus local processing of visual information. Psychol Sci 2002, 13:34-40.
• [62]Friedman R, Fishbein A, Forster J, Werth L: Attentional priming effects on creativity. Creat Res J 2003, 15:277-286.
• [63]Isen AM, Johnson MM, Mertz E, Robinson GF: The influence of positive affect on the unusualness of word associations. J Pers Soc Psychol 1985, 48:1413-1426.
• [64]Rowe G, Hirsch JB, Anderson AK: Positive affect increases the breadth of attentional selection. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2007, 101:383-388.
• [65]Mednick SA: The associative basis of the creative process. Psychic Review 1962, 69:220-232.
• [66]Baumann N, Kuhl J: Positive affect and flexibility: overcoming the precedence of global over local processing of visual information. Motiv Emot 2005, 29:123-134.
• [67]Dreisbach G, Goschke T: How PA modulates cognitive control: reduced perseveration at the cost of increased distractibility. J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn 2004, 30:343-353.
• [68]Bishop S, Duncan H, Brett M, Lawrence AD: Prefrontal cortical function and anxiety: controlling attention to threat-related stimuli. Nat Neurosci 2004, 7:184-188.
• [69]Mayberg HS, Liotti M, Brannan SK, McGinnis S, Mahurin RK, Jerabek PA, Silva JA, Tekell JL, Martin CC, Lancaster JL, Fox PT: Reciprocal limbic-cortical function and negative mood: converging PET findings in depression and normal sadness. Am J Psychiatry 1999, 156:675-682.
• [70]Easterbrook JA: The effect of emotion on cue utilization and the organization of behavior. Psychol Rev 1959, 66:183-201.