Maximizing Creativity Requires Enriched Imagination

Strategic Insights -

According to research from the Bandung Institute of Technology, enriching one's imagination to include all five senses is essential for maximizing creativity. The study, published in the Design Science journal, explored the effects of reduced visual-auditory multisensory stimuli on creativity and found that decreasing visual stimuli can inhibit fluency, while originality is enhanced when stimuli are reduced, unless there is a notable divergence between visual and auditory conditions.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study involved 19 participants who took the Alternative Uses Test (AUT) under nine decreased visual-auditory multisensory stimuli conditions.
  • The research found that fluency and originality were evaluated as part of the creativity assessment, with fluency determined by the number of ideas generated from the AUT and originality evaluated by three judges.
  • The study on associative conceptual network analysis explored the word associations of selected nouns from the AUT under nine reduced visual-auditory multisensory stimuli experimental conditions, revealing outdegree centrality scores to evaluate creative potential.
  • The results suggest that perceptual focus and cognitive load regulation are crucial in fostering creative potential.
  • The study's authors include Vivi Varlina, Deny Willy Junaidy, Linda Mawali, Yasraf Amir Piliang, and Akane Matsumae.
  • The research was financially supported by the Japan Society For The Promotion of Science, Institut Teknologi Bandung, and Kyushu University.

Statistics:

  • 19 participants took part in the study.
  • 9 decreased visual-auditory multisensory stimuli conditions were tested.
  • 3 judges evaluated originality.
  • The results suggest that originality is enhanced when stimuli are reduced, with a notable divergence between visual and auditory conditions.

Sources:

  • "Effects of decreased visual-auditory multisensory stimuli on creativity: a conceptual network analysis" (design science journal)
  • https://doi-org.sdpl.idm.oclc.org/10.1017/dsj.2025.10035 (free version of the journal article)
  • Bandung Institute of Technology (https://www.itb.ac.id/)
  • Design Science journal (http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=DSJ)