“Switching On” creativity: Task switching can increase creativity by reducing cognitive fixation

• Published in: Organizational behavior and human decision processes Vol. 139; pp. 63 - 75
• Main Authors: Lu, Jackson G., Akinola, Modupe, Mason, Malia F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Convergent thinking; Creativity; Divergent thinking; Fixation; Problem solving; Task switching; Task switching; Problem solving; Fixation; Divergent thinking; Creativity; Convergent thinking
• ISSN: 0749-5978; 1095-9920
• DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2017.01.005

•Task switching can enhance creativity by reducing cognitive fixation.•The benefits of task switching apply to both divergent and convergent thinking.•We devised a measure of cognitive fixation for divergent thinking tasks.•People tend to discount the creative benefits of task switching.•People rarely adopt a continual-switch approach when incented to maximize creativity. Whereas past research has focused on the downsides of task switching, the present research uncovers a potential upside: increased creativity. In two experiments, we show that task switching can enhance two principal forms of creativity—divergent thinking (Study 1) and convergent thinking (Study 2)—in part because temporarily setting a task aside reduces cognitive fixation. Participants who continually alternated back and forth between two creativity tasks outperformed both participants who switched between the tasks at their discretion and participants who attempted one task for the first half of the allotted time before switching to the other task for the second half. Importantly, Studies 3a–3d reveal that people overwhelmingly fail to adopt a continual-switch approach when incentivized to choose a task switching strategy that would maximize their creative performance. These findings provide insights into how individuals can “switch on” creativity when navigating multiple creative tasks.