Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
School of Educational Science, Shanxi Normal University, Linfen Shanxi, China.
Conscious Cogn. 2019 May;71:109-113. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.03.010. Epub 2019 Apr 16.
Unconscious thought theory (UTT) suggests that creativity benefits more from unconscious thought than conscious thought. However, previous studies have only focused on creative problem solving. This study aims to explore the effect of unconscious thought and conscious thought in creative science problem finding (CSPF). The ability of CSPF was measured by fluency, flexibility and originality. Participants accomplished the CSPF task after 3 min of distraction, during which unconscious thought was supposed to take place, or after 3 min of conscious thought. Results showed that unconscious thought had no advantage over conscious thought on CSPF. For the CSPF task with open instructions, conscious thought was comparable to unconscious thought in fluency, flexibility and originality. What's more, for the CSPF task with closed instructions, unconscious thought was even overtaken by conscious thought in fluency, flexibility and originality. These findings extend the unconscious thought theory and provide practical guidance on how to propose a creative science problem.
无意识思维理论（UTT）认为，创造力从无意识思维中获益多于有意识思维。然而，之前的研究仅关注创造性问题解决。本研究旨在探索无意识思维和有意识思维在创造性科学问题发现（CSPF）中的作用。CSPF 的能力通过流畅性、灵活性和原创性来衡量。参与者在分心 3 分钟后完成 CSPF 任务，在此期间，无意识思维应该发生，或者在 3 分钟的有意识思维后完成。结果表明，无意识思维在 CSPF 上没有优于有意识思维的优势。对于开放式指令的 CSPF 任务，有意识思维在流畅性、灵活性和原创性方面与无意识思维相当。更重要的是，对于封闭式指令的 CSPF 任务，无意识思维在流畅性、灵活性和原创性方面甚至不如有意识思维。这些发现扩展了无意识思维理论，并为如何提出创造性的科学问题提供了实际指导。
