Inspiring Creativity: investigating how a digital arts intervention can enhance creative mind-wandering

Mind-wandering research in the cognitive sciences shows that a significant portion of novel ideas and breakthrough “aha!” moments happen when attention is shifted internally, away from tasks in the external environment. However, research has not explored how to encourage these creative mental wanders.

Inspired by how exposure to art leads to generating innovative ideas, this project investigates the hypothesis that a digital arts intervention can enhance creative thoughts when mind-wandering. This use of digital technology is antithetical to its common aim of guiding attention externally.

Accordingly, this project challenges how we use digital technology and opens opportunities for interdisciplinary research across the arts and sciences.

Expected impacts are: 1) paving a new direction in mind-wandering research by investigating the possibility of inspiring creative thoughts, 2) Uncovering how digital arts can be an empirical tool to investigate cognitive processes, and 3) Conceptually extending the discourse of how technology affects cognition.

This project will produce high-impact research publications, presentations, and an interdisciplinary symposium to disseminate findings across relevant disciplines.

Communication with the public will be facilitated with a project dedicated website and targeted outreach efforts both at the TC and return host institutions.