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posted by Fnord666 on Friday March 06 2020, @07:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the coffee++ dept.

Caffeine boosts problem-solving ability but not creativity, study indicates:

"In Western cultures, caffeine is stereotypically associated with creative occupations and lifestyles, from writers and their coffee to programmers and their energy drinks, and there's more than a kernel of truth to these stereotypes," wrote Darya Zabelina, assistant professor of psychology and first author of the study recently published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.

While the cognitive benefits of caffeine -- increased alertness, improved vigilance, enhanced focus and improved motor performance -- are well established, she said, the stimulant's affect on creativity is less known.

In the paper, Zabelina differentiates "convergent" from "divergent" thinking. The former is defined as seeking a specific solution to a problem, for example, the "correct" answer. The latter is characterized by idea generation where a large set of apt, novel or interesting responses would be suitable. Caffeine was shown to improve convergent thinking in the study, while consuming it had no significant impact on divergent thinking.

Journal Reference:
Darya L. Zabelina, Paul J. Silvia. Percolating ideas: The effects of caffeine on creative thinking and problem solving. Consciousness and Cognition, 2020; 79: 102899 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.102899

I wonder if she drank coffee to help her come up with that conclusion?


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday March 06 2020, @09:54PM (3 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Friday March 06 2020, @09:54PM (#967667) Journal
    They're being creative about what they're measuring and using divergent thinking to label it creatively. When looking for research grants in the social sciences, creativity (aka bullshit) is rewarded.
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  • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Saturday March 07 2020, @03:53AM (2 children)

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 07 2020, @03:53AM (#967798) Journal

    You people have a one track mind.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 07 2020, @04:49AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 07 2020, @04:49AM (#967811)

      I was thinking of boners, what were you thinking?!

      • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday March 07 2020, @06:18PM

        by acid andy (1683) on Saturday March 07 2020, @06:18PM (#967937) Homepage Journal

        I was thinking about your Mom.

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