Effects Of Unconscious Cues On Creative Problem Solving:the Evidence From Erp

The role of processing subliminal cues in enhancing subjects’performance in solving problems creatively was first tested by Maier (1931) using the two-string problem. Glucksberg and Weisberg (1966) obtained similar results as Maier did using another typical creative problem, the candle problem. However, these studies using traditional paradigm of creative research cannot make sure that processing of these cues is strictly unconscious. The sandwich mask technique (Greenwald,1996) enables us to restrict the presentation of stimuli spatially and temporally to avoid subjects’conscious processing of them, and ERP technique is used in this study to better explore the mechanisms underlying unconscious processing.In experiment 1 we selected 19 college students as subjects. Convergent problem was used. Conscious hint condition Vs. No hint condition:1) Significant difference wave amplitude in window 140-380 ms was due to visual perception.2) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 340-440 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated left sub-gyral, which suggests the underlying process is activation of dominant semantic information.3) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 425-590 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right parahippocampal gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is new association formation.4) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 590-665 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated left ACC, which suggests the underlying process is information integration.5) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 650-1600 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right superior temporal gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is problem reinterpretation.6) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 1650-2030 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right cingulated gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is cognitive control.7) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 2290-2390 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right medial frontal gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is high-level computation. Unconscious hint condition Vs. No hint condition:1) Significant difference wave amplitude in window 130-270 ms was due to visual perception.2) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 270-370 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right inferior parietal lobe, which suggests the underlying process is distant semantic activation.3) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 390-460 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right parahippocampus, which suggests the underlying process is formation of new associations.4) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 480-540 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right hippocampus, which suggests the underlying process is combination of new information and new associations.5) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 500-875 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right superior temporal gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is problem reinterpretation.In experiment 2 we selected 20 college students as subjects. Divergent problem was used. Conscious hint condition Vs. No hint condition:1) Significant difference wave amplitude in window 130-295 ms was due to visual perception.2) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 350-450 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right parahippocampus, which suggests the underlying process is semantic information retrieving and new association formation.3) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 500-600 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right cingulated gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is cognitive control.4) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 1240-1340 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right medial frontal gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is high-level computation. Unconscious hint condition Vs. No hint condition:1) Significant difference wave amplitude in window 140-260 ms was due to visual perception.2) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 280-340 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right postcentral gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is distant semantic activation. 3) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 350-450 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right parahippocampus, which suggests the underlying process is formation of new associations.4) There’s significant difference wave amplitude in window 500-760 ms, and the result of dipole analysis was the difference wave mostly activated right superior temporal gyrus, which suggests the underlying process is problem reinterpretation.Results are:1) Both convergent and divergent creative problem solvings can benefit from unconscious hint, although not as much as from conscious hint.2) During solving convergent creative problems, the processing stages for conscious hint are dominant sematic information activation, new association formation, information integration, problem reinterpretation, cognitive control and high-level computation; while the processing stages for unconscious hint are semantic activation, new association formation, further integration, and problem reinterpretation.3) During solving divergent creative problems, the processing stages for conscious hint are semantic information retrieval and new association formation, cognitive control, high-level computation; while the processing stages for unconscious hint are semantic activation, new association formation, and problem reinterpretation.4) Unconscious processing is automatic and diffuse, but more paths cause weak activation along each path.