Experimental Study On The Output Of Divergent Thinking Under Different Conditions And Techniques

Brainstorming,as a creation technique to promote divergent thinking,has been widely applied in the world since it was put forward.Many variants based on brainstorming method have been generated.Osborn,the founder,thinks that brainstorming can significantly improve creative output.Many companies also claim that brainstorming can improve the number of creative ideas.And educators also use brainstorming to teach.However,there is a great difference in whether brainstorming can effectively promote divergent thinking.Most studies have shown that the use of brainstorming is not better than individual thinking alone.However,few studies focused on the influencing factors,applicable conditions and variations of brainstorming.Therefore,this study compares the difference in divergent thinking output by using different brainstorming methods and the influence of different conditions on different brainstorming methods.In this study,two experiments were included,with fluency,flexibility and uniqueness as dependent variables.In the first experiment,a single factor experimental design was used to explore the difference of divergent thinking output among BS,635 and nominal group.The results showed that the nominal group method and the 635 method were significantly higher than the BS method in the output of divergent thinking.Experiment two adopted 2(evaluation anxiety:Yes vs No)× 3(skill:BS vs 635 vs nominal group)× 3(task difficulty:high vs middle vs low)experimental design between subjects,explored the influence of task difficulty and evaluation anxiety on different creation techniques.Main conclusions are drawn:Evaluation anxiety has different effects on different techniques under different task difficulty.There are significant differences in the output of divergent thinking between BS method,635 method and no skill method.Compared to BS method,the 635 method can promote the output of divergent thinking.The 635 method is the best under the situation of high difficulty and no evaluation anxiety,The 635 method is a creative technique which can significantly promote the fluency and originality of divergent thinking.