Abstract
Anecdotal reports link alcohol intoxication to creativity, while cognitive research highlights the crucial role of cognitive control for creative thought. This study examined the effects of mild alcohol intoxication on creative cognition in a placebo-controlled design. Participants completed executive and creative cognition tasks before and after consuming either alcoholic beer (BAC of 0.03) or non-alcoholic beer (placebo). Alcohol impaired executive control, but improved performance in the Remote Associates Test, and did not affect divergent thinking ability. The findings indicate that certain aspects of creative cognition benefit from mild attenuations of cognitive control, and contribute to the growing evidence that higher cognitive control is not always associated with better cognitive performance.
Highlights
Can alcohol consumption support creative thought by inducing disinhibition, or will it just impair cognitive control and affect creative cognition? The idea about a positive relationship between alcohol and creativity has been popularized by reports associating eminent creativity with excessive alcohol consumption (Knafo, 2008)
While much of the empirical evidence on creative cognition and cognitive control is based on divergent thinking, similar evidence exists for creative problem solving
We examined the effects of alcohol on objective and subjective levels of intoxication, executive control, and two standard tasks of creative potential: creative problem solving in the Remote Associates Task and divergent thinking ability, scored for rated creativity, fluency, flexibility and novelty
Summary
Can alcohol consumption support creative thought by inducing disinhibition, or will it just impair cognitive control and affect creative cognition? The idea about a positive relationship between alcohol and creativity has been popularized by reports associating eminent creativity with excessive alcohol consumption (Knafo, 2008). Empirical evidence is sparse, and the association between alcohol and creativity seems at odds with the relevance of cognitive control for creative thought (e.g., Benedek, Jauk, Sommer, Arendasy, & Neubauer, 2014). The relevance of cognitive control for divergent thinking is evidenced by consistent correlations with intelligence (Kim, 2005; Silvia, 2015), with fluid intelligence (Jauk, Benedek, Dunst, & Neubauer, 2013; Nusbaum & Silvia, 2011) and broad retrieval ability (Avitia & Kaufman, 2014; Benedek, Franz, Heene, & Neubauer, 2012; Silvia, Beaty, & Nusbaum, 2013). Creative problem solving tasks like Duncker’s candle problem or the Remote Associates Test can be achieved in a strategic way (Fleck & Weisberg, 2004; Smith, Huber, & Vul, 2013), and higher performance again has been related to intelligence and executive control (Gilhooly & Fioratou, 2009; Lee, Huggins, & Therriault, 2014)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
