Does unconscious processing benefit creative problem-solving, especially when people have been misdirected?

Abstract

The incubation paradigm has demonstrated the importance of unconscious processing in creative problem-solving, but it cannot specifically control the unconscious content.As there is limited research using the masked prime paradigm to explore the effects of unconscious processing on creative problem-solving, this study selected the alternative-uses task and innovatively adopted the masked priming paradigm and the incubation paradigms. In Experiment 1, we subliminally presented typical or novel examples, and the results showed that novel examples led to better creative performance, demonstrating that unconscious stimuli can influence divergent thinking. In Experiment 2, we contrasted the effects of two unconscious states triggered by the incubation and masked prime paradigms on creative tasks. Previous research suggested that incubation often occurs when the mind becomes stuck or is misdirected during problem-solving, indicating the role of fixation in this process. To control for the fixation variable, we employed a conscious prime. Experiment 2 revealed the fixation effects, significant positive incubation effects, and positive priming effects. Interestingly, the interruption group with novel conscious examples and a novel unconscious prime produced the highest originality and flexibility of divergent item generation. Incubation also diminished the influence of fixation examples. In brief, both forms of unconscious processing are beneficial to creative problem-solving after going through an incubation period and being given positive subliminal stimuli.