Positive associations between media multitasking and creativity

Abstract

The ability to solve problems creatively is a vital educational outcome. Here we pursued the hypothesis that media multitasking (MM), which is becoming increasingly prevalent in modern learning contexts, may be positively associated with creative performance. One hundred and four participants completed a media multitasking questionnaire and three well-established creativity tasks: (1) Alternate Uses Task (AUT), (2) a modified version of the Remotes Associates Task (RAT) and, finally, (3) the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ). We adopted three common approaches in analysing the relationship between MM and creativity: (1) regression analyses with MM scores as a continuous predictor, (2) extreme-group analyses with high vs. low MM levels, as defined by one standard deviation above vs. below the mean, respectively, and (3) median-split analyses with high vs. low MM levels, as determined by scores above vs. below the median, respectively. Of the three approaches, the median-split analyses revealed that high-MM individuals performed better on the RAT task as well as scored higher in fluency and originality on the AUT task than did low-MM individuals. We further demonstrated that the positive relationship between MM and creativity was significantly enhanced by fluid intelligence and attenuated by attentional impulsivity.