Thinking outside the box means thinking outside the search engine.
This study investigates the impact of internet access on creativity and identifies potential hidden costs of internet use for groups. Using the alternative uses task, we randomized participants (N = 244) into separate conditions to generate ideas for nonstandard uses for one of two common objects—a...
| Publicado en: | Memory & Cognition Vol. 53; no. 8; pp. 2686 - 2700 |
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| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Nov2025
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=189934419&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 189934419 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0090502X MEG jtl: Memory & Cognition issn: 0090502X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Nov2025 vid: 53 iid: 8 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 189934419 10.3758/s13421-025-01732-x ppf: 2686 ppct: 14 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.9MB tig: atl: Thinking outside the box means thinking outside the search engine. aug: au: Oppenheimer, Daniel M. Patterson, Mark T. affil: https://ror.org/05x2bcf33 Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, 4851 Frew St, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA su: Internet access Undergraduates Problem solving Creative ability College students Internet & economics T-test (Statistics) Statistical sampling Descriptive statistics Thought & thinking Regression analysis Inter-observer reliability sug: subj: Internet access Undergraduates Problem solving Creative ability College students Internet Publishing and Broadcasting and Web Search Portals Wired Telecommunications Carriers Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling Internet & economics T-test (Statistics) Statistical sampling Descriptive statistics Thought & thinking Regression analysis Inter-observer reliability keyword: Alternative uses task Creativity Digital tools Nominal groups Alternative uses task Creativity Digital tools Nominal groups ab: This study investigates the impact of internet access on creativity and identifies potential hidden costs of internet use for groups. Using the alternative uses task, we randomized participants (N = 244) into separate conditions to generate ideas for nonstandard uses for one of two common objects—a shield or an umbrella—either with or without internet access. Nominal group analysis reveals that while individual creativity may be enhanced by internet access, groups articulate fewer novel solutions when provided internet access, suggesting that internet access may constrain collective creative fluency. We also ran a reanalysis of previous data sets on creativity and internet use and found robust converging evidence across different paradigms, coders, and contexts. We further explore robustness by examining alternative operationalizations of fluency: quality of responses, as measured by coders' evaluations of effectiveness, novelty, and subjective evaluations of creativity. While overall trends suggest an advantage for subjects who do not have internet access, this patterning depends to some degree on variation among coders. Implications for the way digital tools influence creative processes are discussed. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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