centre for design research © 2008 dr. kev hilton, cathy lockhart, and bengt and annika rodell...

Centre for Design Research © 2008

Dr. Kev Hilton, Cathy Lockhart, and Bengt and Annika Rodell

Influences of Music on Creative and Critical Thinking


Definitions

‘Creative Thinking: Thinking that leads to an outcome that is novel (or unusual) and appropriate (or good).’

‘Critical Thinking: The use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. Thinking that is purposeful, reasonable and goal-directed.’

Halpern (2003)


Context

Motive

• Mood is linked to motivation.

• However, mood is not the cause of action.

• An acknowledgement of motive leads to a decision to hold or take action.

• However, a critical level of arousal is required to decide to take action.


Context

Extrovert and Introvert Personality

Type Preference Composers

Stable Extroverts Classical/Baroque Handle/Mussorgsky/Brahms

Stable Introverts Classical/Baroque Bach

Unstable Extroverts Romantics Wagner/Strauss/Liszt/Berlioz

Unstable Introverts Romantics Debussy/Delius

Burt (1939)


Context

Motivation = Reward

(Risk + Effort)

Hilton (2002)


Context

Cognitive Load

Low Cognitive Load – High Performance

High Cognitive Load – Low Performance

Konecni (1982)


Context

Arousal and Altered States of Consciousness

Gellhorn and Kiely (1973) discovered that over-stimulation, referred to as ‘Spillover’, in some cases can produce overwhelming calmness, referred to as ‘Active Bliss.’


Context

Arousal and Altered States of Consciousness

Beta Waves, 14 - 20Hz

When we focus upon daily activities in the external world, as well as when experiencing strong negative emotions.

Alpha Waves, 8 - 13Hz

Heightened awareness and calm.

Theta Waves, 4 - 7Hz

Periods of peak creativity, meditation and sleep.

Delta Waves, 0.5 - 3Hz

Deep sleep, deep meditation and unconsciousness.


Approach

Investigation of:

• Favoured types of music

• What times they most enjoyed listening to these

• How they categorized these types of music

• What music participants listened to by choice in situational environments including:

1. Studio

2. Workshop

3. Home


‘Creative Fluency’

Requiring the generation of alternative uses for named objects.

‘Critical Review’

Requiring the assessment of the generated ideas for originality.

Approach


• Each experiment session lasted half an hour using examples of a single ‘type’ of music.

• A series of tests were run within each session.

• The ‘Creative Fluency’ lasted 3 minutes.

• The ‘Critical Review’ lasted 1 minute.

Approach


Test conditions included:

• Classical (Played to a group)

• Techno (Played to a group)

• Jazz (Played to a group)

• Preferred Relaxing Music (On personal stereos)

• Preferred Energetic Music (On personal stereos)

• No Music

Approach


Findings

• A contemporary music preference

• A variety of favoured types of music in all sample populations

• No common pattern for which music was listened to where

• Music with lyrics and loud music were frequently commented to be a source of distraction


• All music types chosen for the participants produced the same results as that where no music was played.

• 8 ideas generated, 4 considered original (50%)

• Running an additional analysis for ‘Liked’ and ‘Disliked’ reports, the results were found to be the same.

Findings


• Energetic and loud music, chosen by the participants and listened to with personal headphones, resulted in the same


• But relaxing music played softly, chosen by the participants and listened to with headphones, resulted in


Findings


Conclusion

• Previous investigations and publications had led to a level of expectation with this experiment that did not prove to be the case.

• However, these findings have called into question the belief that there are positive benefits of listening to music in shared design environments.


Dr. Kev Hilton ([email protected])

centre for design research © 2008 dr. kev hilton, cathy lockhart, and bengt and annika rodell...

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