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Specificity and Abstraction of Examples: Opposite Effects on Fixation for Creative Ideation

Author

Listed:
  • Hicham Ezzat

    (Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres)

  • Marine Agogué

    (HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal)

  • Pascal Le Masson

    (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Benoit Weil

    (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Mathieu Cassotti

    (LaPsyDÉ - UMR 8240 - Laboratoire de psychologie du développement et de l'éducation de l'enfant - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UPD5 - Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5 - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Fixation is one of the major obstacles that individuals face in creative idea generation contexts. Several studies have shown that individuals unintentionally tend to fixate to the examples they are shown in a creative ideation task, even when instructed to avoid them. Most of these studies used examples formulated with high level of specificity. However, no study has examined individuals' creative performance under an instruction to diverge from given examples, when these examples are formulated with a high level of abstraction. In the present study, we show that (a) instructing participants to avoid using common examples when formulated with a high level of specificity increases fixation; whereas (b) instructing participants to avoid such examples while using a more abstract level for stating these common examples—such as a categorization of these examples—mitigates fixation and doubles the number of creative ideas generated. These findings give new insights on the key role of categorization in creative ideation contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Hicham Ezzat & Marine Agogué & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil & Mathieu Cassotti, 2018. "Specificity and Abstraction of Examples: Opposite Effects on Fixation for Creative Ideation," Post-Print halshs-01797385, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01797385
    DOI: 10.1002/jocb.349
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    Cited by:

    1. Justine Boudier & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2022. "Accompagner la génération d'idées : expérimenter un leader défixateur en cas de fixations hétérogènes," Post-Print hal-03701434, HAL.

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