Pareidolias, the illusory perception of patterns like faces or animals in backgrounds or textures (e.g., clouds), may be a potentially interesting paradigm to assess creativity. The present study investigates the relationship between production of pareidolias, divergent thinking, and associative thinking. To analyze creative aspects of pareidolias a tablet-based task was devised, the Divergent Pareidolias Task (DPT), where participants were presented with photographs of natural landscapes and they were asked to produce pareidolias. Pareidolic outputs were analyzed in terms of fluency, flexibility, and originality. Creativityrelated cognitive tasks (i.e., tasks assessing alertness, cognitive inhibition, and verbal intelligence) and a short interview assessing creative interests in everyday life were additionally administered. Regression analyses revealed that divergent thinking, in terms of fluency of the Alternative Uses Task significantly predicted fluency and originality of pareidolias produced in the DPT. Moreover, fluent and rarer associations in an Associative Fluency Task were predictive of fluent and original aspects of pareidolias in the DPT, respectively. Taken together, the results of this pilot study indicate the involvement of creative processes in the production of pareidolias and suggest that the DPT could represent a possible future way to investigate divergent aspects of creative cognition.

Diana, L., Frei, M., Chesham, A., de Jong, D., Chiffi, K., Nyffeler, T., et al. (2021). A divergent approach to pareidolias—Exploring creativity in a novel way. PSYCHOLOGY OF AESTHETICS, CREATIVITY, AND THE ARTS, 15(2), 313-323 [10.1037/aca0000293].

A divergent approach to pareidolias—Exploring creativity in a novel way

Diana, Lorenzo
Primo
;
2021

Abstract

Pareidolias, the illusory perception of patterns like faces or animals in backgrounds or textures (e.g., clouds), may be a potentially interesting paradigm to assess creativity. The present study investigates the relationship between production of pareidolias, divergent thinking, and associative thinking. To analyze creative aspects of pareidolias a tablet-based task was devised, the Divergent Pareidolias Task (DPT), where participants were presented with photographs of natural landscapes and they were asked to produce pareidolias. Pareidolic outputs were analyzed in terms of fluency, flexibility, and originality. Creativityrelated cognitive tasks (i.e., tasks assessing alertness, cognitive inhibition, and verbal intelligence) and a short interview assessing creative interests in everyday life were additionally administered. Regression analyses revealed that divergent thinking, in terms of fluency of the Alternative Uses Task significantly predicted fluency and originality of pareidolias produced in the DPT. Moreover, fluent and rarer associations in an Associative Fluency Task were predictive of fluent and original aspects of pareidolias in the DPT, respectively. Taken together, the results of this pilot study indicate the involvement of creative processes in the production of pareidolias and suggest that the DPT could represent a possible future way to investigate divergent aspects of creative cognition.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
associative thinking; creativity; divergent thinking; pareidolia;
English
16-gen-2020
2021
15
2
313
323
none
Diana, L., Frei, M., Chesham, A., de Jong, D., Chiffi, K., Nyffeler, T., et al. (2021). A divergent approach to pareidolias—Exploring creativity in a novel way. PSYCHOLOGY OF AESTHETICS, CREATIVITY, AND THE ARTS, 15(2), 313-323 [10.1037/aca0000293].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/297113
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