创造性思维的酝酿效应

The incubation effect of creative thinking

酝酿效应是指当人们遭遇无法解决的难题时,暂时将其搁置,转而去完成其他无关任务,反而有利于原有问题解决的现象。近年来,研究者对创造性问题解决过程中的酝酿效应及其影响因素进行了广泛的研究,同时提出了较多理论试图进一步解释酝酿效应。酝酿效应的代表性理论可分为"选择性遗忘理论"、"激活扩散和线索同化理论"、"无意识加工理论"等,它们从不同角度解释了酝酿效应的机制,并对其影响因素和有关现象各有预测。对心智游移和睡眠这些特殊形式的酝酿的研究进一步揭示了酝酿效应的机制。认知神经研究表明,酝酿期的基本认知成分,即表征重构和激活扩散,涉及到前额叶、纹状体、海马体等多个脑区的协同合作。未来研究需要以深化理论建设为基础,利用认知神经方法进一步揭示酝酿效应的机制,从而更为深刻地认识创造性酝酿的本质。

Incubation effect refers to the phenomenon that when people are confronted with an unsolvable problem, they temporarily put it aside and switch to complete other irrelevant tasks instead, which is beneficial to the ultimate solution of the original problem. In recent years, researchers have conducted extensive studies on incubation effect of creative thinking and its influences, and put forward many theories to explain incubation effect. The representative theories include “selective forgetting theory”, “spreading activation and cue assimilation theory” and “unconscious work theory”. They explain the mechanism of incubation effect from different perspectives and predict different influences and phenomena respectively.Related research of mind wandering and sleep further shed light on the mechanism behind incubation effect.Cognitive neuroscience research has shown that representation change and spreading activation, as two core cognitive processes during incubation period, involve cooperation of multiple brain regions, including prefrontal cortex, striatum, hippocampus, etc. Future research should deepen theoretical construction, reveal the internal mechanism of incubation effect with cognitive neuroscience method and intelligent monitoring devices, so as to understand the nature of incubation effect of creative thinking in a more comprehensive and profound way.