身体状态对创造性思维的影响及其作用机制

The Effect of the Bodily State on Creative Thinking and the Mechanism

通常人们是坐着进行思考以获取新颖的想法和问题解决的办法,然而有些创造性高的人喜欢在其他的身体状态(本文指身体姿势和身体活动)下从事创造活动,这让我们很感兴趣是否身体状态对创造性思维有影响,如果有,又有着怎样的影响?有越来越多的研究者从具身认知的角度来研究人类的认知活动,以往相关研究主要探讨了身体状态对普通认知过程的影响,很少涉及身体状态与高级认知活动创造性的关系。本研究回顾了身体状态对人类认知活动尤其是创造性影响的相关研究,为了解相关研究发现以及身体状态对创造性影响的可能内在机制提供参考。未来研究需系统地比较不同身体状态对于创造性思维的影响,以及用实证的方法检验其作用机制。

Most of us are sitting down to think and solve complex or challenging problems. However, some eminent people often preferred other bodily states (bodily postures or physical activities) for getting original thoughts or solutions. Can bodily postures or physical activities of an individual really affect the generation of creative ideas? If so, which is the best way for creativity? Why and how can they enhance creativity? There is an increasing interest in embodied cognition and the role of bodily state in human cognitive processes. However, very little research has focused on higher- level processes like human creativity from this viewpoint. This paper reviews the literature on the effect of the bodily states on human cognition, especially creativity, thus providing insight into the theory of embodied cognition, the recent findings of the relevant study and the possible mechanisms underlying this effect. Future studies should systematically compare the effect of different bodily states on creative thinking and study on the mechanisms by empirical studies.