Abstract

Positive affect has been shown to produce a robust positive influence on creative problem-solving. However, its influence on other forms of problem-solving appears to be more complicated. Previous research has shown both a facilitative and a detrimental effect. Furthermore, no previous research has examined the influence of positive affect on the metacognitive aspects of problem-solving. In the present study, participants solved both creative and analytical problems both before and after the experimental manipulation. Affect was induced with a $5 USD Amazon.com gift card. Results were not straight forward. Positive affect was not influenced by the manipulation but negative affect did decrease Analytical performance improved as predicted but creative performance diminished. There was no correlation between task interest and task performance. Lastly, feeling-of-knowing ratings dropped steadily across time and were especially low for the creative problems.

Details

Title
Affective functioning: The influence of positive affect on incremental and insight problem-solving
Author
Kruse, Elliott
Year
2009
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing
ISBN
978-1-109-65791-3
Source type
Dissertation or Thesis
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
305181942
Copyright
Database copyright ProQuest LLC; ProQuest does not claim copyright in the individual underlying works.