Mood state dependence: Effects on problem-solving and creativity
Abstract
Mood state dependent effects are drawn upon to explain the relationship between trait creativity and affect intensity, within the context of a theoretical formulation of the creative process. The affect and memory theory of creativity predicts that the experience of intense affect allows individuals to encode and store information with mood representations. This enables mood to serve as the mediator between the novel associations that constitute creativity. The present research sought to extend empirical support for the theory by examining the influence of mood mediation over time. It was hypothesized that the transfer of problem clue information encoded on one occasion, to actual problem solving measures completed at another point in time, would be facilitated by the experience of the same hedonically valenced affect induction on both occasions. Hypotheses testing the relative influence of positive versus negative affect states, mood at encoding versus problem solving, arousal levels, the relationship between individual differences and problem solving transfer, and variations in the type of mood inductions employed were also tested. The data provided little support for these hypotheses concerning mood mediated novel associations. Results are interpreted with respect to findings in the environmental context literature that demonstrate how experimental design and procedural variations influence the efficacy of tests of state dependence.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Larsen, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Personality|Social psychology|Psychology|Experiments
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