Experimental procedure for evaluating creative problem solving in humans

• Grant number: 19/27401-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2020
• End date: September 21, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Miriam Garcia Mijares
• Grantee: Rafael Silva Rodrigues
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/09666-8 - Experimental procedure for assessing creative problem-solving in humans and pigeons, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

In an experiment developed in our laboratory we studied the effects of training and extinction on the emergence of creative problem solving (Rodrigues & Garcia-Mijares, in preparation).For this, a set of experimental virtual environments was built in the Portal 2 videogame,which presented a series of problems. Survey results indicated that while extinction and training combined increased the likelihood of untrained or creative resolution being emitted,they were not necessary for its emission. The data also showed that the procedure was viable and relevant for the study of problem solving, but methodological limitations were identified that compromised the unequivocal interpretation of the results. First, the topography required for some of the behaviors led to experimentally unscheduled errors in obtaining the consequence; second, the visibility of discriminative stimuli was compromised in the test phase. Thus, it is the objective of this project to evaluate the problem solving performance of human subjects after improvements in the procedure developed by Rodrigues & Garcia Mijares (in preparation). To solve the problem related to topography, we propose the training of another set of response topographies that do not require the visual and motor precision demanded in the study cited. To solve the second problem an environment for the Test Phase will be configured with all visually available discriminative stimuli at the beginning of the phase. Specifically, the environment will be smaller; it will have only one level and the stimuli will be distributed in specific spatial arrangements that allow their visual identification without movement through the environment. The experiment will be developed in at least three steps. In the first stage the proposed changes will be made in the video game environments. In the second stage, three participants will be submitted to the new procedure and their performance analyzed. The third step will depend on the results of the second step.If the results indicate that the procedure was adequate to measure the topography, sequence,velocity and control of problem solving stimuli, three more participants will undergo the same procedure. If the analysis indicates that the problems of Rodrigues & Garcia-Mijares (in preparation) have not been solved, further manipulations in the procedure will be performed and the second and third steps will be repeated. A more refined experimental design will allow a more controlled study of the problem-solving behavior phenomenon and,consequently, the production of other researches that may use the same standard design,facilitating the research and discussion around the theme. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

RODRIGUES, RAFAEL SILVA; GARCIA-MIJARES, MIRIAM. o Fail or Not to Fail? Implications of Extinction on Creativity and Problem-Solving Behavio. PSYCHOLOGICAL RECORD, v. 71, n. 4, OCT 2021. (19/27401-1, 18/04824-1)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

RODRIGUES, Rafael Silva. The effects of learned behavioral variability and stereotypy on insightful problem solving. 2022. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Psicologia (IP/SBD) São Paulo.