1. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Dr. Kev Hilton, Cathy Lockhart, and Bengt and Annika Rodell Influences of Music on Creative and Critical Thinking

2. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Definitions ‘Creative Thinking: Thinking that leads to an outcome that is novel (or unusual) and appropriate (or good).’ ‘Critical Thinking: The use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. Thinking that is purposeful, reasonable and goal-directed.’ Halpern (2003)

3. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Context Motive Mood is linked to motivation. However, mood is not the cause of action. An acknowledgement of motive leads to a decision to hold or take action. However, a critical level of arousal is required to decide to take action.

4. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Context Extrovert and Introvert Personality TypePreferenceComposers Stable ExtrovertsClassical/Baroque Handle/Mussorgsky/Brahms Stable IntrovertsClassical/Baroque Bach Unstable ExtrovertsRomantics Wagner/Strauss/Liszt/Berlioz Unstable IntrovertsRomantics Debussy/Delius Burt (1939)

5. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Context Motivation = Reward (Risk + Effort) Hilton (2002)

6. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Context Cognitive Load Low Cognitive Load – High Performance High Cognitive Load – Low Performance Konecni (1982)

7. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Context Arousal and Altered States of Consciousness Gellhorn and Kiely (1973) discovered that over- stimulation, referred to as ‘Spillover’, in some cases can produce overwhelming calmness, referred to as ‘Active Bliss.’

8. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Context Arousal and Altered States of Consciousness Beta Waves, 14 - 20Hz When we focus upon daily activities in the external world, as well as when experiencing strong negative emotions. Alpha Waves, 8 - 13Hz Heightened awareness and calm. Theta Waves, 4 - 7Hz Periods of peak creativity, meditation and sleep. Delta Waves, 0.5 - 3Hz Deep sleep, deep meditation and unconsciousness.

9. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Approach Investigation of: Favoured types of music What times they most enjoyed listening to these How they categorized these types of music What music participants listened to by choice in situational environments including: 1.Studio 2.Workshop 3.Home

10. Centre for Design Research © 2008 ‘Creative Fluency’ Requiring the generation of alternative uses for named objects. ‘Critical Review’ Requiring the assessment of the generated ideas for originality. Approach

11. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Each experiment session lasted half an hour using examples of a single ‘type’ of music. A series of tests were run within each session. The ‘Creative Fluency’ lasted 3 minutes. The ‘Critical Review’ lasted 1 minute. Approach

12. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Test conditions included: Classical (Played to a group) Techno (Played to a group) Jazz (Played to a group) Preferred Relaxing Music (On personal stereos) Preferred Energetic Music (On personal stereos) No Music Approach

13. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Findings A contemporary music preference A variety of favoured types of music in all sample populations No common pattern for which music was listened to where Music with lyrics and loud music were frequently commented to be a source of distraction

14. Centre for Design Research © 2008 All music types chosen for the participants produced the same results as that where no music was played. 8 ideas generated, 4 considered original (50%) Running an additional analysis for ‘Liked’ and ‘Disliked’ reports, the results were found to be the same. Findings

15. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Energetic and loud music, chosen by the participants and listened to with personal headphones, resulted in the same 8 ideas generated, 4 considered original (50%) But relaxing music played softly, chosen by the participants and listened to with headphones, resulted in 12 ideas generated, 4 considered original (33%) Findings

16. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Conclusion Previous investigations and publications had led to a level of expectation with this experiment that did not prove to be the case. However, these findings have called into question the belief that there are positive benefits of listening to music in shared design environments.

17. Centre for Design Research © 2008 Dr. Kev Hilton (k.hilton@northumbria.ac.uk)