How to Think like a Creative Genius

Cognitive psychologists at the Leiden University in Netherlands, believe that meditation can have long-lasting benefits on human cognition. This could even include the way conceive new ideas. Lorenza Colzato and Dominique Lippelt stress upon the fact that certain meditation techniques can promote creative thinking, even if you have never meditated before. The study was published in the journal Mindfulness and states that not all meditative forms may render similar effect on human creativity.The study involved forty individuals who were told to meditate for 25 minutes before doing their thinking tasks. The group was a combination of both experienced mediators as well as those who had meditated before. The study aimed at investigating the influences of different types of meditative techniques on the two main facets of creativity - divergent and convergent thinking.Divergent thinking allows the generation of multiple ideas. It is measured by using Alternate Uses Task method - wherein participants are required to think up multiple uses for a particular object. On the other hand, convergent thinking is a process whereby only one possible solution for a particular problem is generated. Convergent thinking is measured using a method where three unrelated words are presented and the participants are then asked to identify the common link between the three. This method is called the Remote Associates Task method.
The participants were seen to have performed better in divergent thinking (thinking up as many possible solutions for a given problem) after Open Monitoring meditation (being receptive to every thought and sensation). Similar effects were not seen on divergent thinking after the participants practiced Focused Attention meditation which involves focusing on a particular thought or object.Inputs from PTI