Creativity and Breadth of Attention

Abstract This study tested the hypothesis that creative performance is facilitated by wide breadth of attention. Sixty-one participants completed a measure of trait breadth of attention and wrote a poem while alone in a quiet setting. On a random basis, 40 of these participants were then assigned to write a second poem while being subjected to attention-narrowing stimulation (noise) that was predictable or unpredictable and intelligible or unintelligible; the remaining 21 participants wrote the second poem in the quiet setting. All poems were judged for creativity and were measured for word originality. Results showed that (a) trait breadth of attention was correlated modestly and positively (r =. 20) with creative performance; (b) creative performance was impaired by exposure to noise, especially noise that was unpredictable or intelligible; and (c) noise impaired creative performance more in participants whose trait breadth of attention was wide than in those whose trait breadth of attention was narrow. The relation between creativity and breadth of attention is discussed in terms of the high complexity level of creativity tasks and the need for parallel processing and broad attentional capacity required for successful performance on highly complex tasks.