Neurofeedback Training on Brainwave to Enhance Different Creative Proformances

• Main Authors: Shih Yi-Ling, 施依伶
• Other Authors: 林緯倫
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/68775191255767964603

碩士 === 佛光大學 === 心理學系 === 101 === Creativity is the highest human mental abilities. How to enhance creativity through training is an important issue in recent years. With the development of cognitive neuroscience and brain scanning technology, biofeedback training programs take more advantages than traditional cognitive-skills training in the aspects that it can avoid the interference of other variables and can record the cumulative changes of functions during the training processes. This study aimed to improve creativity performance by neurofeedback training. The biofeedback training is based on brainwaves of optimal performaces. However, past studies that used biofeedback training to enhance creativity failed to obtain stable results. Potential problems might lie in that they used different training sessions and durations, detected brainwaves in different brain regions, and did not distinguish between different types of creativity. This study utilized an optimal design based on past evidence, and differentiated open-ended divergent thinking and closed-ended insight problem solving according to the “dual-process theory account of creativity”. The former mainly involves system 1 processing in accordance with α brainwave; the latter involves both system 1and system 2 processing in a reciprocal way which reflects on the transform between α and β waves. Therefore, different types of biofeedback training methods for the two types of creativity tasks were designed in the present study: the “α enhancement group” to increase participants’ production of α wave; and the “α transformation group” to train participants to increase and suppress α wave. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two training conditions and a non-training control condition. Three groups were trained or measured their brainwaves on 10 days within 2 weeks, 30 minutes in each session, and tested with two kinds of creativity tasks pre- and post-training. The results showed that participants’ performances on two creativity measures were not different in pre-test. After different biofeedback training, participants’ two creative performances improved differently, as compared to the control group. The α transformation group significantly improved on both divergent thinking and insight problem solving tasks, while the α enhancement group only improved in the divergent thinking performance. These results help to clarify the in effectiveness of previous training program, shed light to the physiological mechanisms of different creativities, and provide application benefits to enhance different creative potentials.