Join the University of Buckingham’s CREATE-hub researcher Dr. Gill Hill as she talks about her creativity research alongside Professor James Kaufman, in the latest BPS Research Digest podcast.

‘How to Boost your Creativity‘ (BPS Research Digest podcast, PsychCrunch Episode 18), hosted by Ginny Smith, takes a look at how we can develop our creativity with practice, and discovers that our best “Eureka” moments often come when we step away from the task at hand.

James outlines how we all might experience creativity in our daily lives and talks about aspects that contribute to creativity. Some of these, such hard work and practice are not necessarily the things that would immediately spring to mind when thinking about ‘being creative’!

Gill explores how problem solving is creative, and thinks about those creative insight moments when you suddenly get the solution to a problem (an Aha! moment) or identify a new problem (an Uh-Oh! moment). She explores some of the limitations inherent in lab-research, and introduces Ginny to her own research involving the use of Connect 4 to stimulate Aha! and Uh-Oh! moments.

Ginny Smith and her team get out and about and try some of the problem solving tasks we use in the lab on members of the public to see if they get their creative juices going. Why not have a try yourself as you listen along?

Finally James wraps up by answering the important question: why should we care about creativity anyway? To learn about the benefits of creativity for our mental wellbeing and our aesthetic fulfilment, do go and listen to this fascinating episode from the BPS Research Digest.

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Image credits: Muhammed Hussan from Pixabay: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/idea-creative-creativity-challenges-3204419/