Category Archives: Current Research

What makes creatives stand out from the crowd?

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We’re looking for interesting and creative people to take part in our current survey exploring how personality and attitudes relate to creative potential and wellbeing.

The survey is being run by our fabulous MSc student Kathleen, here at the University of Buckingham’s CREATE hub.

Intrigued? Just click here to find our more. The survey will take you about 15-20mins to complete and it’s totally anonymous.

Full survey link: https://buckingham.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/personality-creative-potential-and-wellbeing-survey

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Calling All Sewists!

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Do you sew garments at home for yourself or others? We’re currently running a survey looking at the reasons people sew garments, together with some other aspects of personality which may be relevant. This is a really interesting leisure activity, but it’s heavily under-researched, so the findings are going to be fascinating.

The survey should only take about 20 minutes to complete, and it’s totally anonymous. Please do consider taking part, by clicking the link here to find out more!

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Creativity and Leisure in COVID-19 – an update

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We recently published our findings about creative pursuits under lockdown in a Frontiers Special Issue on ‘Creativity and Innovation in Times of Crisis (COVID-19)’. Here’s the take-away summary of what we found.

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Cracking Psychology: Understanding the appeal of cryptic crosswords #3 – Anagrams

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It’s a common experience – you have a blank grid in front of you, 1A isn’t helping, and there’s no obvious way to get going. Maybe you, too, scan the list of clues hoping for an anagram clue or two? In the third part of our ‘explainer’ series, Kathryn Friedlander takes a look at the psychology behind this popular clue form.

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Cracking Psychology: Understanding the appeal of cryptic crosswords #2 – Rebus-type clues (‘Say what you see’)

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In this second part of a series unpacking the psychology behind cryptic crossword solving, Kathryn Friedlander explores the connection between cryptic clues and the ‘rebus’ or ‘word-picture’ puzzle form.

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Cracking Psychology: Understanding the appeal of cryptic crosswords #1 – Puns and misdirection

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Nearly all of us enjoy a good joke now and again, but those who do cryptic crosswords seem particularly attracted to verbal humour. In the first of a series unpacking the psychology behind cryptic crossword solving, Kathryn Friedlander explores the many links between puns, verbal ambiguity, misdirection and the solving of cryptic crossword clues.

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Thinking flexibly is key to cryptic crossword solving

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When it comes to thinking about cryptic crossword solvers, what kind of image springs to mind? Maybe Chief Inspector Morse, a vicar, or a bowler-hatted Civil Servant? But would you be right…? Kathryn Friedlander shares new research lifting the lid on the mind of the cryptic solver – and finds that they are an academically able group, tending towards science, with fantastically flexible problem-solving abilities.

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