Table 1.
Published research on uni- and multisensory influences on creative thinking.
| Study | Modality | Stimuli | Findings | Mechanism |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCoy and Evans (2002) [43] | Vision | Environments with different features | Environments with natural views and use of natural materials have higher perceived creativity potential | Exposure to nature restores cognitive capacity |
| Meyers-Levy and Zhu (2007) [44] | Vision | High vs. low ceiling height | Higher ceiling promotes relational thinking | Higher ceiling primes concept of freedom |
| Fitzsimons et al. (2008) [45] | Vision | Exposure to brand images | Creative brands promotes creativity | Associated brand goals activate behavior |
| Mehta and Zhu (2009) [46] | Vision | Computer screen color | Blue enhances creativity (red enhances memory recall) | Color activates approach/avoidance (blue is associated with approach, and red is associated with avoidance) |
| Wang et al. (2011) [47] | Vision | Dim vs. bright illuminance | Dim light enhances creativity | Dim light reduces inhibition |
| Steidle and Werth (2013) [48] | Vision | Dim vs. bright illuminance | Dim light enhances creativity | Dim light promotes freedom from constraints |
| Martindale and Greenough (1973) [49] | Audition | Noise inducing low (relaxed), medium (stress), and high (white noise) arousal | High arousal (75 dB white noise) impacts creative performance | Lower levels of arousal facilitates creative performance |
| Adaman and Blaney (1995) [50] | Audition | Music inducing “elated”, “depressed”, or neutral moods | Greater creativity after listening to depressed and elated music | Mood change is associated with higher creativity |
| Kasof (1997) [51] | Audition | Noise vs. quiet place | Noise (intelligible or unpredictable) impaired creative performance | Exposure to arousal stimuli reduces breadth of attention. |
| Ilie and Thompson (2011) [52] | Audition | Same musical piece varied in intensity, rate, and pitch height | Greater creativity at high pitches than in low pitches | Effect of pitch height mediated by emotional valence |
| Mehta et al. (2012) [53] | Audition | Background noise with low (50 dB), moderate (70 dB), and high (85 dB) levels | Moderate level (vs. low) of noise enhances creativity; high level of noise impacts creativity | Moderate and high noise levels lead to abstract processing, with the higher level reducing information processing |
| Ritter and Ferguson (2017) [54] | Audition | Classical music with different levels of arousal vs. silence | Happy music increased divergent thinking but not convergent thinking | Flexible thinking style helped participants come up with more creative ideas |
| Threadgold et al. (2019) [55] | Audition | Familiar vs. unfamiliar music with lyrics vs. instrumental vs. silence | Convergent thinking was higher in silence compared to all the other conditions | Changing states of sound in music disrupts verbal working memory processes |
| Kim (2015) [56] | Touch | Hard vs. soft ball | Soft material improves divergent thinking | Bodily experience of softness influences creative thinking |
| Xie et al. (2016) [57] | Touch | Hard-surface vs. cushioned stool | Soft textures improves creative thinking | Material softness triggers metaphorical associations with flexible thinking |
| Knasko (1992) [58] | Olfaction | Pleasant vs. unpleasant odors | Better creative problem solving when exposed to pleasant odor | Improvement in mood induces problem solving |
| Baron and Bronfen (1994) [59] | Olfaction | Pleasant fragances vs. no odor | Pleasant fragance enhanced performance on cognitive tasks involving creativity. | Pleasant fragrances induce positive affect |
| Isen et al. (2004) [60] | Gustation | Familiar vs. unfamiliar brand of iced tea | Better performance on convergent thinking after drinking a familiar brand of iced tea | Familiar brand name induces positive affect |
| Jarosz et al. (2012) [61] | Gustation | Vodka with 0.075 vs. control | Alcohol (0.075) improved convergent thinking | Inhibition and less attentional control leads to better associative approaches |
| Einöther et al. (2015) [62] | Gustation | Tea vs. water | Tea preparation and consumption improved convergent thinking but not divergent thinking | Positive affect leads to more associative and flexible processing style |
| Benedek et al. (2017) [63] | Gustation | Beer with alcohol (0.03) and placebo | Alcoholic beer (0.03) facilitated convergent thinking but did not affect divergent thinking. | Alcohol intoxication may reduce fixation effects by loosening the focus of attention |
| Huh et al. (2018) [64] | Gustation | Sweet vs. sour drink | Sour taste enhanced creative performance | Not stated in paper |
| Huang et al. (2018) [65] | Gustation | Tea vs. water | Drinking tea improved performance in two divergent thinking tests | Drinking tea increases mood valence (positive affect) |
| Zabelina and Silvia (2020) [66] | Gustation | Capsule of caffeine (200 mg) vs. placebo | Caffeine improved performance in convergent thinking, but no effect was found in divergent thinking | Enhanced concentration and attentional focus |
| Greenfield et al. (1986) [67] | Vision and audition | Television vs. radio | Children made more imaginative story completions with radio presentation compared to television | Radio stimulated visual imagery |
| Goncalves and Campos (2018) [68] | Vision and audition | Creative support software with both audio and visual components | Audiovisual stimuli promoted greater self-reported creativity compared to baseline text processor | Audiovisual stimuli provided “just enough” immersion in another environment |
| Goncalves et al. (2017) [69] | Audition and olfaction | Relaxing/stimulating aromas and sounds | Relaxing aroma plus music enhanced sense of creativity support compared to either sense alone | Sensory combination induced more relaxation |