情報の多様性がアイデア生成に及ぼす影響の検討

抄録

Using the idea generation model, which encompasses the information selection process, we examined whether the provision of diverse primary information can facilitate creative idea generation. In Experiment 1, 35 students from the University of Amsterdam were asked to generate two ideas individually by using the scanning material provided. We found that the diversity of the primary information did not seem to influence the quality of ideas. Further, the participants tended to select articles that had one or more topic words in common, and the diversity of the information used to generate ideas, that is, secondary information, was reduced even though the primary information was more diverse. In addition, the results revealed that the more diverse the secondary information was, the higher the validity and consistency of the ideas with the articles were. In Experiment 2, 24 undergraduates from MIT were asked to engage in the same task as that in Experiment 1. In the more diverse primary information condition, the participants were provided with articles that had few topic words in common. The results showed that the participants in the more diverse primary information condition tended to maintain the diversity of the secondary information when selecting it. However, the highly diverse secondary information disrupted the generation of novel and useful ideas. On the basis of the results, we discussed how creative idea generation can be facilitated by using diverse information.