Editing Creativity techniques (section)

==Affecting factors==

===Distraction===
Multiple studies have confirmed that distraction actually increases creative cognition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://nautil.us/issue/7/waste/how-to-waste-time-properly|title=How To Waste Time Properly - Issue 7: Waste - Nautilus|website=Nautilus|access-date=2016-09-30|date=2013-11-14|archive-date=2016-10-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003163753/http://nautil.us/issue/7/waste/how-to-waste-time-properly|url-status=dead}}</ref> One such study done by Jonathan Schooler found that non-demanding distractions improve performance on a classic creativity task called the UUT (Unusual Uses Task) in which the subject must come up with as many possible uses for a common object. The results confirmed that decision-related neural processes occur during moments of unconscious thought while a person engages in a non-demanding task. The research showed that while distracted, a subject isn’t maintaining one thought for a particularly long time, which in turn allows different ideas to float in and out of one’s consciousness—this sort of associative process leads to creative incubation.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Baird|first1=Benjamin|last2=Smallwood|first2=Jonathan|last3=Mrazek|first3=Michael D.|last4=Kam|first4=Julia W. Y.|last5=Franklin|first5=Michael S.|last6=Schooler|first6=Jonathan W.|s2cid=46281941|title=Inspired by Distraction: Mind Wandering Facilitates Creative Incubation|journal=Psychological Science|date=1 October 2012|volume=23|issue=10|pages=1117–1122|doi=10.1177/0956797612446024|pmid=22941876|language=en|issn=0956-7976}}</ref>

Ambient noise is another variable that is conducive to distraction. It has been proven that a moderate level of noise actually heightens creativity.<ref name=":1" /> Professor Ravi Mehta conducted a study to research the degree of distraction induced by various noise levels and their effect on creativity. The series of experiments show that a moderate level of ambient noise (70&nbsp;dB) produces just enough distraction to induce processing [[Speech disfluency|disfluency]], which leads to abstract cognition. These higher construal levels caused by moderate levels of noise consequently enhance creativity.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last1=Mehta|first1=Ravi|last2=Zhu|first2=Rui (Juliet)|last3=Cheema|first3=Amar|title=Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition|journal=Journal of Consumer Research|date=2012|volume=39|issue=4|pages=784–799|doi=10.1086/665048|jstor=10.1086/665048}}</ref>

===Walking===
In 2014, a study found that walking increased creativity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Oppezzo|first1=Marily|last2=Schwartz|first2=Daniel L.|s2cid=11962777|title=Give your ideas some legs: The positive effect of walking on creative thinking.|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition|volume=40|issue=4|pages=1142–1152|doi=10.1037/a0036577|pmid=24749966|year=2014}}</ref>

===Sleep and relaxation===

Some advocate enhancing creativity by taking advantage of [[hypnagogia]], the transition from wakefulness to sleep, using techniques such as [[lucid dreaming]].  One technique used by [[Salvador Dalí]] was to drift off to sleep in an armchair with a set of keys in his hand; when he fell completely asleep, the keys would fall and wake him up, allowing him to recall his mind's subconscious imaginings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://almostbohemian.com/sleep/ |title=Sleep without Sleeping « Almost Bohemian |website=almostbohemian.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513072813/http://almostbohemian.com/sleep |archive-date=2011-05-13}} </ref>  [[Thomas Edison]] used the same technique, with [[ball bearing]]s.<ref>{{Cite magazine | url=https://www.wired.com/2008/05/st-napping/ | title=Geeks Take Their Cue from Thomas Edison's Napping Technique| magazine=Wired| date=2008-05-19}}</ref>

===Meditation===

A study<ref>h{{cite journal |last1=Ding |first1= Xiaoqian|last2=Tang |first2=Yi-Yuan |date=2014|title=Improving creativity performance by short-term meditation|journal=Behavioral and Brain Functions |volume=10 |issue=9 |pages= 9|doi=10.1186/1744-9081-10-9 |pmid= 24645871|pmc= 3994657|doi-access= free}}</ref> from 2014 involving 40 Chinese undergraduates found that performing a 30 minute [[meditation]] session each day, for seven days, was sufficient to improve verbal and visual creativity, as measured by the [[Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking]], due to the positive effects of meditation on emotional regulation. The same researchers<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ding |first1=Xiaoqian |last2=Tang |first2=Yi-Yuan |date=2015 |title=Short-term meditation modulates brain activity of insight evoked with solution cue |journal=Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=43–49 |doi=10.1093/scan/nsu032 |pmid=24532700 |pmc=4994853 }}</ref> also showed in 2015 that short term meditation training could also improve insight-based problem solving (the type commonly associated with an "ah-ha" or "eureka" type moment of realization) as measured by the [[Remote Associates Test]].