Combining concept maps to catalyze creativity

Abstract

Combining concept maps aids creative problem solving. In two studies, participants were presented with a story describing a problem and its solution. They were then asked to read an analogous problem and provide a solution. In order to facilitate transfer from the first story to the second, concept maps of the stories were elicited and participants instructed to combine them. The results show that participants were more likely to solve the problem when they produced and combined concept maps, as compared to a condition in which concept maps were used without combination, and compared to a condition in which no maps were used, but instead summaries were created and combined.