The differential effect of noise on creative task performance

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Abstract
The effect of an arousal manipulation on creativity task performance was investigated. Sixty, 80, and 100dB of noise were used to raise arousal levels in 72 undergraduates while they were individually assessed on creativity tasks. Two hypotheses were tested: The first was that noise would interfere with performance on creativity tasks, and the second was that high scorers would be resistant to this effect. Results supported the latter hypothesis. The noise‐induction appeared to have a differential effect. For highly original subjects, there was a curvilinear relationship between the noise and performance; this relationship was not reflected in the performance of subjects who scored low in originality. The major finding of this study was that research on the relationship between creativity and arousal may be difficult and misleading if the mediating role of individual differences in creativity are not considered.