MPT-IS: Creativity and Attention in Time-Bound Scenarios: Tactical, Operational, and Strategic Levels.
Abstract
From the tactical to the strategic levels of warfare, vast array of Navy tasks require individuals to use creative thinking and problem solving to make decisions and act effectively. The Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly noted, The most predictable thing we can say about the future is that it will be unpredictable. Creativity is a quality that the Navy can harness to increase its chances for success. Currently, creativity is developed only incidentally duringtraining and on-the-job experience, costing time, money, and potentially lives. The primary objective of the proposed work is to leverage creative thinking and problem solving in a variety of time-bound scenarios, thus saving the Navy training costs and increasing its warfighting advantage. To achieve this objective, a program of study is needed to establish a scientific understanding of what factors contribute to most effective creative thinking and problem solvingwhen people only have a few minutes (tactics), hours (operations), or weeks/months (strategy) to generate creative solutions to a given problem. Building on our research on the neurocognitive basis of attention in creative thinking, the proposed work will further characterize how attentioncontributes to creative thinking and problem solving abilities. Our previous work demonstrated that people who have an exceptional ability to focus their attention are excellent at generating creative ideas within short time intervals (i.e., minutes). Thus the ability for focused attention is likely the key characteristic for creative thinking at the tactical level. Our work also showed thatpeople with more diffused attention generally have a high number of long-term creative achievements, suggesting that diffused attention may benefit creativity at the strategic level. The proposed research program has four specific aims. (1) We will determine what forms of attention promote idea generation when people have more than a few minutes (e.g., hours, weeks) to generate novel ideas. (2) We will investigate what forms of attention are linked with problemsolving within three different time intervals. (3) We will further characterize the types of attention and their neurocognitive mechanisms that are most conducive for idea generation and problem solving within three different time intervals. (4) Finally, we will develop and test attention training techniques for creativity enhancement. Once this characterization is complete, it will be possible to select and assign Navy personnel to the various tasks based on theirattention abilities, saving the Navy training costs and increasing its warfighting advantage. Findings will be documented in publications, and results will be presented at scientificconferences.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 15, 2021
- Source ID
- N000142112213
Entities
People
- Darya Zabelina
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Arkansas System