When asked to brainstorm new and creative uses for a common object, many people's first instinct may be to search online and see what ideas already exist before putting pen to paper. Interestingly, doing so might come at a cost to collective creativity, according to research out of Carnegie Mellon University.
In a study published in the journal Memory & Cognition, researchers asked participants to brainstorm novel uses for two objects — umbrellas and shields. In some trials, the participants had access to Google search, while in other trials, they were forbidden from seeking outside help via search engines.
So, who fared better in the task?
While the study found no statistically relevant difference between the creativity of individuals with access to internet search and those without, as those individuals were clumped into groups, internet search appeared to stymie their production of ideas.
"This appears to be due to the fact that Google users came up with the same common answers, often in the same order, as they relied on Google, while non-Google users came up with more distinct answers," wrote lead author Danny Oppenheimer , a professor in CMU's Department of Social and Decision Sciences .
The study revealed an unexpected pattern between two objects: umbrellas and shields. While online searches turned up a variety of alternative uses for umbrellas, they yielded little for shields. Interestingly, participants struggled more to generate new ideas for umbrellas — perhaps because the readily available suggestions online limited their thinking. In contrast, the absence of pre-existing ideas for shields may have left more room for creativity to bloom.
This may be an example of what's known as "fixation effects," where being shown a possible solution to a problem primes participants to think of other, similar answers, but also apparently obstructs them from thinking of new or different answers.
"For example, a person trying to brainstorm 'things you might spread' who sees other people, or Google, give answers like 'butter' or 'jam' is more likely to come up with other foods, such as cream cheese, and less likely to come up with non-food-based answers, like disease or rumors," said Oppenheimer.
"This study is the first evidence of fixation effects being induced by internet search," said Oppenheimer.
Does Online Search Make People Dumber?
While one might be tempted to look at such results and declare that the internet is hindering our ability to think creatively, Oppenheimer said rather that we should accept that access to the internet is changing the way people think and problem-solve. Instead of simply shunning search engines while trying to brainstorm, he and his colleagues would rather investigate how such resources can be used more efficiently.
"The internet isn't making us dumb, but we may be using it in ways that aren't helpful," he said.
While it may be difficult to remember what life was like before the internet, both search engines and other technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are relatively new. And that means there's still lots of room for improvement and optimization in how they're used, said Oppenheimer.
"Many of us are sort of rethinking what our relationships with technology are like," said study coauthor Mark Patterson , an assistant teaching professor in CMU's Department of Social and Decision Sciences and director of the Quantitative Social Science Scholars Program . "It feels like every week there's some sort of mind-blowing, new advance, and I think one interpretation of our paper is a reminder about the important advantages that we have just as regular people trying to solve problems."
"Even though it sounds like the kind of messaging you might get from your preschool teacher. Like, 'You're you, and you're different, and you're unique.' That messaging actually does matter," said Patterson. "We want to hold on to our individuality and our regular, un-tech-aided humanity, because it's the thing that's going to make us solve problems slightly differently than other people, and that can really be valuable."
Why Prompt Engineering Matters
The authors believe that using different prompt engineering strategies might lead to different, or better, results.
"Our hope is that by studying how human thought interacts with technology use, we can figure out ways to glean the best of the internet while minimizing the negative consequences ," he said.
The researchers suggest that doing a bit of offline brainstorming before turning to the internet might also help avoid the fixation effects that cropped up in the study. The goal isn't to forsake the powers of online search — it's to learn how to use them better, Oppenheimer said.
Finally, experiencing fixation effects is probably not that big of a deal for everyday tasks. There's no need to reinvent the wheel for most of the things we search online on a given day, in other words.
"For some of these bigger, tough, societal-level challenges that we're facing, I think taking advantage of real diversity and a wide range of solutions requires groups to come up with a lot of different solution strategies," said Patterson.
