Cover not available

Article published In: Creativity, Cognition and Material Culture
Edited by Lambros Malafouris, Chris Gosden and Karenleigh A. Overmann
[Pragmatics & Cognition 22:1] 2014
► pp. 5–26

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

The importance of chance and interactivity in creativity

 | University of California at San Diego
Published online: 10 December 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pc.22.1.01kir
Individual creativity is standardly treated as an ‘internalist’ process occurring solely in the head. An alternative, more interactionist view is presented here, where working with objects, media and other external things is seen as a fundamental component of creative thought. The value of chance interaction and chance cueing — practices widely used in the creative arts — is explored briefly in an account of the creative method of choreographer Wayne McGregor and then more narrowly in an experimental study that compared performance on a Scrabble-like word discovery problem. Subjects were presented with seven letters and given two minutes to call out three-to-seven-letter English words. There were three conditions: The tiles were fixed in place, subjects were free to move the tiles manually or the tiles could be randomly shuffled. Results showed that random shuffling was best, with manual movement second. Three reasons are provided: Shuffling is faster and cheaper than mentally thinking of candidates; randomizing strings covers the search space better than a deterministic method based on past successes; and randomizing is equivalent to adding diversity to a team, which is known empirically to lead to more creative solutions.
References (47)
Barrett, F.J. 1998. “Coda—Creativity and improvisation in jazz and organizations: Implications for organizational learning”. Organization Science 9(5):605–622. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bergdoll, B., Dickerman, L., Buchloh, B. and Doherty, B. 2009. Bauhaus 1919–1933. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bunt, A., Lank, E. and Terry, M. 2009. “Understanding the role of computers in mathematical problem solving”. Mathematical User-Interfaces Workshop 2009. Retrieved from [URL]
Campbell, D.T. 1960. Blind variation and selective retention in creative thought as in other knowledge processes. Psychological Review 67(6): 380–400. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clark, A. 2006. “Soft selves and ecological control”. In Ross, D., Spurrett, D., Kincaid, H. and Stephens, G.L. (eds), Distributed Cognition and the Will: Individual Volition and Social Context . Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 101–122.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cowley, S. and Vallée-Tourangeau, F. 2010. “Thinking in action”. AI & Society 25(4): 469–475. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duncker, K. 1945. On Problem Solving. Less, L.S. (trans.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilhooly K.J. and Murphy, P. 2005. “Differentiating insight from non-insight problems”. Thinking & Reasoning 11(3):279–302. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Glucksberg, S. 1964. “Functional fixedness: Problem solution as a function of observing responses”. Psychonomic Science 1(1–12): 117–118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grice, P. 1975. “Logic and conversation”. In Cole, P. and Morgan, J.L. (eds), Syntax and Semantics. 3: Speech Acts. New York: Academic Press, 41–58.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guilford, J.P. 1967. The Nature of Human Intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hollan, J., Hutchins, E. and Kirsh, D. 2000. “Distributed cognition: Toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research”. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 7(2): 174–196. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Katona, G. 1940. Organizing and Memorizing. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaufman, J.C. and Sternberg, R.J. (eds). 2010. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keefe, S.P. 2006. “Rochlitz, (Johann) Friedrich”. In Eisen, C. and Keefe, S.P., (eds), The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 427–428. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirsh, D. 1990. “When is information explicitly represented?” The Vancouver Studies in Cognitive Science. Reissued by Oxford University Press, 19921, 340–365.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. “Problem solving and situated cognition”. In Robbins, P. and Aydede, M. (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 264–306.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirsh, D., Muntanyola, D., Jao, J., Lew, A., and Sugihara, M. 2009. “Choreographic methods for creating novel, high quality dance”. In Chen, L.-L., Feijs, L., Hessler, M., Kyffin, S., Liu, P.-L., Overbeeke, K. and Young, B. (eds), Proceedings of Design and Semantics of Form and Movement DeSForM 2009 October 26–27, 2009, Taipei, Taiwan. Amsterdam: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., 188–195.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirsh, D. 2013. “Embodied cognition and the magical future of interaction design”. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 20(1): 1–30. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kirsh, D. and Maglio, P.P. 1994. “On distinguishing epistemic from pragmatic actions”. Cognitive Science 18(4): 513–549. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Knapp, J. 2014. “Google ventures: Your design team needs a war room. Here’s how to set one up”. Retrieved from [URL]
Knoblich, G., Ohlsson, S. and Raney, G.E. 2001. “An eye movement study of insight problem solving”. Memory & Cognition 29(7): 1000–1009. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kohler, W. 1925. The Mentality of Apes. Winter, E. (trans.). London: Kegan Paul.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kurtzberg, T. 2005. “Feeling creative, being creative: An empirical study of diversity and creativity in teams”. Creativity Research Journal 17(1): 51–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leong, T., Howard, S. and Vetere, F. 2008. “Take a chance on me: Using randomness for the design of digital devices”. Interactions 15(3): 16–19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maglio, P.P., Matlock, T., Raphaely, D., Chernicky, B. and Kirsh, D. 1999. “Interactive skills in Scrabble”. In Hahn, M. and Stoness, S.C. (eds), Proceedings of the Twenty-First Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 326–330.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martindale, C. 1999. “Biological bases of creativity”. In Sternberg, R.J. (ed.), Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 137–152.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Motwani, R. and Raghavan, P. 1996. “Randomized algorithms”. ACM Computing Surveys 28(1): 31–37. [URL] Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neustein, D. 2010. “Frank Gehry’s crumpled vision for Sydney”. Retrieved from [URL]
Norman, D.A. 1993. Things That Make Us Smart. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ohlsson, S. 1992. “Information-processing explanations of insight and related phenomena”. In Keane, M.T. and Gilhooly, K.J. (eds), Advances in the Psychology of Thinking. London: Harvester-Wheatsheaf, 1–44.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Polya, G. 1957. How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rabin, M.O. 1976. “Probabilistic algorithms”. In Traub, J.F. (ed.), Algorithms and Complexity. New York: Academic Press, 21–40.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reis, D. 2013. “Let randomness kick-start your creativity”. Thinkergy Innovation Company. Retrieved from [URL].Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rochlitz, F. (ed.). 1815. Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung 171: 561–566.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schiller, P.H. 1957. “Innate motor action as a basis of learning”. In Schiller, C.H. (ed. and trans.), Instinctive Behavior. New York: International Universities Press, 264–287.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schön, D.A. 1992. “Designing as reflective conversation with the materials of a design situation”. Research in Engineering Design 3(3): 131–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simonton, D.K. 2011. “Creativity and discovery as blind variation: Campbell’s (1960) BVSR model after the half-century mark”. Review of General Psychology 15(2): 158–174. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sutton, R.I. 2001. “The weird rules of creativity”. Harvard Business Review 79(8): 94–103.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suwa, M. and Tversky, B. 1997. “What do architects and students perceive in their design sketches? A protocol analysis”. Design Studies 18(4): 385–403. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tideman, K. 1995. “Steve Jobs on the difference between a great idea and a great product”. Retrieved from [URL]
Vallée-Tourangeau, F., Weller, A. and Villejoubert, G. 2011. “Distributed cognition and insight problem solving”. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society . Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society, 273–278.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vartanian, O. 2009. “Variable attention facilitates creative problem solving”. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 3(1): 57–59. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vyzoviti, S. and Dimitriou, M. 2012. “The grasping hand as form generator: Generative modelling in physical and digital media”. In Liveneau, P. and Marin, P. (eds), MC2012 Symposium: Materiality in Its Contemporary Forms: Architectural Perception, Fabrication and Conception. Villefontaine: Les Grands Ateliers de l’Isle D’Abeau, 91–99.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Weller, A., Villejoubert, G. and Vallée-Tourangeau, F. 2011. “Interactive insight problem solving”. Thinking & Reasoning 17(4): 424–439. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wertheimer, M. 1961. Productive Thinking (rev. ed.). London: Tavistock.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (36)

Cited by 36 other publications

Berrett, Taylor
2025. Disconnected from complexity: on nature exposure, sociality, and the self-organizing self. New Ideas in Psychology 79 ► pp. 101182 ff. DOI logo
Gubenko, Alla
2025. Creativity, embodiment, and COVID-19: Discovering new research horizons under methodological and environmental constraints. Possibility Studies & Society 3:1 ► pp. 129 ff. DOI logo
Overmann, Karenleigh A.
2025. On a creativity that is mundane, cooperative, and material. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 37:4 ► pp. 383 ff. DOI logo
Booton, Sophie A., Pinar Kolancali & Victoria A. Murphy
2023. Touchscreen apps for child creativity: An evaluation of creativity apps designed for young children. Computers & Education 201 ► pp. 104811 ff. DOI logo
Kimmel, Michael & Camilla Groth
2023. An “in vivo” analysis of crafts practices and creativity—Why affordances provide a productive lens. Frontiers in Psychology 14 DOI logo
Kimmel, Michael & Camilla Groth
2024. What affords being creative? Opportunities for novelty in light of perception, embodied activity, and imaginative skill. Adaptive Behavior 32:3 ► pp. 225 ff. DOI logo
Kimmel, Michael & Christine Irran
2022. Decision-making in Shiatsu bodywork: complementariness of embodied coupling and conceptual inference. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 21:2 ► pp. 245 ff. DOI logo
Lottridge, Danielle, Rebecca Weber, Eva-Rae McLean, Hazel Williams, Joanna Cook & Huidong Bai
2022. 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR), ► pp. 93 ff. DOI logo
Ross, Wendy
2022. Creative Ignorance. In Embodied, Extended, Ignorant Minds [Synthese Library, 463], ► pp. 37 ff. DOI logo
Ross, Wendy
2023. The possibilities of disruption: Serendipity, accidents and impasse driven search. Possibility Studies & Society 1:4 ► pp. 489 ff. DOI logo
Ross, Wendy
2024. Accidental Thinking: A Model of Serendipity’s Cognitive Processes. Review of General Psychology 28:3 ► pp. 253 ff. DOI logo
Ross, Wendy
2025. Serendipity: The Role of Chance and Accidents in Creativity. Creativity Research Journal 37:2 ► pp. 284 ff. DOI logo
Schiavio, Andrea & Luc Nijs
2022. Implementation of a Remote Instrumental Music Course Focused on Creativity, Interaction, and Bodily Movement. Preliminary Insights and Thematic Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology 13 DOI logo
Coolidge, Frederick L
2021. The role of the cerebellum in creativity and expert stone knapping. Adaptive Behavior 29:2 ► pp. 217 ff. DOI logo
Dou, Xinyu, Lin Jia & Jinchuan Ge
2021. Improvisational Dance-Based Psychological Training of College Students’ Dance Improvement. Frontiers in Psychology 12 DOI logo
Kimmel, Michael & Dayana Hristova
2021. The Micro-genesis of Improvisational Co-creation. Creativity Research Journal 33:4 ► pp. 347 ff. DOI logo
McCarty, Willard
2021. As perceived, not as known: digital enquiry and the art of intelligence. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 46:3 ► pp. 325 ff. DOI logo
Ross, Wendy & Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau
2021. Catch that word: interactivity, serendipity and verbal fluency in a word production task. Psychological Research 85:2 ► pp. 842 ff. DOI logo
Ross, Wendy & Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau
2022. Accident and agency: a mixed methods study contrasting luck and interactivity in problem solving. Thinking & Reasoning 28:4 ► pp. 487 ff. DOI logo
Спиридонов, Владимир, Мария Ерофеева, Нильс Кловайт, Владлен Ардисламов, Максим Морозов & Стево Здилар
2021. Репликация эффектов интерактивного решения задач спичечной алгебры. Психологические исследования 14:79 DOI logo
McLay, Grant, Lee McGowan, Gene Moyle & Laurent Frossard
2020. Building Fields of Play: An examination of the use of notational analysis to reinterpret dynamic and sequential movement from Rugby Union to inform the creation of a new dance work. Choreographic Practices 11:1 ► pp. 163 ff. DOI logo
Turpie, Edward Jonathan
2020. Drawing Ed Ruscha. Drawing: Research, Theory, Practice 5:2 ► pp. 291 ff. DOI logo
Currie, Adrian & Anton Killin
2019. From things to thinking: Cognitive archaeology. Mind & Language 34:2 ► pp. 263 ff. DOI logo
Gahrn-Andersen, Rasmus
2019. Interactivity and Languaging. Chinese Semiotic Studies 15:4 ► pp. 653 ff. DOI logo
Longley, Alys & Barbara Kensington-Miller
2019. “Under the radar”: exploring “invisible” graduate attributes in tertiary dance education. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education 11:1 ► pp. 66 ff. DOI logo
Overmann, Karenleigh A. & Thomas Wynn
2019. Materiality and Human Cognition. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 26:2 ► pp. 457 ff. DOI logo
Andolina, Salvatore, Valeria Orso, Hendrik Schneider, Khalil Klouche, Tuukka Ruotsalo, Luciano Gamberini & Giulio Jacucci
2018. Proceedings of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference, ► pp. 1295 ff. DOI logo
Kimmel, Michael, Dayana Hristova & Kerstin Kussmaul
2018. Sources of Embodied Creativity: Interactivity and Ideation in Contact Improvisation. Behavioral Sciences 8:6 ► pp. 52 ff. DOI logo
Spowage, Neal
2018. Applying Kinaesthetic Empathy and Extended Mind Theory to Invasive and Discreet Instruments in Sound-Based Live Performance. Organised Sound 23:3 ► pp. 277 ff. DOI logo
Zappi, Victor & Andrew McPherson
2018. Hackable Instruments: Supporting Appropriation and Modification in Digital Musical Interaction. Frontiers in ICT 5 DOI logo
Barranco, Oriol, Carlos Lozares & Sara Moreno
2017. The work process setting and situational contexts based on socially distributed cognition: an interactive, cognitive and social proposal of analysis. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 47:4 ► pp. 481 ff. DOI logo
Steffensen, Sune Vork, Frédéric Vallée-Tourangeau & Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau
2016. Cognitive events in a problem-solving task: a qualitative method for investigating interactivity in the 17 Animals problem. Journal of Cognitive Psychology 28:1 ► pp. 79 ff. DOI logo
Vallée-Tourangeau, Frédéric, Sune Vork Steffensen, Gaëlle Vallée-Tourangeau & Miroslav Sirota
2016. Insight with hands and things. Acta Psychologica 170 ► pp. 195 ff. DOI logo
Cowley, Stephen J.
2015. How peer-review constrains cognition: on the frontline in the knowledge sector. Frontiers in Psychology 6 DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2016. Design of Visualizations for Human-Information Interaction [Synthesis Lectures on Visualization, ], DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2017. Research in the Wild [Synthesis Lectures on Human-Centered Informatics, ], DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue