TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of Movement Improvisation and Aerobic Dancing on Motor Creativity and Divergent Thinking
AU - Richard, Veronique
AU - Ben-Zaken, Sigal
AU - Siekańska, Małgorzata
AU - Tenenbaum, Gershon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the Creative Education Foundation, Inc.
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Creativity is considered to be an embodied concept, where internal psychological and external behavioral processes are intertwined. Creativity enhancement programs often target the cognitive side of this bi-dimensionality leaving the impact of motor interventions underexplored. To address this gap in the literature, we tested the effectiveness of two motor programs on motor creativity and divergent thinking (verbal and figural). A total of 92 college students (Mage = 25.36, SD = 2.66) were randomly allocated to a movement improvisation, an aerobic dance, or a control condition. Participants in both motor programs took part in ten 30-minute classes twice a week over a period of 5 weeks. The findings revealed a significant effect of the motor programs on motor fluency and flexibility. Movement improvisation yielded the greatest effects on those variables, followed by aerobic dancing and control condition. Movement improvisation also impacted significantly more figural originality than the control condition. However, the effects were limited to the motor domain and failed to transfer into other divergent thinking variables. The findings highlighted the contribution of movement programs to creative potential development, and the imperative role of a non-judgmental environment, where individuals are free to move spontaneously.
AB - Creativity is considered to be an embodied concept, where internal psychological and external behavioral processes are intertwined. Creativity enhancement programs often target the cognitive side of this bi-dimensionality leaving the impact of motor interventions underexplored. To address this gap in the literature, we tested the effectiveness of two motor programs on motor creativity and divergent thinking (verbal and figural). A total of 92 college students (Mage = 25.36, SD = 2.66) were randomly allocated to a movement improvisation, an aerobic dance, or a control condition. Participants in both motor programs took part in ten 30-minute classes twice a week over a period of 5 weeks. The findings revealed a significant effect of the motor programs on motor fluency and flexibility. Movement improvisation yielded the greatest effects on those variables, followed by aerobic dancing and control condition. Movement improvisation also impacted significantly more figural originality than the control condition. However, the effects were limited to the motor domain and failed to transfer into other divergent thinking variables. The findings highlighted the contribution of movement programs to creative potential development, and the imperative role of a non-judgmental environment, where individuals are free to move spontaneously.
KW - aerobic dance
KW - divergent thinking
KW - motor creativity
KW - movement improvisation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085124421&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/jocb.450
DO - 10.1002/jocb.450
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AN - SCOPUS:85085124421
SN - 0022-0175
VL - 55
SP - 255
EP - 267
JO - Journal of Creative Behavior
JF - Journal of Creative Behavior
IS - 1
ER -