How to use cognitive flexibility to disrupt your expectations
Step 1. Reflect
Think about something you do frequently, such as making a sandwich, peeling an orange, or squeezing a lemon. Make a list of some of the most common tasks you complete. Do you always go about doing these things the same way?
Step 2. Consider alternatives
Consider some alternative ways you could go about completing the tasks. Is there anything you could do that would be more effective or more efficient? Make a list of potential alternative ways you could complete the tasks you perform frequently.
As an example, watch the following video, which shows some alternative ways to complete common tasks related to making food.
Step 3. Compare
Take a look at your list of alternative methods of task completion. How do they compare to the strategies shown in the video? Spend a few minutes adding some additional alternative methods to your list.
Step 4. Pick a task
Pick one of the tasks on your list. The next time you are going to complete it, instead of going about it in your usual way, try to complete it using one of the alternative methods you wrote down. If you weren’t able to come up with any alternatives, take an example from the video and follow what they did.
Step 5. Try things differently
Whenever you are going to complete the task you chose, try to do it in one of the alternative ways you identified, rather than doing it in your usual way.
Why you should try it?
- Boosts divergent thinking and creativity (3, 5)
- Enhances cognitive flexibility (5, 6)
- Makes you think outside the box (6)
- Helps overcome functional fixedness - enables you to see how certain things can be done in different ways (6)
- Allows you to think in a more relaxed way (1)
The research
- In one experiment, participants were given step-by-step instructions on how to make toast covered in chocolate chips. Those in the unusual and unexpected condition were told to complete the steps in a different order than they normally would.
In the usual and expected condition, participants completed the steps in normal sequence. Participants who completed the task in an abnormal sequence were able to think of 15% more unique causes of sound (a measure of cognitive flexibility) than those who completed the task in a normal sequence. (6) - Another experiment showed that schema violation (that is, violations of how people expect events or situations to work) affects cognitive flexibility. Schema violation can be induced by simply watching a video of someone doing something that violates a schema, as long as the person identifies with the actor. Participants whose schemas were deliberately disrupted exhibited a 37% increase in cognitive flexibility from before their schemas were violated. (5)
- Participants who were asked to generate a list of adjectives to describe a target in a counter-stereotypical way (e.g. a female mechanic) exhibited 25% greater cognitive flexibility than those who generated adjectives to describe a target in a stereotypical way (e.g. male mechanic). (3)
How it works
Experiences that disrupt conventional and fixed thought patterns, such as schema violation, allow people to think about things and view the world in different ways (2). When people are exposed to things that violate their expectations (referred to as diversifying experiences)–such as doing something differently than they’re used to, seeing something they’re used to in a different way, or observing something implausible–the temporoparietal region (TPJ) of their brain is activated (5).
Activity in this region of the brain is also related to cognitive flexibility. Thus, schema violation activates the TPJ, which in turn activates parts of the brain responsible for overcoming mental rigidity (5). Over time, having many diversifying experiences expands how we see and understand the world (4).
The evidence
- Damian, R. I. (n.d.).
Where Do Diversifying Experiences Fit in the Study of Personality, Creativity, and Career Success?
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity and Personality Research, 102–123. - Damian, R. I., & Simonton, D. K. (2014).
Diversifying Experiences in the Development of Genius and their Impact on Creative Cognition.
The Wiley Handbook of Genius, 375–393. - Gocłowska, M. A., Crisp, R. J., & Labuschagne, K. (2012).
Can counter-stereotypes boost flexible thinking?
Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 16(2), 217–231. - Gocłowska, M. A., Damian, R. I., & Mor, S. (2018).
The Diversifying Experience Model: Taking a Broader Conceptual View of the Multiculturalism–Creativity Link.
Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 49(2), 303–322. - Ritter, S. M., Kühn, S., Müller, B. C. N., van Baaren, R. B., Brass, M., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2014).
The Creative Brain: Corepresenting Schema Violations Enhances TPJ Activity and Boosts Cognitive Flexibility.
Creativity Research Journal, 26(2), 144–150 - Ritter, S. M., Damian, R. I., Simonton, D. K., van Baaren, R. B., Strick, M., Derks, J., & Dijksterhuis, A. (2012).
Diversifying experiences enhance cognitive flexibility.Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(4), 961–964.
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