Great Expectations: Misleading Effects of Images in the Alternate Uses Task

Abstract

What factors influence predictions of creative performance? Prior work indicates that images can skew predictions in the contexts of learning, memory, and decision making, but little work has devoted attention to the metacognitive effects of images in creative thinking. Metacognitive frameworks indicate that people often base predictions of performance on the subjective ease with which related information comes to mind. The present experiments tested whether the presence of object photographs in the alternate uses task (AUT) inflates predictions of creativity. In Experiments 1–4, participants made ratings about their predictions of creative performance for various objects in the AUT either with or without photographs of the object. Participants provided higher ratings and were faster to make ratings in the image than no-image condition. In Experiment 5, participants actually attempted to generate creative uses for the objects, half of which were accompanied by object photographs. Creativity scores for these responses were lower in the image condition than no-image condition, but participants’ retrospective judgments indicated the opposite. These results provide a novel extension of metacognitive work showing that images inflate predictions of performance and fit with prior research showing that images can limit creativity.