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Unsuccessful External Search: Using Neuroimaging to Understand Fruitless Periods of Design Ideation Involving Inspirational Stimuli

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Design Computing and Cognition '18 (DCC 2018)

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Abstract

This paper uses neuroimaging to provide insight into specific cognitive processes involved in design conceptualization with and without the support of inspirational stimuli. In particular, this work focuses on neural activity during unsuccessful search for a design solution. Twenty-one participants completed a brainstorming task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It should be noted that this method of ROI mask generation and sampling is similar to the analyses conducted in work by Goucher-Lambert et al. using the external neuroimaging database—Neurosynth. However, here the ROI mask was created based on a specialized analysis of the empirical data [56].

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the staff at the Carnegie Mellon University Scientific Imaging and Brain Research Center for their assistance with fMRI data acquisition. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant DGE125252, the National Science Foundation under grant CMMI1233864, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under grant #FA9550-16-1-0049.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA

    Kosa Goucher-Lambert & Jonathan Cagan

  2. Mississippi State University, Starkville, USA

    Jarrod Moss

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  1. Kosa Goucher-Lambert
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Correspondence to Kosa Goucher-Lambert .

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  1. Department of Computer Science and School of Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    John S. Gero

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Goucher-Lambert, K., Moss, J., Cagan, J. (2019). Unsuccessful External Search: Using Neuroimaging to Understand Fruitless Periods of Design Ideation Involving Inspirational Stimuli. In: Gero, J. (eds) Design Computing and Cognition '18. DCC 2018. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05363-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05363-5_3

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