The effect of incubation and eidetic imagery training on tasks of problem-solving

This study was conducted to determine if incubation, eidetic imagery training, and the combined effects of incubation and eidetic imagery training would increase the fluency of response and originality of response to life-relevant problems. The incubation period consisted of working on a distractor task: solving concrete and abstract anagrams. A subject population of 105 was drawn from a total population of students enrolled in a proprietory business school in New York City. All students are classified as non-traditional and from minority ethnic backgrounds. All students were administered the California Achievement Test Verbal and Mathematic Subtests. Students were then randomly assigned to one of three groups: Group 1 which received eidetic imagery training and instructions to use the training (N = 25), Group 2 which received eidetic imagery training and an incubation period (N = 38), and Group 3 which received no eidetic imagery training, but did have an incubation period. Analysis of variance showed no significant sex differences or training condition differences, nor any significant two-way or three-way interactions. A significant main effect of incubation was found on originality scores, although the effect was not significant for fluency. The incubation subjects obtained higher originality scores than subjects who did not have an incubation interval. On the solution of abstract anagrams, there was a significant main effect for training and for the interaction of sex and training. Subjects who received no imagery training at all solved more abstract anagrams than subjects who received imagery training. For concrete anagrams, there was a significant main effect for incubation, with incubation subjects solving more concrete anagrams than no-incubation subjects. The results of this study indicate that incubation is a valuable tool in problem solving. Future research should address the need for improved eidetic imagery training and the development of more challenging and appropriate problems to involve subjects in meaningful problem solving