Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T19:57:53.668Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CHRONOBIOLOGY IN DIVERGENT THINKING: HOW DESIGNERS ARE AFFECTED BY TIME OF DAY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Samuele Colombo ,
John S. Gero  and
Marco Cantamessa
Samuele Colombo*
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin (Italy);
John S. Gero
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science and School of Architecture, University of North Carolina, Charlotte (USA)
Marco Cantamessa
Affiliation:
Department of Management and Production Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin (Italy);
*
Colombo, Samuele, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, samuele.colombo@polito.it

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Chronobiology is the science that studies the role of time in biology. The study of time in human bodies revealed the presence of internal rhythms related to the time of day. Considering divergent thinking as one of the essential cognitive activities of conceptual design, this paper presents the results of investigating the effect of time of day on designers’ brain activity while performing divergent thinking tasks. An experiment was run with a revised Alternative Uses Task, measuring brain activity with an electroencephalogram (EEG) device. Students with different educational backgrounds were recruited for this experiment, including engineering and industrial design students, to determine if the time of day affected them differently. The brain waves and related power results show significant differences with respect to the time of day and educational background. The differences are particularly evident considering the interaction of these factors. Further studies are required to understand the relationship between the differences detected and the designers’ behavioural performance and to identify which time of day is most effective for idea-generation activities for designers.

Keywords

Conceptual designCreativityDesign cognitionChronobiologyElectroencephalogram
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 3: ICED23 , July 2023 , pp. 887 - 896
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

References

APA, (2016). Dictionary of Psychology, American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Baker, F.C., Waner, J.I., Vieira, E.F., Taylor, S.R., Driver, H.S. & Mitchell, D. (2001). Sleep and 24 hour body temperatures: a comparison in young men, naturally cycling women and women taking hormonal contraceptives. The Journal of Physiology, 530(3), 565–574. 10.1111/j.1469-7793.2001.0565k.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balters, S., & Steinert, M. (2017). Capturing emotion reactivity through physiology measurement as a foundation for affective engineering in engineering design science and engineering practices. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 28(7), 1585–1607. 10.1007/s10845-015-1145-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Balters, S., Weinstein, T., Mayseless, N., Auernhammer, J., Hawthorne, G., Steinert, M., Meinel, C., Leifer, L.J. and Reiss, A.L. (2023). Design science and neuroscience: A systematic review of the emergent field of design neurocognition. Design Studies, 84, 101148. 10.1016/j.destud.2022.101148CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benedek, M. (2018). Internally directed attention in creative cognition. In Jung, R. E. & Vartanian, O. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of the neuroscience of creativity; 180–194. 10.1017/9781316556238.011CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilda, Z., Gero, J.S. and Purcell, T. (2006). To sketch or not to sketch? That is the question. Design Studies (27), 587–613. 10.1016/j.destud.2006.02.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonnefond, A., Rohmer, O., Hoeft, A., Muzet, A. & Tassi, P. (2003). Interaction of age with time of day and mental load in different cognitive tasks. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96(3), 1223–1236; 10.2466/PMS.96.3.1223-1236CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borgianni, Y., & Maccioni, L. (2020). Review of the use of neurophysiological and biometric measures in experimental design research. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 34(2), 248–285. 10.1017/S0890060420000062CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carrier, J. & Monk, T.H. (2000). Circadian rhythms of performance: new trends. Chronobiology International, 17(6), 719–732. 10.1081/cbi-100102108CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cascini, G., Nagai, Y., Georgiev, G.V., Zelaya, J., Becattini, N., Boujut, J.F., Casakin, H., Crilly, N., Dekoninck, E., Gero, J.S., Goel, A., Goldschmidt, G., Gonçalves, M., Grace, K., Hay, L., Le Masson, P., Maher, M.L., Marjanović, D., Motte, D., Papalambros, P., Sosa, R., Srinivasan, V., Štorga, M., Tversky, B., Yannou, B. & Wodehouse, A. (2022) Perspectives on design creativity and innovation research: 10 years later, International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 10(1), 1–30; 10.1080/21650349.2022.2021480CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christiaans, H. (1992). Creativity in Design: The role of domain knowledge in designing. Delft, The Netherlands: TU Delft. ISBN 90-5189-240-3Google Scholar
Colombo, S., Mazza, A., Montagna, F., Ricci, R., Dal Monte, O., & Cantamessa, M. (2020). Neurophysiological evidence in idea generation: Differences between designers and engineers. Proceedings of the Design Society: DESIGN Conference, 1415-142. 10.1017/dsd.2020.161Google Scholar
Cornelissen, G. & Otsuka, K. (2017). Chronobiology of aging: a mini review. Gerontology, 63, 118–128. 10.1159/000450945CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Correa, A., Alguacil, S., Ciria, L.F., Jiménez, A. and Ruz, M. (2020). Circadian rhythms and decision-making: a review and new evidence from electroencephalography. The Journal of Biological and Medical Rhythm Research, 37(4), 520–541. 10.1080/07420528.2020.1715421Google ScholarPubMed
DeYoung, C. G., Hasher, L., Djikic, M., Criger, B. & Peterson, J.B. (2007). Morning people are stable people: Circadian Rhythm and the higher-order factors of Big Five. Personality & Individual Differences, 43, 267–276. 10.1016/j.paid.2006.11.030CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Milia, L., Adan, A., Natale, V. and Randler, C. (2013). Reviewing the psychometric properties of contemporary Circadian typology measures. Chronobiology International Journal of Biological Med Rhythm Res. 30 (10), 1261–1271. 10.3109/07420528.2013.817415.Google ScholarPubMed
Freeman, W.J. & Quiroga, R.Q. (2013). Imaging Brain Function with EEG. Advanced Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Electroencephalographic Signals. Springer.Google Scholar
Funahashi, S. (2017). Pre-frontal contribution to decision-making under free-choice conditions. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 11(431), 1–15. 10.3389/fnins.2017.00431CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gero, J.S. & Milovanovic, J. (2020). A framework for studying design thinking through measuring designers' minds, bodies and brains. Design Science, 6(19), 1–44. 10.1017/dsj.2020.15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guilford, J.P. (1967). The Nature of Human Intelligence, McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Giampietro, M. and Cavallera, G.M. (2007). Morning and evening types and creative thinking. Journal of Personality and Individual Differences, 42 (3), 453–463. 10.1016/j.paid.2006.06.027CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, L., Duffy, A.H.B., McTeague, C., Pidgeon, L.M., Vuletic, T., & Grealy, M. (2017). A systematic review of protocol studies on conceptual design cognition: Design as search and exploration. Design Science, 3. 10.1017/dsj.2017.11CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard, T.J., Culley, S.J., Dekoninck, E.A. (2008). Describing the creative design process by the integration of engineering design and cognitive psychology literature. Design Studies, 29(2), 160–180. 10.1016/j.destud.2008.01.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horne, J.A. and Östberg, O. (1976). A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms. International Journal of Chronobiology: 4, 97–100. 10.1016/j.destud.2008.01.001Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, J.H. and Ostwald, M.J. (2022). The relationship between divergent thinking and ideation in the conceptual design process. Design Studies, 79, 1–24. 10.1016/j.destud.2022.101089CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehnertz, K., Rings, T. and Bröhl, T. (2021). Time in brain: how biological rhythms impact on EEG signals and on EEG-derived brain networks. Frontiers in Network Physiology. 10.3389/fnetp.2021.755016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, S., Becattini, N. and Cascini, G. (2021). Correlating design performance to EEG Activation: early evidence from experimental data. Proceedings of the Design Society, ICED 21, 1, 771-180, 10.1017/pds.2021.77Google Scholar
Mackenberg, E.J., Broverman, D.M., Vogel, W. and Klaiber, E.L. (1974). Morning-to-afternoon changes in cognitive performances and in electroencephalogram. Journal of Educational Psychology, 66(2), 238–246. 10.1037/h0036131CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
May, C.P. Hasher, L., & Foong, N. (2005). Implicit memory, age, and time of day. Psychological Science, 16, 96–100. 10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00788.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mazza, A., Dal Monte, O., Schintu, S., Colombo, S., Michielli, N., Sarasso, P., Törlind, P., Cantamessa, M., Montagna, F. and Ricci, R. (2023). Beyond alpha-band: the neural correlate of creative thinking, Neuropsychologia, 179(10), 1–10, 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108446CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NeuroHealth (undated) https://nhahealth.com/brainwaves-the-language/ (2022)Google Scholar
Pfurtscheller, G., & da Silva, Lopes, F.H. (1999). Event-related EEG/MEG synchronization and desynchronization: basic principles. Clinical Neurophysiology, 110(11), 1842–1857. 10.1016/s1388-2457(99)00141-8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perttula, M.K. and Liikkanen, L.A. (2006). Structural tendencies and exposure effects in design idea generation. Proceeding of the ASME 2006, 4a, 199–210, 10.1115/DETC2006-99123Google Scholar
Petersen, C., & Harmon-Jones, E. (2009). Circadian and seasonal variability of resting frontal EEG asymmetry. Biological Psychology, 80, 315–320. 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.11.002CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rietveld, W.J. (1990). Chronobiology. Hormone Research in Paediatrics, 33:. 10.1159/000181463Google ScholarPubMed
Roenneberg, T., Wirz-Justice, A., and Merrow, M. (2003). Life between clocks: daily temporal patterns of human chronotypes. Journal of Biological Rhythms. 18, 80–90. 10.1177/0748730402239679CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silva, P.J., Nusbaum, E.C., Berg, C., Martin, C. and O'Connor, A. (2009). Openness to experience, plasticity, and Creativity: Exploring lower-order, high-order and interactive effects. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 1087–1090. 10.1016/j.jrp.2009.04.015CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shah, J.J., Millsap, R., Woodward, J., & Smith, S. (2012). Applied tests of design skills-part 1: Divergent thinking. Journal of Mechanical Design (Transactions of the ASME), 134(2), 1–10. 10.1115/1.4005594Google Scholar
Torrance, E.P. (1968). Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Personnel Press, Princeton, N.J.Google Scholar
Valdez, P., Reilly, T. and Waterhouse, J. (2008). Rhythms of mental performance. Mind, Brain and Education, 2(1), 7–17. 10.1111/j.1751-228X.2008.00023.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Venkat, N., Sinha, M., Sinha, R., Ghate, J. and Pande, B. (2020). Neuro-cognitive profile of morning and evening chronotypes at different times of day. Annals of Neurosciences, 27(3-4), 257–265. 10.1177/0972753121990280CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vieira, S., Gero, J.S., Delmoral, J., Gattol, V., Fernandes, C. and Parente, M. (2020). The Neurophysiological activations of mechanical engineering and industrial designers while designing and problem-solving. Design Science, 6, 1–35. 10.1017/dsj.2020.26CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, S., Akioma, M. & Yuan, Z. (2021). Relationship between circadian rhythm and brain cognitive functions. Frontiers of Optoelectronics, 14, 278–287. 10.1007/s12200-021-1090-yCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeng, Y. (2012). A theoretical model of design creativity: Nonlinear design dynamics and mental stress-creativity relation. Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science, 16(3), . 10.3233/jid-2012-0007Google Scholar