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Psychology Student Studies Connection Between Mental Fatigue and Creativity

Thomas Davis
Psychology Student, Thomas Davis

Thomas Davis from Portsmouth, NH, and a graduate of Portsmouth High School, is now a KSC senior earning his degree in psychology.

Thomas is studying the link between mental fatigue and functional fixedness. In other words, how rigid our ideas are on the uses of particular objects when our brain is tired. For example, how might one’s ideas of how to use a pen change during states of mental exhaustion?

He theorizes that the more mentally fatigued a person is, the more likely they are to open up to new ways of using such a simple object. That pen may serve other purposes beyond writing.

To determine this, Thomas is inducing states of mentally fatigued in his research participants, who will then be asked how to use a series of objects. Thomas describes his research here:

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