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How does attention affect creative development?

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Final answer:

Attention directly affects creative development by determining what is perceived, with focused attention leading to inattentional blindness that may hinder the recognition of creative stimuli. Conditions that support creativity include sleep, attitudes that encourage risk-taking, and collaboration.

Step-by-step explanation:

Attention significantly influences creative development by determining what stimuli we perceive and what gets filtered out due to our focus on particular tasks. The phenomenon of inattentional blindness, exemplified by the study by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris, highlights how focusing intensely on one task can cause us to miss unrelated but conspicuous events. This selective attention is also associated with various cognitive processes including creative thinking. Sleep, for example, is known to affect attention and as a result, can enhance creative capacities.

Nurturing creativity requires the establishment of conditions, attitudes, and behaviors that promote innovative thinking and the willingness to take creative risks. This includes understanding the contexts, histories, and traditions of art forms which provide the groundwork for creating new works or breaking away from established norms. Collaboration is another aspect that can widen the scope of creative processes by bringing together diverse perspectives and ideas.

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