Interaction-based creative thinking research and its application in artistic creation

Creative thinking plays a crucial role in guiding artistic creation. However, Traditional Creative Thinking (TCT) currently lacks scientific and actionable frameworks for artistic creation. This paper proposes Interaction-based Creative Thinking (IbCT) and uses a collage creation experiment to validate its effectiveness. The experiment identifies key factors involved in collage creation and recruits 35 designers each for the experimental group (using IbCT) and the control group (using TCT). The Think-aloud Protocol (TAP) was employed to record the verbal expressions of participants during the artistic creation process for coding. The Divergence Index (D), based on the Cognitive coding scheme, is used to evaluate the depth of thinking in artistic creation, while the Microscopic Ideation Index (I), based on the Micro-concept coding scheme, assesses the quantity of creativity in artistic creation. The data reveals that: (1) with the involvement of key factors, the experimental group significantly outperforms the control group in terms of D, increasing the frequency of cognitive activities in artistic design and promoting the depth of thinking in artistic creation. (2) Within the experimental group, D is higher when key factors are involved, confirming the positive impact of these factors on artistic creation. However, in the control group, no differences are observed regardless of whether key factors are involved. The IbCT proposed in this paper regards creative thinking as a result of the interaction of multiple key factors, providing directional direction for artistic creation and its thinking, and solving the research gap of TCT with weak directionality. This paper not only reveals the internal mechanism and cognitive model of IbCT, but also paves new pathways for artistic creation and provides new perspectives for artistic creation.