How does a Peer-matching Interface for Collaborative Brainstorming Influence Cognitive Flexibility, Sustained Attention, and the Quality of Idea Development
Faidat Bello *
Ball State University, United States.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The study aims at investigating the effects of a peer-matching interface to collaborate in brainstorming on cognitive flexibility, maintenance of attention, and the quality of the ideas generation process in general. We developed an original, adaptive algorithm that pairs the participants with complementary cognitive and interaction profiles in order to maximize creative synergy in the remote collaboration setting. The research applied to 120 subjects and incorporated quantitative measures of cognitive performance with qualitative measures of ideation output. Findings demonstrate that the peer-matching interface produced a significant increase in cognitive flexibility, enhanced sustained attention and yielded a greater number of original and well-developed ideas relative to the use of traditional brainstorming formats. The academic networking sites like LinkedIn and ResearchGate played a significant role in the recruitment of participants and the interaction after the sessions but presented issues linked to the diversity of users, engagement, and collaboration in real-time. I was the lead researcher and developed the peer-matching theoretical framework, designed the experiment, coordinated participants via academic platforms, and was the primary Age analysing and interpreting the data. Among the findings is a great insight in designing smart collaboration tools in both educational and professional innovation settings.
Keywords: Collaborative brainstorming, cognitive flexibility, idea development, collaboration tools