ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the impact of off-task breaks on the creative process in individuals and groups. Research in cognitive psychology has identified a positive link between off-task breaks and creativit. Both a passive and an active interpretation have been put forward to explain this positive effect of off-task breaks. Adopting a passive approach, the mental set-shifting or forgetting-fixation argues that putting ideas aside can reduce associations with incorrect solutions and allows new ones to emerge, as the individual takes a fresh look at the problem. A group of psychologists have explored in more depth the cognitive processes underpinning off-task breaks. Specifically, they have found that when one engages in low cognitive demand tasks during an incubation period, the mind wanders. These episodes of mind wandering enhance creativity more than if one does nothing during the break, or if one is engaged in a more cognitively demanding task.
