Effect of episodic specificity induction on divergent thinking: A meta-analytic study

Previous research suggests that Episodic Specificity Induction (ESI) (i.e., a brief training in episodic recall) can enhance performance in divergent thinking tasks. Based on the constructive episodic simulation hypothesis, participants need to access their past memories and use this information to generate novel ideas in divergent thinking tasks. While some studies report a strong positive effect of ESI on divergent thinking performance, recent evidence challenges this claim. The present meta-analysis examined the impact of the ESI procedure on divergent thinking performance across 21 samples from 16 experiments (reported in ten eligible studies). Results indicated a small increase in fluency (number of ideas), flexibility (categories of ideas), appropriate ideas and categories of appropriate ideas following ESI, compared to control conditions, that became weaker or null after correction for publication bias. Conversely, no significant effect of ESI was found on qualitative dimensions of divergent thinking tasks (e.g., originality, subjective creativity, and elaboration). Assessments of publication bias produced mixed results, generally indicating that studies with null findings may be under-represented in the literature. Given the small effect size and potential publication bias, further research is needed to clarify which components of ESI play a critical role in enhancing divergent thinking.