A surprising correlational statistics between smoke cannabis and creative thinking levels has been found by novel enquiry , indicating that the drug has no effect on originative thought – but does bear on how creative the user ensure themselves and others .
A team of researchers carry out a number of experimentation into how moderate everyday cannabis use can affect users ' power to think creatively and guess the creativity degree of others .
Inspired by the plebeian percept that cannabis has sure creativity - enhance properties , subject area author Christopher Barnes , a Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor at the University of Washington , states the indigence to inquire the cognitive effects of the drug since it was legalize in multiple US states .
“ We thought there might be some more nuance to the topic , and that the research lit should be expanded accordingly . A natural first step was to examine marihuana and creativity , given the coarse opinion that they are tie in . ” Barnestold Psypost .
The team inscribe 191 player from Washington State Department to take part in the first of two method acting of investigation . The task required the group to generate as many creative usage as they could for a brick , either within 15 minutes of smoke hemp or after 12 60 minutes of abstaining . Participants were enquire to do the project demand of the cogitation in their own time and render their results remotely .
Creativity stage were rated by an independent rating squad and given a creativity score based on the usefulness of the musical theme as well as how unequaled they were . Method one found that while stone participants reported increase joviality , their cannabis exercise had no meaning core on their creativity levels .
For the 2nd method , the squad gathered a different group of 140 participant from the same state of matter . This mathematical group was ask to imagine they were working for a consulting house and had to help generate ideas for increase the revenue of a local striation named File Drawers . The radical then had to judge the creativity levels of other people ’s ideas , which were bring about by a whole dissimilar creative thinking task .
This method acting detect the same results of increased conviviality , with no effect on creativity level . However , this method retrieve a meaning addition in creativity self - evaluation and other - evaluation after cannabis utilization .
While the conclusions of these studies betoken an effect on cognitive function as a resultant of cannabis habit , there are a bit of variables that could be impacting their findings .
The newspaper reported a large mutant in what would be conceive " restrained " cannabis use between participant , designate that some were taking in considerably more than others . The cannabis used throughout was also sourced by the participants themselves and was not provided by the enquiry team , mean there may have been variables associated with the potency and strains used .
Despite the minor limitations of the studies , research like this into the effects of cannabis oncognitive functionis of growing importance as the number of user across US states increase withlegislation change .
The study is published in theJournal of Applied Psychology .
