2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Creative Virtual Environments:
Effect of Supraliminal Priming on Team Brainstorming
Akshay Bhagwatwar
Indiana University
[email protected]
Anne Massey
Indiana University
[email protected]
Abstract
advancements in Internet and technology-mediated
collaboration tools, electronic brainstorming systems
have emerged as a replacement to traditional
brainstorming mechanisms in organizations [23].
Organizations are exploring platforms that facilitate the
team brainstorming process in ways that not only spark
creativity but also keep team members engaged while
they perform the task [39, 23]. Prior research in the
collaboration space focuses on team performance but
not much research has looked at the design of the
collaboration environments, its effect on individual
cognition and team performance [31, 36]. In addition,
while much research has focused on cognitive demands
placed on individuals by collaboration platforms [1,
36], only few studies suggest innovative techniques to
influence individual cognition and team performance.
3D virtual environments (VEs) offer spaces where
people can work and interact in ways closest to the real
world [3]. They are enabled by simulation technologies
that model or parallel the real world, thus providing a
locus for interaction [42]. In a VE, participants act
within a space generated by the computer. These
simulated spaces can support 3D representations of
objects and users (represented as avatars) [17],
allowing for the generation of realistic environments.
With the increasing virtual nature of their employees,
organizations are interested in exploring the potential
of such environments as platforms that can facilitate
virtual team collaboration.
Much of human behavior involves non-conscious
cognition [5, 7]. Research in information systems has
established that non-conscious cognition influences
core information systems constructs such as behavioral
intention and perceptions of ease of use [46]. This
research shows the importance of non-conscious
cognition in shaping our behavior when using
information technology. Research in cognitive
psychology has investigated the influence of priming
on non-conscious cognition and the behavior of
individuals in a team [5, 6]. Priming is the activation
of mental representations to influence subsequent
behavior [6]. Priming is induced by presenting stimuli
to an individual prior to a task in an attempt to activate
internal representations of certain concepts, attitudes,
or beliefs [6].
Cognitive psychology studies focus on two
primary ways of delivering priming – subliminal
Much of human behavior involves non-conscious
cognition. Research has shown that it is possible to
manipulate non-conscious cognition and behavior
through “priming”, a well-known phenomenon from
cognitive psychology. 3-D Virtual Environments (VEs)
have shown potential as platforms for virtual
collaboration. Visually oriented, VEs represent team
members as avatars. We posit that incorporating visual
elements designed to improve creativity through
priming in VEs can influence team-brainstorming
performance. Using Open Wonderland, we developed
two environments for virtual team brainstorming: one
that looked like a traditional open office environment
and one designed to prime team members for improved
creativity. Participants worked in teams to generate
ideas on a topic. Results show that when teams
generated ideas in creativity primed environment, they
generated significantly more ideas that were of better
quality than when they worked in a neutral priming
environment.
1. Introduction
Globalization
and
rapid
technological
advancements have led to widespread use of
distributed virtual teams in organizations [16, 42]. A
virtual team is a group of geographically dispersed
people who interact through interdependent tasks
guided by a common purpose with the support of
communication technology [10, 48]. These virtual
teams allow organizations to pool diverse expertise and
perspectives regardless of where individuals are
physically located [21, 33]. By leveraging this
expertise and the varied perspective of employees,
organizations can cultivate a creative environment that
can support innovative ideas [47].
Organizations seek ways to improve efficiency,
enhance knowledge capture, and more effectively
manage content [47]. Idea exchange and group
interaction facilitated through mechanisms like
structured brainstorming have been used by
organizations for decades to foster creativity and
effective decision-making [54]. Owing to the
1530-1605/12 $26.00 © 2012 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/HICSS.2013.152
Alan R. Dennis
Indiana University
[email protected]
214
215
(below the threshold) and supraliminal (above the
threshold). We focus on supraliminal priming in which
the individual is aware of the priming stimulus, but not
its purpose. Supraliminal priming can be induced in a
number of ways such as use of specific words, auditory
signals, and visual objects presented to the individuals
in a controlled environment.
In this study, we examine the influence of
creativity priming implemented through the visual
elements of a VE on the brainstorming performance of
a team. Creativity priming is a special type of
supraliminal priming in which the concept of creativity
is induced through use of specific objects, which vary
in their shape, color, and meaning, placed in the 3D
VE. The goal of this study is to understand if such
priming based 3D VEs can influence individual
cognition and team brainstorming performance.
blocking (i.e., the need to wait to take turns during
verbal brainstorming) since team members are working
on their own computers and are not interrupted by
anyone as they put up their ideas on the EBS [28, 45].
In addition, anonymity of team members is known to
improve team idea generation performance since it
allows members to express their ideas without
worrying about identifying themselves [29].
Much prior research on EBS has focused on how
successfully technology can facilitate social
interactions and discusses whether it improves or
impairs idea generation performance [31, 49]. In
addition, much of the research has taken a black-box
approach towards the brainstorming tools, often
ignoring the design aspects of the tool and the
brainstorming environment itself. Recently, studies
have been conducted to understand the role of
individual characteristics and cognition in team
processes [34, 36]. For example, factors such as
member skills, cognitive ability, as well as the EBS
interface have been studied as influencers of team
performance [34, 36]. Research has also looked at
cognitive processes that occur in mind during idea
generation. For example, the Search for Ideas in
Associative Memory (SIAM) model looks at idea
generation as a two-staged cognitive process - the first
stage is the activation of knowledge and the second
stage is the idea production in the mind [44]. In this
study, we specifically focus on electronic
brainstorming facilitated by the different aspects of the
VEs that we discuss in the following paragraphs.
VEs are defined as a synchronous, persistent
network of people, represented as avatars, facilitated
by networked computers [12]. Using advanced
graphics, designers can create VEs that possess
elements such as topography, buildings and/or
landscapes, and objects such as tables or chairs. The
ability of VEs to offer an awareness of space, distance
and co-existence of other participants are key
constituents for making VEs a platform where
organizations can launch programs involving
collaboration between teams of people [12]. VEs are
often designed to mimic complex physical
environments in real world such that individuals,
through their avatar, perceive themselves to be present
in the VE [34, 42]. As such, VEs offer organizations a
rich mediated environment with the potential to
support interactions between employees as well as with
customers [42].
VEs offer a much richer communication medium
than traditional and commonly used communication
mechanisms like emails and instant messaging systems
[42]. VEs not only provide for a visual representation
2. Prior theory
2.1 Electronic brainstorming and 3D virtual
worlds
Organizational teams engage in idea generation
tasks with the goal of creating innovative solutions to
simple or complex problems [30]. The objective is to
generate as many creative ideas as possible such that
some of the ideas can be further evaluated, enhanced,
and implemented [25, 30]. Overall team creativity and
idea generation performance is measured as a function
of idea quantity and quality [20]. Quantity of ideas can
be easily measured by counting the number of ideas the
team generates. However, quality of ideas is a complex
measure and has been conceptualized in prior research
on a number of different dimensions, such as novelty,
workability, relevance, and specificity [24]. Each of
these dimensions illustrates a different aspect of the
overall quality of an idea [24]. Depending on the
context, organizations might require a team to generate
large quantity of ideas or a few high quality ideas [18].
Brainstorming has been used for many decades as
an effective technique for improving team idea
generation performance [29, 45]. Organizations use
brainstorming sessions as an important way to develop
creative ideas [54]. Electronic brainstorming involves
use of technology such as e-mails, text-based chat,
team support systems and/or vendor specific tools to
support the brainstorming process [29]. Electronic
brainstorming systems (EBS) incorporate the best
features of verbal brainstorming by facilitating idea
exchanges and allowing members to build on each
other’s ideas. EBS also minimize effects of production
216
215
of artifacts and users but also provided a convergence
of media that incorporates multiple communication
channels (text, audio, and visual based) [2, 43]. VEs
also provide an ability to the users to customize their
own avatars. In addition, these avatars mimic many
physical characteristics and interaction capabilities of
the users leading to better engagement of users in the
VE [2]. Avatars often are designed to perform a
number of animated gestures that mimic normal human
nonverbal communications [43]. Such nonverbal
gestures can play a vital role in collaborative tasks that
involve users helping identify and explain specic
objects or locations to other users [32].
Many of the available VEs do not offer such
collaboration capabilities directly. However, some VE
platforms offer customized tools or objects such as
notepads that integrate with the VE. Users can
manipulate these using their avatar to communicate
and exchange information with each other. As such,
VEs replicate the look and functionalities of the real
world objects to facilitate a virtual team’s
collaboration. In this study, we used an open source
Java-based platform called Open Wonderland to create
VEs to facilitate the electronic brainstorming process.
15]. These studies have found supraliminal priming to
influence individual behavior on subsequent tasks [15].
Prior research has studied a myriad of ways of
priming individuals. For example, semantic priming,
that is, priming through the use of certain words, is
believed to activate the semantic networks in the brain
[40]. Recent research in the electronic collaboration
space builds on this belief. For example, a recent study
shows that an achievement priming based computer
word-game can improve a team’s idea generation
performance on a brainstorming task [22]. In this case,
the achievement priming operates by activating the
semantic networks associated with success, motivating
the team members to generate as many ideas as
possible on the brainstorming task. The semantic
networks are distributed nodes of information in
conceptual schema represented in the brain [38]. The
networks began to develop as individuals interact with
the world and form a basis of semantic memory that is
interconnected to the previous associations of core
objects, concepts or beliefs [38]. The networks are
activated and brought into working memory
automatically, without conscious thought, when
attributes of the object concept are evoked [40].
Activation of the individual’s mental representation
then influences the subsequent behavior.
2.2 Priming, individual cognition, and team
performance
2.3 Creative visual workspaces
Priming is the activation of internal mental
representations in an attempt to influence subsequent
behavior [6]. Priming through visual objects, goals,
and stereotypes have been known to have an effect on
individual cognition [4, 6]. Using priming induced
through different types of objects or artifacts can
influence the behavior, attitudes, and beliefs of
individuals [6, 26]. Once an individual’s mental
representations have been activated, the subsequent
behavior is influenced.
Cognitive psychology studies focus on two
primary ways of delivering priming – subliminal
(below the threshold of consciousness) and
supraliminal (above the threshold of consciousness)
[6]. In subliminal priming, the individual is exposed to
the stimulus without being aware of it. In supraliminal
priming, even though the individual is aware of the
priming stimulus, he/she is not aware of its purpose.
However, in both cases, the individual is not aware that
the stimulus is activating mental representations [6]. In
the human-computer interaction (HCI) domain,
supraliminal priming experiments have been conducted
to study individual behavior in a virtual setting [14,
Another theoretical thread relevant to our research
is the effect of visual creativity priming on team
performance. In the physical workplace, creative
workspaces incorporate a number of practical features
that lead to creative thinking [8, 13, 19]. Prior literature
has suggested that the design of the physical work
environment and the artifacts present in it has positive
effect on creativity [8]. Even the layout or spatial
arrangement of a creative space needs to be such that it
does not resemble any aspects of the typical boring
desk-chair environment in offices [13]. For example,
high visual complexity, that is, presence of many
objects, can stimulate creativity [41]. Presence of
furniture that supports social interaction and dialogue
can help foster creativity [41].
Factors like presence of windows, visibility of
certain natural elements like trees, flowers, and plants
influence creativity directly or indirectly by affecting
an individual’s mood [50, 52]. For example, a high
level of luminance leads to a positive mood, influences
ideational fluency, and helps improve task performance
[35]. Colors are also known to affect a person’s mood
[53]. Prior research has examined the presence of
certain dominant colors in the office space and their
217
216
effect on human behavior, mood, and performance
[53]. Visual stimulations induced through use of
objects of varied shapes, colors, and sizes help foster
creativity [27]. For example, red is known to be a
stimulating color while blue is a calming color [53]. In
addition, artifacts having certain meaning or context
associated with them can help foster creativity [13, 37].
Workspaces in VEs can embody certain
characteristics of workspaces in real world. In addition,
VEs offer the capability to go much beyond the realworld workspaces to incorporate design and artifacts
that could be difficult to mimic in real-world
environments. As noted before, in order to incorporate
the creativity aspect into the VEs, it is essential to
incorporate objects, colors, themes, and features that
would induce the required mood and motivation
leading to creative behavior in the VE. These
characteristics of the VE represent the creativity
priming elements. Building on prior research, we
developed the creativity priming environment in Open
Wonderland such that it incorporates creativity
inducing elements (i.e., plants, adequate illumination,
and objects of various shapes, sizes, and colors).
ideas is also likely to have similar effects on the quality
of ideas. Prior research has established a positive
correlation between quality and quantity of ideas [11].
While individual exposure is expected to increase the
number of ideas generated by activating semantic
networks related to ideational fluency, we also assert
that activation of these semantic networks will increase
the quality of ideas produced by individuals. Thus,
individual exposure to a creativity prime in the VE
should improve team performance by increasing the
novelty, workability, and relevance of ideas that
individuals generate during an electronic brainstorming
task. Stated formally:
3. Hypotheses
4. Method
Idea generation is an additive and creative task in
which the increase in idea productivity of individual
team members has a positive effect on the overall team
performance [51]. Consequently, if individual team
members generate more ideas and share those with the
team, the total production of ideas increases [51]. Prior
research has shown that human creativity is associated
with semantic networks associated with ideational
fluency leading to a higher number of unique ideas [9].
We argue that visual creativity priming works by
activating these semantic networks. We hypothesize
that individual exposure to visual creativity priming in
the VE will improve the idea generation performance
of a virtual team collaborating on an idea generation
task. Teams will produce more unique ideas after
exposure to creativity primed VE condition than when
the teams are exposed to the neutral primed VE
condition designed to have no effect on team
performance. Stated formally:
4.1. Participants
H2a: Individual exposure to a creativity primed VE
will increase the novelty of ideas produced by a
virtual team.
H2b: Individual exposure to creativity primed VE will
increase the workability of ideas produced by a
virtual team.
H2c: Individual exposure to creativity primed virtual
world will increase the relevance of ideas
produced by a virtual team.
Eighty sophomores and juniors were drawn from
various business school courses and received extra
credit for participating in the study. Subjects were
assigned to four person teams randomly. Thus, a total
of 20 teams participated in the study. The average age
of the participants was 19.1 years and 62% were male.
4.2. Task
The participants performed two different idea
generation tasks, each lasting 15 minutes. In one task,
participants were asked to generate ideas to increase
tourism within the state. In the other task, participants
were asked to generate ideas to reduce pollution.
Participants were instructed to generate as many ideas
as possible, and build off the ideas of others in the
team.
H1: Individual exposure to a creativity primed VE will
increase the number of unique ideas produced by a
virtual team.
4.3. Treatments and Procedures
While number of ideas is an important measure of
team performance; idea quality is also often important.
We argue that intervention that increases the number of
There were two treatments: creativity priming and
neutral priming. All teams performed both treatments,
with the treatment order and task order randomly
218
217
assigned to the teams. In both treatments, virtual
notepads were used by teams to record generated ideas.
Five notepads were offered in the VE - one more than
the number of subjects, in order to have an additional
notepad always available. Subjects could take control
of any one notepad at a time by use of a left mouse
click. The subjects then wrote their ideas on the
notepad. The subjects were instructed to move from
one notepad to other every five minutes during the idea
generation task so that they could build on the ideas of
each other. Once done working on a notepad, the
subjects released the control of a notepad by left mouse
clicking anywhere else in the environment.
Screenshots of both the neutral priming and
creativity priming environments are provided in
Figures 1 and 2 respectively. As illustrated in Figure 1,
the neutral priming environment was designed as a
plain open office environment with no “priming”
objects added. The environment consisted of five
notepads. The creativity priming environment was the
same as the neutral priming environment structurally,
but differed in terms of the various priming objects
incorporated into the design. The creativity priming
environment also consisted of five notepads at the
same locations as in the neutral priming environment.
Consistent with the prior literature on creative
workspaces, we designed the creativity priming
environment such that it incorporated elements that
would improve the team performance on the task. As
illustrated in Figure 2, we incorporated objects of
various colors, shapes, and sizes. We also incorporated
objects of certain meaning or context and those that
can help induce a creative work atmosphere in the VE.
Some examples of such objects include musical
instruments, aircraft models, and other objects
incorporating different sizes and color. As noted
previously, such objects influence human mood in a
way that can induce creativity in task performance.
The experiment employed a repeated-measures
design. The experiment was initiated by formation of
four member teams. Participants were seated in
individual rooms and were given access to the
Wonderland software through an Internet-connected
computer located in the room. In the first phase of the
experiment, the participant’s avatar was located in one
of the priming environments, creativity or neutral,
exposing them to the respective priming condition.
Participants in the same team received the same
priming treatment. Participants then worked with the
other members of their team using the notepads in
Wonderland to generate ideas on one of the tasks,
either tourism or pollution. After completion of the
task, the participants completed a survey asking them
their gender and age. The participants were then moved
to the other environment in Wonderland that exposed
them to the second priming condition. Participants then
generated ideas for the second task. The participants
were then debriefed and the session concluded.
4.4. Dependent measures
Team level idea generation performance,
measured in four ways, was the primary dependent
measure of interest. The first measure of performance
was the number of ideas generated. The ideas
generated on the notepads were analyzed to count the
unique ideas generated by the team. Two raters
independently counted the number of unique ideas
generated by each team. Each rater came up with a
total number of unique ideas for each of the transcripts.
In total, the raters agreed on 147 of 152 unique ideas.
Therefore, inter-rater reliability was 96.7 percent.
We also analyzed the quality of ideas generated –
measured using three aspects of idea quality. While
there are several different rating scales to assess idea
quality, we measured it using the approach of Dean et
al. [20]. We used three of their dimensions: novelty,
workability, and relevance. We omitted the specificity
dimension because the coding of our data was
generalized to a master idea list for evaluation and thus
lost specificity. The three retained measures had two
sub-dimensions each. Each idea on the master idea list
was rated for all six sub-dimensions. Two raters
independently scored the first 25 ideas from both the
tourism and pollution master idea list on each of these
six sub-dimensions. A total of 300 quality ratings were
obtained. The raters agreed on 284 of 300 ratings.
Therefore, inter-rater reliability was established at 94.6
percent. Cronbach’s alphas were obtained for each of
the three dimensions based upon their two subdimensions. Novelty was comprised of originality and
paradigm relatedness ( = .84), workability was
comprised of acceptability and implementability ( =
.82), and relevance was comprised of applicability and
effectiveness ( = .76).
4.5. Analyses
All statistical analyses were completed in SPSS
PASW Statistics 19.0. A repeated-measures GLM was
used to examine differences between the achievement
and neutral priming conditions.
5. Results
219
218
Hypothesis 2a was supported. Teams produced
significantly higher number of novel ideas in the
creativity priming condition than the neutral priming
condition (F(1, 17) = 10.28, p < 0.01). The effect size
was large with Cohen’s d = 1. Once again, the order in
which the team received the priming conditions did not
affect the novelty of ideas produced (F(1, 32) = .598, p
= .45), nor did the order in which they completed the
pollution or tourism task (F(1, 32) = .129, p = .722).
Hypothesis 2b was supported. Teams produced
significantly more workable ideas in the creativity
priming condition than the neutral priming condition
(F(1, 17) = 7.78, p < 0.05). The effect size was medium
with Cohen’s d = 0.67. The order in which the team
received the priming conditions did not affect the
workability of ideas produced (F(1, 32) = 1.072, p =
.316), nor did the order in which they completed the
pollution or tourism task (F(1, 32) = 1.75, p = .204).
Hypothesis 2c was supported. Teams produced
significantly more relevant ideas in the creativity
priming condition than the neutral priming condition
(F(1, 17) = 6.32, p < 0.05). The effect size was small
with Cohen’s d = 0.41. The order in which the team
received the priming conditions did not affect the
relevance of ideas produced (F(1, 32) = 0.057, p =
.814), nor did the order in which they completed the
pollution or tourism task (F(1, 32) = 0.637, p = .437).
priming induced through the visual elements of a VE
can improve the brainstorming performance of a team.
We found that the team produced more unique ideas
that were more novel, workable, and relevant in the
creativity primed environment as compared to the
neutral primed environment that was designed to have
no effect on team performance.
The effect size of 0.54 for the creativity prime is
medium. The effect size for the quality of ideas ranged
from large (Cohen’s d = 1) for the novelty of ideas to
small (Cohen’s d = 0.41) for the relevance of the ideas.
Table 1 provides further statistical details about the
quality ratings of the ideas produced by the teams.
Much prior research has focused on EBS tools and
their effect on team performance. Our study adds to
this literature in two ways. First, we use 3D VEs as a
collaboration space for virtual teams and demonstrate
the use of a brainstorming tool as an effective way of
facilitating team creativity in the VE. Second, we show
that the design elements and objects in the VE have an
effect on individual cognition and team performance.
3D VEs have emerged as effective virtual team
collaboration environments with two unique qualities.
First, these environments enable the team members to
manipulate and interact with the various visual
elements of the VE. Second, the VE also provides
multiple brainstorming tools that are easily integrated
into the VE. In addition, as these tools are part of the
VE, the users can manipulate their appearance, size,
and relative position of the tool to the avatar. This
unique combination of interactivity and the feeling of
immersion provided by the VE differentiate it from the
traditional brainstorming tools, which are generally
stand-alone computer applications.
An important aspect of team collaboration and
brainstorming that this study highlights is the design of
the collaboration environment. While much prior
research has focused on individual and group factors
that affect brainstorming performance, the environment
in which the brainstorming takes place is often
ignored. With the increasing virtual nature of
organizational work, collaboration platforms such as
Open Wonderland can play a critical role in bringing
virtual team members together in a space. This study
illustrates that by incorporating certain artifacts into
the design of the VE, individual cognition, and
consequentially team performance can be affected.
6. Discussion
6.1. Implications for research
A summary of the results is provided in Table 1.
Participants produced significantly more unique ideas
that scored higher on novelty, workability, and
relevance following the creativity priming treatment.
5.1. Unique ideas
Hypothesis 1 was supported. Teams produced
significantly more unique ideas in the creativity
priming condition than the neutral priming condition
(F(1,17) = 12.802, p < 0.01). The effect size was
medium with Cohen’s d = .54. The order in which the
teams were exposed to the priming conditions did not
affect the number of unique ideas generated (F(1, 17) =
0.071, p = 0.793), nor did task order for the pollution
and tourism task (F(1,17) = 0.118, p = .736).
5.2. Quality of ideas
This study has several implications for the
research in the technology mediated collaboration
space. We employed a specific type of priming to
Our study provides evidence that creativity
220
219
create a VE that would lead to better team
brainstorming performance. Future research could look
at specific types of priming induced through various
VE objects. Instead of being generic priming, like
deployed here, future research can experiment with
priming specific to the context of the task. For
example, for the brainstorming task to increase tourism
that was used in this study, a VE consisting of priming
objects relevant to the context of tourism can be
incorporated. Experiments with task specific priming
environments could help develop an understanding of
how such customized VEs can be employed in
organizations belonging to different domains.
The experimental procedure used in this study
consisted of two idea generation tasks. The participants
were subjected to the priming environment followed
by the initiation of the idea generation task. Future
research can focus on devising ways to better integrate
priming into the 3D VEs such that priming occurs realtime. An integration of the priming stimulus within the
flow of brainstorming activities might result into even
greater effect of priming. In addition, teams would not
have to spend time in getting exposed to the priming
environment before initiating the brainstorming task.
This study employed visual creativity priming to
improve team performance on an idea generation task.
Future research can focus on other team activities such
as decision-making and devise ways to employ
priming to facilitate or improve team decision-making.
Priming could be employed to improve different
aspects of decision making such as the quality of
decisions made, the time required to make the decision,
etc. Similarly, priming based VEs could also be used to
facilitate or improve the efficiency of other team
interactions including team meetings and discussions.
An interesting aspect about VEs is that they are
persistent, implying that the environments exist even
after the conclusion of the brainstorming activity. After
the end of a short brainstorming session, the VE still
exists. Future research can look at ways to leverage
this characteristic of the VE to create avenues for
asynchronous
brainstorming.
Asynchronous
brainstorming could help team members to be more
productive since they can return to the brainstorming
environment whenever they wish. The brainstorming
tools, such as the notepad that we employed in this
study, also persist in the VE. Future research can focus
on ways to employ this asynchronous brainstorming
such that the team members can use the persisting VEs
to refer to the ideas generated by other team members
and build on them to generate more ideas.
We used a text-based brainstorming pad embedded
in the 3D VE as the brainstorming tool. VEs like
Second Life and Open Wonderland allow independent
developers to contribute tools that can be easily
integrated with the virtual space. With rapid
development of more brainstorming tools, we can
expect advanced tools that could better foster virtual
team collaboration. Future research can focus on a
comparative analysis of such brainstorming tools that
might facilitate different aspects of the brainstorming
process.
6.2. Implications for practice
We believe that the results presented in this study
have several practical implications for organizations.
We focus on a crucial aspect of the brainstorming
process, that is, the design of the brainstorming
environment. Development firms that create innovative
brainstorming platforms can leverage the findings of
this study to influence the brainstorming environment
design such that it influences individual cognition and
team performance. Design firms that help other
organizations create such brainstorming environments
can build on the findings of this study to create various
priming environments suited for particular team tasks.
By integrating different 3D objects that induce a
particular type of priming, these design firms would be
in a better position to market their products to the
intended customers.
Organizations or development companies that
offer 3D VEs similar to Wonderland can leverage the
results of this study to develop future virtual
environments that offer advanced collaboration
capabilities. During the course of finding an
appropriate platform for this study, we noticed that not
all VEs integrate chatting systems or idea generation
pads into the environments. While such features are
minor addition for a virtual space, they could
significantly
improve
team
idea
generation
performance and collaboration capabilities.
While this study used specific objects placed in the
environments
to
induce
creativity
priming,
organizations can think of other innovative ways of
creating priming environments. For example,
organizations can try inducing priming through the
design of the avatar. Similarly, the design of the
brainstorming tool such as the notepad that we used in
this study could be manipulated to induce specific type
of priming. As such, instead of inducing the priming
through the environmental objects, organizations can
use the brainstorming tool or the user’s avatar as the
priming medium.
Advertising firms and media agencies used various
kinds of interactive web-based advertisements to
221
220
[5] J.A. Bargh and T.L. Chartrand, “The unbearable automaticity of
being”, American Psychologist, 54, 7, 1999, pp. 462-479.
market various products. These firms use various
methods such as advertisements placed on social media
websites or advertisements shown before a free
YouTube video. These advertisements often involve
some kind of interaction between the user and the
objects used in the advertisement. Such advertising
firms can consider introducing specific priming
artifacts into the design of their advertisement that
could influence the customer’s perception of the
marketed product. Such advertisements could also
provide the customers with a richer experience while
interacting with the online advertisement.
[6] J.A. Bargh and T.L. Chartrand, Studying the mind in the middle:
A practical guide to priming and automaticity research, in Handbook
of Research Methods in Social Psychology, H. Reis and C. Judd,
Editors. 2000, Cambridge University: New York
[7] J.A. Bargh, P.M. Gollwitzer, A. Lee-Chai, K. Barndollar, and R.
Trötschel, “The automated will: Nonconscious activation and pursuit
of behavioral goals”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
81, 6, 2001, pp. 1014-1027.
[8] F. Becker, “Organizational Ecology and Knowledge Networks”,
California Management Review, 49, 2, 2007, pp. 42-61.
[9] T. Bossomaier, M. Harre, A. Knittel, and A. Snyder, “A Semantic
Network Approach to the Creativity Quotient (CQ)”, Creativity
Research Journal, 21, 1, 2009, pp. 64 – 71.
7. Conclusion
[10] M.C. Boudreau, K.D. Loch, D. Robey, and D. Straub, “Going
global: Using information
technology to advance the
competitiveness of the virtual transnational organization”, Academy
of Management Executive, 12, 4, 1998, pp. 120–128.
In this study, we investigated the effect of creativity
priming, induced through the objects of a 3D VE, on
individual cognition and team idea generation
performance. The results suggest that the teams
generated more number of ideas when they worked in
the creativity priming VE as compared to when they
worked in the neutral priming VE. We also found that
the quality of ideas, measured using the novelty,
workability, and relevance parameters, was
significantly better in the creativity priming VE. The
effect size for the influence of creativity priming on
team performance was medium (Cohen’s d = 0.54).
The results of this study have several implications for
the design of virtual spaces for team collaboration. In
addition, the study opens many avenues for future
research studies that can investigate (a) the use of
different types of priming induced through the objects
in the VE, and (b) the relationship between different
types of primes and the types of task performed by
teams (e.g, decision making). Organizations can
explore the use of such 3D VEs for facilitating virtual
team collaboration. By incorporating specific elements
into the VE, organizations can achieve the desired type
and level of output from the virtual teams.
[11] R.O. Briggs, and B.A. Reinig, “Bounded Ideation Theory: A
New Model of the Relationship Between Ideaquantity and Ideaquality during Ideation. in Hawaii International Conference on
System Sciences. 2007, Hawaii.
[12] E. Castronova, Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of
Online Games. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, London,
2005.
[13] C. Ceylan, J. Dul, and S. Aytac, “Can the office environment
stimulate a manager’s creativity?”, Human Factors and Ergonomics
in Manufacturing and Service Industries, 18, 6, 2008, pp. 589-602.
[14] P. Chalfoun and C. Frasson, Showing the Positive Influence of
Subliminal Cues on Learner’s Performance and Intuition: An ERP
Study. Intelligent Tutoring Systems, ed. V. Aleven, J. Kay, and J.
Mostow. Vol. 6095. Springer Berlin /Heidelberg, 2010
[15] P. Chalfoun, and C. Frasson, “Subliminal cues while teaching:
HCI technique for enhanced learning”, Advances in HumanComputer Interaction, 2011, pp. 1-15.
[16] K.M. Chudoba, E. Wynn, M. Lu, and M.B. Watson-Manheim,
“How virtual are we? Measuring virtuality and understanding its
impact in a global organization”, Information Systems Journal, 15, 4,
2005, pp. 279-306.
8. References
[17] E.F. Churchill, and D. Snowdon, “Collaborative Virtual
Environments: An Introductory Review of Issues and Systems”,
Virtual Reality: Research, Development and Applications, 3, 1998,
pp. 3-15.
[1] P. Antunes and A. Ferreira, “Developing Collaboration
Awareness Support from a Cognitive Perspective”. in Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences. 2011 Kauai, Hawaii.
[18] T. Connolly, L.M. Jessup, and J.S. Valacich, “Effects of
Anonymity and Evaluative Tone on Idea Generation in ComputerMediated Groups”, Management Science, 36, 6, 1990, pp. 689-703.
[2] J.N. Bailenson, A.C. Beall, J. Loomis, and J. lascovich, “Gaze
and task performance in shared virtual environments”, The Journal
of Visualization and Computer Animation, 13, 5, 2002, pp. 313–320.
[19] T.M. Davenport, “Why Office Design Matters”, Harvard
Business School Working Knowledge, 2005.
[3] W.S. Bainbridge, “The Scientific Research Potential of Virtual
Worlds”, Science, 317, 2007, pp. 472-476.
[20] D.L. Dean, J.M. Hender, T.L. Rodgers, and E.L. Santanen,
“Identifying Quality, Novel, and Creative Ideas: Constructs and
Scales for Idea Evaluation”, Journal of the Association for
Information Systems, 7, 10, 2006, pp. 646.
[4] J.A. Bargh, M. Chen, and L. Burrows, “Automaticity of social
behavior: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on
action”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 2, 1996,
pp. 230-244.
[21] A.R. Dennis, and J.S. Valacich, “Electronic brainstorming:
Illusions and patterns of productivity”, Information Systems
Research, 10, 4, 1999, pp. 375.
222
221
[22] A.R. Dennis, R.K. Minas, and A. Bhagwatwar, “Sparking
Creativity: Improving Electronic Brainstorming with Individual
Cognitive Priming”, in Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences. 2012. Kauai, Hawaii.
[39] A. Majchrzak, R.E. Rice, A. Malhotra, K. Nelson, and S. Ba,
“Technology Adaptation: The Case of a Computer-Supported InterOrganizational Virtual Team”, MIS Quarterly, 24, 4, 2000, pp. 569600.
[23] P.M. Di Gangi, M.M. Wasko, and R.E. Hooker, “Getting
Customers' Ideas to Work for You: Learning from Dell How to
Succeed with Online User Innovation Communities”, MIS Quarterly
Executive, 9, 4, 2010, pp. 213-228.
[40] A. Martin, and L.L. Chao, “Semantic memory and the brain:
structure and processes”, Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 11, 2,
2001, pp. 194-201.
[41] J.M. McCoy, and G.W. Evans, “The potential role of the
physical environment in fostering creativity”, Creativity Research
Journal, 14, 2002, pp. 409–426.
[24] M. Diehl, and W. Stroebe, “Productivity loss in brainstorming
groups: Toward the solution of a riddle”, Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, 53, 3, 1987, pp. 497-509.
[42] M. Montoya, A. P. Massey, and N. Lockwood, "3D
Collaborative Virtual Environments: Linking Collaborative
Behaviors and Team Performance," Decision Sciences, 42, 2, 2011,
pp. 451-476.
[25] R. Drazin, M.A. Glynn, and R.K. Kazanjian, “Multilevel
Theorizing about Creativity in Organizations: A Sensemaking
Perspective”, The Academy of Management Review, 24, 2, 1999, pp.
286-307.
[26] R.H. Fazio, D.M. Sanbonmatsu, M.C. Powell, and F.R. Kardes,
“On the automatic activation of attitudes”, Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 50, 2, 1986, pp. 229-238.
[43] R. Moore, N. Ducheneaut, and E. Nickell, “Doing Virtually
Nothing: Awareness and Accountability in Massively Multiplayer
Online Worlds”, Computer Supported Cooperative Work, 16, 3,
2006, pp. 265-305.
[27] R.S. Friedman, A. Fishbach, J. Forster, and L. Werth,
“Attentional Priming Effects on Creativity”, Creativity Research
Journal, 15, 2, 2003, pp. 277-286.
[44] B.A. Nijstad, and W. Stroebe, “How the Group Affects the
Mind: A Cognitive Model of Idea Generation in Groups”,
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 3, 2006, pp. 186-213.
[28] R.B. Gallupe, L.M. Bastianutti, and W.H. Cooper, “Unblocking
brainstorms”, Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 1, 1991, pp. 137142.
[45] J.F. Nunamaker, R.O. Briggs, D.D. Mittleman, D.R. Vogel, and
P.A. Balthazard, “Lessons from a dozen years of group support
systems research: a discussion of lab and field findings”, Journal of
Management Information Systems, 13, 3, 1996, pp. 163-207.
[29] R.B. Gallupe, A.R. Dennis, W.H. Cooper, J.S. Valacich, L.M.
Bastianutti, and J.F. Nunamaker Jr., “Electronic Brainstorming and
Group Size”, The Academy of Management Journal, 35, 2, 1992, pp.
350-369.
[46] A. Ortiz de Guinea, and M.L. Markus, “Why break the habit of
a lifetime? Rethinking the roles of intention, habit, and emotion in
continuing information technology use”, MIS Quarterly, 33, 3, 2009,
pp. 433-444.
[30] M.J. Garfield, N.J. Taylor, A.R. Dennis, and J.W. Satzinger,
“Research report: Modifying Paradigms - individual differences,
creativity techniques, and exposure to ideas in group idea
generation”, Information Systems Research, 12, 3 2001, pp. 322-333.
[47] P.B. Paulus, and H. Yang, “Idea Generation in Groups: A Basis
for Creativity in Organizations”, Organizational Behavior and
Human Decision Processes, 82,1, 2000, pp. 76-87.
[31] W.G. Heninger, A.R. Dennis, and K.M. Hilmer, “Research
Note: Individual Cognition and Dual-Task Interference in Group
Support Systems”, Information Systems Research, 17, 4, 2006, pp.
415-424.
[48] A. Powell, G. Piccoli, and B. Ives, “Virtual teams: A review of
current literature and directions for future research”, The Database
for Advances in Information Systems, 35, 1, 2004, pp. 6–36.
[49] E.F. Rietzschel, B.A. Nijstad, and W. Stroebe, “Relative
accessibility of domain knowledge and creativity: The effects of
knowledge activation on the quantity and originality of generated
ideas”, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 6, 2007, pp.
933-946.
[32] J. Hindmarsh, C. Heath, and M. Fraser, “(Im)materiality, virtual
reality and interaction: Grounding the ‘virtual’ in studies of
technology in action”, The Sociological Review, 54, 4, 2006, pp.
795–817.
[33] S.S. Kahai, E. Carroll, and R. Jestice, “Team collaboration in
virtual worlds”, SIGMIS Database, 38, 4, 2007, pp. 61-68.
[50] S. Shibata, and N. Suzuki, “Effects of an indoor plant on
creative task performance and mood”, Scandinavian Journal of
Psychology, 45, 2004, pp. 373–381.
[34] J. Kim, J. Song, and D.R. Jones, “The Cognitive Selection
Framework of Knowledge Acquisition Stategies in Virtual
Communities”, in 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences, 2010.
[51] I.D. Steiner, Team process and productivity. New York:
Academic Press, 1972.
[52] N.J. Stone, “Windows and environmental cues on performance
and mood”, Environment and Behavior, 30, 1998, pp. 306–321.
[35] I. Knez, “Effects of indoor lighting on mood and cognition”,
Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 1995, pp. 39–51.
[53] N.J. Stone, “Environmental view and color for a simulated
telemarketing task”, Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23, 2003,
pp. 63–78.
[36] G.L. Kolfschoten, “Cognitive Load in Collaboration –
Brainstorming”, in Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences. 2011. Kauai, Hawaii.
[54] R.I. Sutton, and A. Hargadon, “Brainstorming Groups in
Context”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 41, 1996, pp. 685-718.
[37] T. Kristensen, “The Physical Context of Creativity”, Creativity
and Innovation Management, 13, 2, 2004, pp. 89-96.
[38] M. Lucas, “Semantic priming without association: A metaanalytic review”, Psychonomic Bulletin Review, 7, 4, 2000, pp. 618630.
223
222
Figure 1. Screenshots of the neutral priming environment in Open Wonderland
Figure 2. Screenshots of the creativity priming environment in Open Wonderland
Table 1. Means, standard deviations, and results of statistical analyses
Measures
Number of Unique Ideas
Team Novelty Score
Team Workability Score
Team Relevance Score
n
20 teams
20 teams
20 teams
20 teams
Creativity Prime
Mean
Std.
48.20
10.17
11.34
2.49
29.82
9.14
35.35
7.46
224
223
Neutral Prime
Mean
Std.
42.25
9.25
8.52
2.99
24.95
4.52
32.20
7.95
F
12.80
10.28
7.78
6.32
p-value
0.004
0.007
0.03
0.04