Episode 69: John Kounios - “Aha!” The Science of Creative Breakthrough

27 Jan

A professor of psychology at Drexel University in Philadelphia USA John Kounios is a world expert on understanding “aha moments”. Using fMRI scanners to map brain activity, John has shed new light on the way people are able to get new insight on challenges they’re facing, either through the classic “aha-moment” or through deliberate analysis.

His findings crystallise many of the themes that have emerged from earlier episodes of our Neurocreativity season including:

The importance of mind wandering

The role of psychological safety

The difference between exploratory and exploitative thinking

John Kounios has held research and faculty positions at Princeton University, Tufts University, the Boston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University. He has published research on a variety of topics in cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including knowledge representation, insight in problem solving, creativity, and episodic memory.

Join us as he tells the story of his breakthrough research and how to set yourself up to experience more “aha-moments.”

LINKS:

John Kounios- Special Guest