TITLE:
The Physiological Response to Drawing and Its Relation to Attention and Relaxation
AUTHORS:
Gareth H. Loudon, Gina M. Deininger
KEYWORDS:
Creativity, Heart Rate Variability, Attention, Arousal, Valence
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science,
Vol.7 No.3,
March
6,
2017
ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this study was to analyze the physiological response of participants during a creative activity and compare the results to their physiological response during states of high attention and relaxation. Our interest was not only about the relationship between creativity and attention, but also about the role of valence and arousal. We used heart rate variability (HRV) as our physiological measure. We asked twenty-two participants to undertake three activities: a stroop test; a relaxation activity; and a drawing activity. After each activity, the participants were asked to reflect on their levels of attention, relaxation and enjoyment. The results showed significant physiological differences between the three activities: mean heart rate, F(2, 42) = 8.96, p = 0.001; log-transformed low frequency HRV power, F(1.43, 30.07) = 18.12, p