Reaction Time in Creative Problem Solving and the Role of Emotion on it in one of the Military Universities Duty Staff

One of the most critical issues in military environments is the reaction time (RT) to creative problems solving (CPS) and making decisions in this regard. One of the factors influencing the reaction time is inducing negative and positive effects. Besides, the moderating role of problem-solving synchronous variables can overshadow the interactive effect on RT.

The present study aimed to to evaluate the effect of positive and negative affect priming on the RT of CPS.

The method used for the study incsluded a pre-test, post-test experimental study on a control group; which was conducted in two stages within a four-day interval in 2019-20. All personnel working at military-medical universities participated in the study, from which 24 people were selected for an experimental study by convenience sampling method. After completing the feature’s problem-solving checklist and Remote Associates Test (RAT), in the second stage of the experiment, the research units were randomly divided into three groups of positive, negative, and neutral emotion induction. For data analysis, the mixed intra-intergroup factor analysis was used. Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS-26 at a significance level of 0.05.

In the present study, only the hypothesis of the difference between Reaction times to the CPS test of RAT in the pre-test and post-test stages was confirmed in the three groups of positive, negative and neutral induction (F = 3.58, α <0.05 and n =24).

The results showed a significant difference between the RT to the CPS test of RAT in the pre and post-test stages in three groups of positive, negative, and neutral induction. Conclusions showed that emotional training could help RT to CPS. Thus, it is suggested that this training be placed on the agenda, especially in the military.