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Abstract

Using the electronic brainstorming technique, participants brainstormed ideas in three-person groups. After brainstorming for 15 minutes, participants received a paper transcript that contained all of their generated ideas and then they were asked to individually select the five best ideas. When selecting ideas, participants had an affinity for ideas that were generated early. For instance, 23% of participants selected the very first idea that was generated as their very best idea. Furthermore, over half of the participants (51%) selected one of the first five ideas that were generated as their very best idea. This was notable considering the average group generated 55 ideas. This finding may be beneficial in that it could shorten the brainstorming process.

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When do People Generate their Best Ideas?

Abstract

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