Personal Handbook of Creative Thinking Nov. 2013 | Page 7

LATENT

INHIBITION
“Irrelevance can make you mad”1

Latent inhibition is the ability to ignore surrounding exposures that are
irrelevant to your current needs. It is an unconscious ability that is observed
in many species. In animals it interferes with their ability to hunt.2
“Focusing on every sight, sound, and thought that enters your mind can drive a person crazy.”3
Although the ability to ignore irrelevant information is good for your
mental health, current research is questioning whether it has negative
effects on creativity. Research teams at Harvard and U of T are beginning to
find links between those who have low levels of latent inhibition and those
who are creative achievers. Previously low latent inhibition was classified
with psychosis but research now shows it is linked to original and creative
thinking. In this way the link between creativity and madness is questioned
as seen in artists, musician and writers. In the cases of these creators
ideas are enhanced by stimuli from the surrounding environment.4 “This
means that creative individuals remain in contact with the extra information
constantly streaming in from the environment,”5 says co-author and U of
T psychology professor Jordan Peterson. He continues to say, “The normal
person classifies an object, and then forgets about it, even though that
object is much more complex and interesting than he or she thinks. The
creative person, by contrast, is always open to new possibilities.”6 ?Shelley
Carson, a lecturer of Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts says that “Scientists
have wondered for a long time why madness and creativity seem linked,” “It
appears likely that low levels of latent inhibition and exceptional flexibility
in thought might predispose to mental illness under some conditions and to
creative accomplishment under others.”7
Figure 6 reveals the interplay of IQ, creativity and latent inhibition levels.
Robert Lubow who has done intensive studies on the different levels of
latent Inhibition across various species concludes that latent inhibition is
phenomenon that can vary across a range of tasks and affects these tasks in
a variety of ways.8 In understanding the proven effects on humans, despite
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