Moments of creative inspiration are critical pivot points that mark the transition from creative ideation to actualization of an idea. We hypothesize that the state of being aesthetically moved, a critical moment during aesthetic reception, is similar to the state of being creatively inspired. Using a novel experimental paradigm in which participants write short creative texts in response to visual prompts, we are testing the potential for aesthetically moving experiences to prime creative inspiration. A long-term goal of this work is to understand how engagement with aesthetic materials might affect an individual’s  creative production in both scientific and educational settings.

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