Main Ideas
Over the last decade, cognitive enhancing prescription drug usage among college students has risen dramatically. Cognitive enhancing drugs like Adderall, are used to treat patients with attention hyperactive deficient disorder. There had been other studies on the effect of cognitive enhancing drugs on creativity, but each study contradicted another study done before it. So, authors Martha J. Farah, Caroline Haimm, Geena Sankoorikal, and Anjan Chatterjee decided to conduct an experimental study into the effects of cognitive enhancing drugs on creativity.

Research Method

The research method used in this study was experimental. More specifically, the researchers used a method called a double-blind placebo-controlled study. The advantages of an experimental study is that the researchers can control certain variables within the control group. The controlling of variables allow the researchers to draw conclusion on the cause and effects of the study. A double-blind placebo-controlled study follow a strict set of procedures that enable researchers and peers to conclude that the data collect is accurate and reliable. In this form of study, neither party knows which individuals will be receiving the drug and who won’t be.

The researchers took sixteen individuals, four men and twelve were women, all between the ages of twenty one and thirty. Researchers made sure that known of the individuals in the study had a history of psychiatric or neurological disorders. The researchers also weeded out people that had taken narcotics or consumed enough caffeine to be excluded. They covered their bases to be sure their results couldn’t be refuted.

After the participants were given the placebo or Adderall, they were subject to certain test to determine whether their creativity was impaired. One of these tests was the remote association task, which is when a