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Results remain mixed regarding the effects of incubation tasks on divergent thinking, a type of creativity, generally assessed via the Unusual Uses Task (UUT). Using a within-subjects design, we compared 64 participants' performance on the UUT, after four different incubation tasks: copy a simple painting, copy a complex painting, 0-back-task, and rest. We hypothesized that an arts-related activity during incubation (here: copy a painting) would boost subsequent creativity. Five different creativity scores were computed from the raw UUT data, and we provide a step-by-step guide for how to compute these: fluency, flexibility, originality, subjective creativity, and usefulness. Creativity was only modulated by sex; women outperformed men on creative fluency. No other variables, nor the incubations, modulated any of participants' creativity scores. A within-group comparison showed that the unusual uses of our all-Iranian participants were more useful than unique, echoing previous work suggesting differences between Eastern and Western conceptions of creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People differ in their responsiveness to aesthetic experiences. It is important to understand the role of culture in such individual differences, yet existing tools for assessing aesthetic responsiveness largely focus on North American and European cultures. We created a Farsi translated and culturally adapted version of the Aesthetic Responsiveness Assessment (AReA) and evaluated its psychometric properties. Construct validity and internal consistency were evaluated in a sample of 1,586 participants. Moreover, convergent and discriminant validity were investigated using the Behavioral Avoidance/Inhibition Scales (BIS-BAS), Big Five Inventory-2, Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ), and the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS). Further, the test–retest reliability of AReA was examined for the first time in a subsample of participants (n = 160) who answered the questionnaire again after 6 months. In addition to an acceptable structural validity (comparative fit index, CFI =.905), the Farsi version of AReA showed good internal consistency. Cronbach's α for the overall score was.848 and varied between.64 and.81 for subscales. Concerning convergent and discriminant validity, AReA subscales were positively correlated with subscales of TEPS, the Emotion Evocation subscale of BMRQ, Behavioral Avoidance, and Openness, and were unrelated to Behavioral Inhibition, Conscientiousness, and Negative Emotionality. Moreover, AReA subscales showed different patterns of correlations with other questionnaires. Finally, all subscales of AReA showed high test–retest reliability, ranging from.715 to.778. Our results confirm the validity of the Farsi version of AReA and provide a new measure of aesthetic responsiveness, useful in Farsi-speaking communities, which facilitates cross-cultural research in empirical aesthetics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]