Why Fit Leads to Surprise: An Extension of Cognitive Fit Theory to Creative Problems

Cognitive fit theory (CFT) provides guidance for how best to represent information that is relevant for solving a given problem. CFT is widely established in information systems research and its validity has been demonstrated in a great variety of contexts. However, of the two major types of problems that exist (i.e., routine and creative problems) prior CFT research has addressed only one: routine problems. Creative problems, despite their importance, have been left unaddressed. Therefore, based on the visual sketching model of problem solving, we propose an extension of CFT and thereby demonstrate that cognitive fit can promote problem solving performance also for creative problems. In doing so, we extend the boundary of CFT and add to creativity research a previously unknown cognitive mechanism for promoting creative performance: cognitive fit. Moreover, we contribute to general problem solving research by bridging the gap between problem solving in creativity and information systems research.