From Abstract to Applied: How Language Sophistication Shapes Creative Ideation for Novel Technologies

Understanding and creativity are intertwined cognitive processes that shape ideation and innovation potential in interdisciplinary teams. This article investigates how varying levels of language sophistication shape students’ conceptualizations of technology, guiding them toward either high-level abstract reasoning or concrete, domain-specific thinking. Through an experimental design involving 63 participants from diverse academic backgrounds, we examined how simplified, intermediate, and technical explanations of terahertz sensing technology affected participants' cognitive focus and creative application generation. Our findings demonstrate that language sophistication manipulates psychological distance and construal level: simplified explanations induce high-level construal leading to benefit-focused understanding and abstract applications, while technical explanations induce low-level construal resulting in mechanism-focused thinking and domain-specific ideas. Technical language also creates cognitive fixation effects that constrain cross-domain creativity, while abstract language serves as an effective de-fixation strategy. Intermediate complexity explanations yielded optimal ratings for perceived technological potential, suggesting a balance between accessibility and depth. Based on these findings, we propose a staged ideation model that strategically sequences language complexity to harness both divergent and convergent thinking processes. This research extends Construal Level Theory into innovation management contexts and provides practical tools for optimizing creative processes in interdisciplinary environments.