"provided a stimulus" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It means that something has given or provided a source of motivation or inspiration for someone else to act or think in a certain way. Example: The new teacher provided a stimulus for her students to engage in critical thinking by assigning thought-provoking essays.
The learning had little to do with the Winter Olympics game but it provided a stimulus to get children excited about learning".
As in Russia, the new technology provided a stimulus for the revolt against verismo ("realism") in the Italian theatre at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the early decades of the 19th century, the finest English actors, notably Edmund Kean, William Charles Macready, and Charles Kemble, visited the United States and provided a stimulus for the local actors with whom they worked.
It was assumed that the semen provided a stimulus for this expansion, but it was not known if contact was essential nor if all the parts of the semen were required.
The IELTS Test in this study provided a stimulus, which oriented students towards the study of productive skills, which is a positive step forward for the test takers' development of a rounded language proficiency in the four skills.
Byzantine Greek art, which grew from classical art and adapted the pagan motifs in the service of Christianity, provided a stimulus to the art of many nations.
And yet, falling oil prices provide a stimulus of over a trillion dollars to the global economy.
Certainly the violent couple provides a stimulus.
It will provide a stimulus going to Ethiopia, which I think he needs.
Many infrastructure projects are being pushed through in the hope they will provide a stimulus.
"It makes sense to provide a stimulus and to do it in a timely way," said Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee.
