In the present research, the authors hypothesized that additive counterfactual thinking mind-sets, activated by adding new antecedent elements to reconstruct reality, promote an expansive processing style that broadens conceptual attention and facilitates performance on creative generation tasks, whereas subtractive counterfactual thinking mind-sets, activated by removing antecedent elements to reconstruct reality, promote a relational processing style that enhances tendencies to consider relationships and associations and facilitates performance on analytical problem-solving tasks. A reanalysis of a published data set suggested that the counterfactual (...) mind-set primes previously used in the literature tend to evoke subtractive counterfactuals. Studies 1 and 2 then demonstrated that subtractive counterfactual mind-sets enhanced performance on analytical problem-solving tasks relative to additive counterfactual mind-sets, whereas Studies 3 and 4 found that additive counterfactual mind-sets enhanced performance on creative generation tasks relative to subtractive counterfactual mind-sets. (shrink)

Building on findings that self-uncertainty motivates attempts to restore certainty about the self, particularly in ways that highlight one’s distinctiveness from others, we show that self-uncertainty, relative to uncertainty in general, increases creative generation among individualists. In Studies 1 to 3, high (but not low) individualists performed better on a creative generation task after being primed with self-uncertainty as opposed to general uncertainty. In Study 4, this effect emerged only among those who were told that the task measured creative as (...) opposed to analytical thinking, suggesting that the positive effects of self-uncertainty on performance are specific to tasks that bolster perceptions of uniqueness. In Study 5, self-uncertain individualists experienced a restoration of self-clarity after being induced to think about themselves as more (vs. less) creative. Implications for compensatory responses to self-uncertainty and factors that influence creativity are discussed. (shrink)

This study focuses on latent inhibition, a mechanism behind selective attention, as the biological basis of creativity in schoolchildren. The main objective of this study is to know if low levels of attention positively affect the levels of creativity manifested in students between the ages of nine and 12. The design of this study is non-experimental with an explanatory-correlational cross-sectional quantitative approach. In order to achieve the objective suggested, several education centers located in Murcia were selected, in which 476 students (...) took part in a creativity test, an attention test, and another test about intelligence depending on the educational level. The results obtained showed that selective attention was negatively correlated with graphic creativity, understanding that behind it lies the latent inhibition, and that when certain levels of intelligence are present, this negative correlation increases. In this way, the simultaneous existence of creative and inattentive subjects is demonstrated. (shrink)

‘Dira’ is a novel experimental paradigm to record combinations of behavioural and metacognitive measures for the creative process. This task allows assessing chronological and chronometric aspects of the creative process directly and without a detour through creative products or proxy phenomena. In a study with 124 participants we show that (a.) people spend more time attending to selected versus rejected potential solutions, (b.) there is a clear connection between behavioural patterns and self-reported measures, (c.) the reported intensity of Eureka experiences (...) is a function of interaction time with potential solutions, and (d.) experiences of emerging solutions can happen immediately after engaging with a problem, before participants explore all potential solutions. The conducted study exemplifies how ‘Dira’ can be used as an instrument to narrow down the moment when solutions emerge. We conclude that the ‘Dira’ experiment is paving the way to study the process, as opposed to the product, of creative problem solving. (shrink)

The ability to generate options for action is crucial for everyday life decision‐making. In this article, we propose and test a model of the cognitive underpinnings of option generation in everyday life situations. We carried out a laboratory study using measures of a wide range of cognitive functions and asked participants (N = 157) to generate options for actions for different everyday life decision‐making scenarios. The results of a latent variable analysis show that the cognitive underpinnings of option generation are (...) consistent across different everyday life situations and, hence, option generation can be conceptualized as a general construct. Moreover, the results of a confirmatory factor analysis reveal that, when controlling for the shared variance among the cognitive processes assessed, verbal fluency, working memory capacity, ideation fluency, and processing speed predicted option generation. These findings suggest that option generation in everyday life situations can be distinguished from other cognitive constructs, such as divergent thinking (in terms of ideas’ originality) and long‐term memory. (shrink)

Creativity is critical to organizational success. Understanding the antecedents of creativity is important. Although there is a growing body of research on how (mixed) emotions affect creativity, most of the work has focused on intrapersonal processes. We do not know whether contrasting emotions between interacting partners (i.e., interpersonal mixed emotions) have creative consequences. Building on information processing theories of emotion, our research proposes a theoretical account for why interpersonal mixed emotions matter. It hypothesized that mixed- (vs. same-) emotion interactions would (...) predict higher collective creative performance. We tested the hypothesis in two-party integrative negotiations (105 dyads). We manipulated negotiators’ emotional expressions (angry-angry, happy-happy, angry-happy dyads) and measured the extent to which they generated creative solutions that tapped into hidden integrative potential in the negotiation for a better joint gain. The results overall supported the hypothesis: i) there was some evidence that mixed-emotion dyads (i.e., angry-happy) performed better than same-emotion dyads; ii) mixed-emotion dyads, on average, achieved a high level of joint gain that exceeded the (non-creative) zero-sum threshold, whereas same-emotion dyads did not. The findings add theoretical and actionable insights into our understanding of creativity, emotion, and organization behavior. (shrink)

The dissertation criticizes two analogical applications of Darwinism to the spheres of mind and culture: the Darwinian approach to creativity and memetics. These theories rely on three basic analogies: the ontological analogy states that the basic ontological units of culture are so-called memes, which are replicators like genes; the origination analogy states that novelty in human creativity emerges in a "blind" Darwinian manner; and the explanatory units of selection analogy states that memes are "egoistic" and that they can spread independently (...) of our mind. The detailed philosophical analysis offered in the dissertation shows that these three analogies rely on either wrong or trivial statements: they provide either wrong or no new descriptions or explanations of the phenomena at hand. In Chapter One, I introduce the diverse ways, in which contemporary Darwinism is used today outside of evolutionary biology. Chapter Two explains what it means to claim that something evolves in a Darwinian manner. Chapter Three to Five address each of the three analogies separately. Darwinism applied to culture and mind, at least in the way discussed in this study, is not a dangerous idea. It leads either to wrong claims or to a re-telling in Darwinian terms of what we have already known. (shrink)

During the idea generation phase of the design process, designers often search for inspirations in external sources of information, such as photographs, written descriptions and physical examples. These sources have potential to enhance creative performance. However, they sometimes become too attached to particular ideas of external precedents or various examples. It refers to fixation which is identified as inadequate adoption of features from existing examples. Influence of the existing examples on creativity and fixation, specifically textual examples, have been discussed in (...) this research. -/- For the nature of design, researchers highlighted the restructuring process of design problem by new sources because the capabilities and boundaries of design problems are not defined very well. Further, the design problem is not knowable at any specific point. Design knowledge identifies itself by its ambiguity. Many models have been developed for design process. The various numbers of divided phases of the models can be seen as having two main areas: (1) idea generation phase (or “ideation”); (2) later phase for details. Idea generation plays an important role in the design process. It is the area of new and creative configurations on design. -/- Creativity is an integral part of the design process. Designers purpose to achieve original ideas to demonstrate their ability and unique designs. External stimuli or inspirational inputs play important roles to increase creativity. They can support moments of stimulation. Associations between information from memory and external stimuli can contribute to the creation of new meanings. Designers are widely influenced by their surroundings in daily lives. However, each stimulus may not be the part of a more creative result Even if designers want to utilize stimulus as an inspirational source, somehow it may fixate their mind to its surface features and they may lose potential creative contributions of the source. It is called fixation. There is much research that shows significant evidence of conformity effects across the design problems. -/- The given examples to designers may cause higher-level fixation and lower-level creativity or vice versa. Fixation may occur when example solutions are introduced, on the other hand, the designers may create more original ideas as well. There is a need for research to find ways to avoid fixation traps or reduce their adverse impact. Thus, this research focuses on variables of the given example. -/- The following claims show some research areas remained unclear: (1) Some researchers investigated textual examples as - one of the modalities of representation - but did not focus on forms of textual examples. (2) Much research has been conducted with examples which are selected by the researcher. Nevertheless, designers can also choose or produce their own stimuli. There is not much research on this possibility. In this context, my research focuses on the following two variables through two studies (Study 1 and 2): (1) forms of textual examples; (2) self-construction of textual examples. First, most of the studies in the literature have focused on visual presentation and there is not enough research on the content and form of the text. The study of textual examples has still not been awarded enough attention especially as various forms of text. Some forms of text are as follows: keyword, paragraph, sentence, poem. These observations lead me to the following research question: Which forms of textual example increase creativity and reduce fixation more? (Study 1). -/- Second, most of the studies regarding textual examples have used prose or keywords. The poems have been ignored. However, poems imply more meaning with fewer words. The structure of the poems enables more creative narratives than structure of prose. Because unusual organization of words stimulates the readers and draws their attention. This activates the creative performance of the reader. The surrealist poem is the extreme form of this activation. It is random assemblies with headlines and sentences which is cut from newspapers. Thus, novel meaning networks are formed. The method of creating a surrealist poem offers a new way of getting inspiration. It is termed as self-construction practice by this research. Through this method, designers create their own example from the given one. Reconstruction of the text may increase the creative process and prevent fixations from the given text. This suggestion led me to the following research question: If the designers write their own poem instead of a given poem (as a self-construction practice), can they internalize the textual example? In addition, does it produce more creative and less fixated designs? (Study 2). Two experimental studies were planned to partially answer the research questions, in which novice students of architecture were asked to solve two different design problems, under different conditions. All of the experimental sessions were conducted in a design education studio. The participants produced sketches and added a written explanation relating to their designs. Fluency, flexibility and repetition of key attributes were calculated by the researcher. -/- Originality, practicality, understanding of the task and quality were ranked by judges. Study 1 shows us tendencies of using various textual forms. Distinctions of keywords and of poems have appeared among them. This emphasizes the role of keyword and poem in the design process as inspirational sources and provides many tips for their potential use. The keyword also leads to a high degree of fixation. However, a low degree of fixation is observed when poems are presented as inspirational examples. -/- In Study 2, the self-constructed poem seems to support develop more successful design ideas from many perspectives. In the context of the surrealist poem, writing and reading the surrealist poem trigger the designers’ imagination. At first, the words and lines of poems seem unrelated to each other and designers try to relate them and solve the puzzle of meaning. Hence, novel meaning networks are formed. It indicates that surrealist poems are able to activate the creative performance of the designers. Writing their own surrealist poems ,as a self-construction practice, motivated designers to begin to produce by having fun. Motivated designers have stimulated themselves to produce creative ideas. In other words, the self-construction process may be added to the design process models in the earlier part of the idea generation phase which is called as pre-design and warm-up phase. This earlier phase makes designers highly motivated and they internalized the given examples. -/- Following the conclusions, several implications and recommendations for the design process and education are discussed. (shrink)

According to Mednick’s (1962) theory of individual differences in creativity, creative individuals appear to have a richer and more flexible associative network than less creative individuals. Thus, creative individuals are characterized by “flat” (broader associations) instead of “steep” (few, common associations) associational hierarchies. To study these differences, we implement a novel computational approach to the study of semantic networks, through the analysis of free associations. The core notion of our method is that concepts in the network are related to each (...) other by their association correlations - overlap of similar associative responses (“association clouds”). We began by collecting a large sample of participants who underwent several creativity measurements and used a decision tree approach to divide the sample into low and high creative groups. Next, each group underwent a free association generation paradigm which allowed us to construct and analyze the semantic networks of both groups. Comparison of the semantic memory networks of persons with low creative ability and persons with high creative ability revealed differences between the two networks. The semantic memory network of persons with low creative ability seems to be more rigid, compared to the network of persons with high creative ability, in the sense that it is more spread out and breaks apart into more sub-parts. We discuss how our findings are in accord and extend Mednick’s (1962) theory and the feasibility of using network science paradigms to investigate high level cognition. (shrink)

Creativity is a valuable commodity. Research has revealed some identifying characteristics of creative people and some of the emotional states that can bring out the most creativity in all of us. It has also been shown that the long-term experience of different cultures and lifestyles that is the result of travel and immigration can also enhance creativity. However, the role of one-off, extreme, or unusual experiences on creativity has not been directly observed before. In part, that may be because, by (...) their very nature, such experiences are very difficult to bring into the laboratory. Here, we brought the tools and empirical methods of the laboratory into the wild, measuring the psychological effects of a unique multisensory experience: an underwater nightclub. We showed – with fully randomized and experimentally controlled conditions – that such an experience boosted measures of divergent thinking in participants. This demonstrates that one element of creativity can be directly enhanced by unusual situations, and that experimental tools of psychology can be used to investigate a range of consumer experiences. (shrink)

Perhaps a part of what makes expertise so inspiring to the curious researcher is the possibility of appropriating the structural components of skilled action to draw a roadmap towards their achievement that anyone might be able to follow. Accordingly, the purpose of this essay is to shed light upon the role that creativity plays in the production and environment of skilled action to that foregoing end. In doing so, I suggest that the lessons to be learned from recent empirical research (...) on creativity has much to offer to the cognitive science of skill and expertise. Experts are able to bring their intelligence to bear in controlling fast and seemingly automatic actions by utilizing a form of control often called ‘intelligent automaticity.’ In this spirit, I argue that the environment of intelligently automatic action control curates a similarly ideal environment for the processes of creativity. Moreover, insofar as creativity is ideally operative within the environment of expert action control, I argue further that creativity functions as one representative form of ‘intelligence’ embedded within otherwise fluid, and automatic expert actions. Creativity is able to do so even without conscious representation through the powers of incubated cognition. (shrink)

Individual differences in convergent and divergent thinking may uniquely explain variation in analogical reasoning ability. Across two studies we investigated the relative influences of divergent and convergent thinking as predictors of verbal analogy performance. Performance on both convergent thinking and divergent thinking uniquely predicted performance on both analogy selection and analogical generation tasks. Moreover, convergent and divergent thinking were predictive above and beyond creative behaviours in Study 1 and a composite measure of crystallised intelligence in Study 2. Verbal analogies in (...) Study 2 also varied in semantic distance, with results demonstrating divergent thinking as a stronger predictor of analogy generation for semantically far than for semantically near analogies. Results thus further illuminate the link between analogical reasoning and creative cognition by demonstrating convergent and di.. (shrink)

Scientific creativity, i.e. the production of new and socially effective empirical knowledge, can itself be subjected to empirical analysis. Research on the determinants of creative work in science suggests that the internal and external world of creative scientists is characterised by a series of tensions or "oppositions of forces" which "normally" cannot be integrated. Conversely, creative work in science can be understood as the provision of new answers to scientific problems where conventional answers are no longer sufficient to reduce incongruities (...) between cognitive, affective and social standards of satisfactory problem solution. (shrink)

Metacognition refers to the knowledge and regulation of one’s own cognitive processes, which has been regarded as a critical component of creative thinking. However, the current literature on the association between metacognition and creative thinking remains controversial, and the underlying role of metacognition in the creative process appears to be insufficiently explored and explained. This review focuses on the roles of three aspects of metacognition (i.e., metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive experience, and metacognitive monitoring and control) in creative thinking and offers a (...) primary summary of the neurocognitive mechanisms that support metacognition during creative thinking. Future research is needed to explore the interactive effects of the metacognitive components on creative thinking and to elucidate the function of metacognition during different stages of the creative process. (shrink)

That alcohol provides a benefit to creative processes has long been assumed by popular culture, but to date has not been tested. The current experiment tested the effects of moderate alcohol intoxication on a common creative problem solving task, the Remote Associates Test . Individuals were brought to a blood alcohol content of approximately .075, and, after reaching peak intoxication, completed a battery of RAT items. Intoxicated individuals solved more RAT items, in less time, and were more likely to perceive (...) their solutions as the result of a sudden insight. Results are interpreted from an attentional control perspective. (shrink)

A primary aim of mind-wandering research has been to understand its influence on task performance. While this research has typically highlighted the costs of mind wandering, a handful of studies have suggested that mind wandering may be beneficial in certain situations. Perhaps the most-touted benefit is that mind wandering during a creative-incubation interval facilitates creative thinking. This finding has played a critical role in the development of accounts of the adaptive value of mind wandering and its functional role, as well (...) as potential mechanisms of mind wandering. Thus, a demonstration of the replicability of this important finding is warranted. Here, we attempted to conceptually replicate results of a highly cited laboratory-based experiment supporting this finding. However, across two studies (N = 443), we found no evidence for the claim that mind wandering during a creative-incubation interval facilitates a form of creativity associated with divergent thinking. We suggest that our failed conceptual replication stems from an inadequate characterization of mind wandering (task-unrelated thought), and that there are good reasons to think that task-unrelated thought is unlikely to be causally related to creativity. Our results cast doubt on the claim that task-unrelated thought during an incubation interval enhances divergent creativity while also offering some prescriptions for how future research might further elucidate the cognitive benefits of mind wandering. (shrink)

Curiosity and creativity are central pillars of human growth and invention. Although they have been studied extensively in isolation, the relationship between them has not yet been established. We propose that both curiosity and creativity emanate from the same mechanism of novelty seeking. We first present a synthesis showing that curiosity and creativity are affected similarly by a number of key cognitive faculties such as memory, cognitive control, attention, and reward. We then review empirical evidence from neuroscience research, indicating that (...) the same brain regions are involved in both curiosity and creativity, focusing on the interplay between three major brain networks: the default mode network, the salience network, and the executive control network. After substantiating the link between curiosity and creativity, we propose a novelty-seeking model (NSM) that underlies them and suggests that the manifestation of the NSM is governed by one's state of mind. (shrink)

Variable responses to transcranial direct current stimulation protocols across individuals are widely reported, but the reasons behind this variation are unclear. This includes tDCS protocols meant to improve attention. Attentional control is impacted by top-down and bottom-up processes, and this relationship is affected by state characteristics such as anxiety. According to Attentional Control Theory, anxiety biases attention towards bottom-up and stimulus-driven processing. The goal of this study was to explore the extent to which differences in state anxiety and related measures (...) affect visual attention and category learning, both with and without the influence of tDCS. Using discovery learning, participants were trained to classify pictures of European streets into two categories while receiving 30 min of 2.0 mA anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS over the rVLPFC. The pictures were classifiable according to two separate rules, one stimulus and one hypothesis-driven. The Remote Associates Test, Profile of Mood States, and Attention Networks Task were used to understand the effects of individual differences at baseline on subsequent tDCS-mediated learning. Multinomial logistic regression was fit to predict rule learning based on the baseline measures, with subjects classified according to whether they used the stimulus-driven or hypothesis-driven rule to classify the pictures. The overall model showed a classification accuracy of 74.1%. The type of tDCS stimulation applied, attentional orienting score, and self-reported mood were significant predictors of different categories of rule learning. These results indicate that anxiety can influence the quality of subjects’ attention at the onset of the task and that these attentional differences can influence tDCS-mediated category learning during the rapid assessment of visual scenes. These findings have implications for understanding the complex interactions that give rise to the variability in response to tDCS. (shrink)

This study examined the effects of mood and risk-taking on divergent and convergent thinking using a Q-learning computation model. The results revealed that while mood was not significantly related to divergent or convergent thinking (as creative thinking types), risk-taking exerted positive effects on divergent thinking in the face of negative rewards. The results were consistent with the representational change theory in insight problem solving. Although this theory accounts directly for insight, the underlying idea of going beyond current contexts and implicit (...) constrains could be applied to creative thinking as well. The results indeed accounted for the relevance of this theory to divergent thinking. The current study is one of the first empirical studies simultaneously examining the role of mood and risk-taking in creativity. In particular, no related studies exist that took a computational approach to estimate the relevant parameters in the framework of dynamic optimization. Our Q learning model enables to distinguish and identify the different roles of mood and risk-taking in updatingQvalues and making decisions. (shrink)

Starting from Marr's ideas about levels of explanation, a theory of the data structures and access processes in human memory is demonstrated on 10 tasks. Functional characteristics of human memory are captured implementation-independently. Our theory generates a multidimensional task classification subsuming existing classifications such as the distinction between tasks that are implicit versus explicit, data driven versus conceptually driven, and simple associative (two-way bindings) versus higher order (threeway bindings), providing a broad basis for new experiments. The formal language clarifies the (...) binding problem in episodic memory, the role of input pathways in both episodic and semantic (lexical) memory, the importance of the input set in episodic memory, and the ubiquitous calculation of an intersection in theories of episodic and lexical access. (shrink)

Creative leadership is a rather novel topic, despite the fact that, leadership and creativity are widely researched and have gained considerable attention these last decades. Leadership and creativity are both complex and much needed processes in everyday work. Specifically, transformational leadership and creativity have traits and attributes that correlate and predict each other. Providing new ties and linkages, as well as connecting already existing attributes, traits and facets, a more complex form of understanding these two processes is proposed, thus creating (...) options to novel and innovative knowledge. An exploratory design with mixed methods was used to answer the questions posed. The research design started with focus group discussions, in order to deeply understand the conceptions of Kosovar engineers about creative leadership, followed by the selection of instruments and quantitative data collection. The doctoral research was conducted, as follows: Four focus groups discussions, with four participants each, were conducted and followed by quantitative part, the main data collection with 182 Kosovar engineers, from whom 103 employees were from private companies and the remaining 79 were from public companies. All of the participants were engineers. Through interpretation of findings, thesis illustrates linkages between leadership and creativity. After establishing and reconfirming the relationship between these two processes, thesis provides deeper understanding of specific characteristics of personality – as one of the key dimensions of creativity and leadership, specifically transformational leadership. Furthermore, comparative analysis between other factors, such as the status of the company and gender are analyzed and presented in order to have a more complete understanding of the interactions between analyzed variables. This doctoral thesis, unfolds chapter by chapter and processes described are interlined in delivering the end result. (shrink)

Idea generation, the process of creating and developing candidate solutions that when implemented can solve ill-defined and complex problems, plays a pivotal role in creativity and innovation. The algorithms that underlie classical evolutionary, cognitive, and process models of idea generation, however, appear too inefficient to effectively help solve the ill-defined and complex problems for which one would engage in idea generation. To address this, these classical models have recently been redesigned as forward models, drawing heavily on the “predictive mind” literature. (...) These pose that more efficiency can be achieved by making predictions based on heuristics, previous experiences, and domain knowledge about what material to use to generate ideas with, and evaluate these subsequently generated ideas based on whether they indeed match the initial prediction. When a discrepancy occurs between prediction and evaluation, new predictions are made, and thus shaping what actions, and how these actions, are undertaken. Although promising, forward models of idea generation remain theoretical and thus no empirical evidence exists about whether such predictions and evaluations indeed form part of the idea generation process. To take a first empirical look at this, a mixed-methods study was conducted by analyzing people’s self-reports for the reasons of the actions that they take during an idea generation task. The results showed that predictions and evaluations are pervasive in the idea generation process. Specifically, switching between concept selection and conceptual combination and idea generation, as well as repeating idea generation based on earlier selected conceptual combination, and possibly (but to a lesser extent) concept selection and the repetition thereof, are likely to be driven by predictions and evaluations. Moreover, the frequencies of the predictions and evaluations that drive these actions influenced the amount of ideas generated, amount of concepts used, and within-concept fluency (the ratio of the amount of ideas generated per concept used). Therefore, the contribution of this paper is the first empirical evidence that indicates that the idea generation process is driven by both predictions and evaluations. (shrink)

ABSTRACTPresenting information in a coherent fashion has been shown to increase processing fluency, which in turn influences affective responses. The pattern of responses have been explained by two...

Research has independently highlighted the roles of semantic memory and associative abilities in creative thinking. However, it remains unclear how these two capacities relate to each other, nor ho...

Insight has been investigated under the assumption that participants solve insight problems with insight processes and/or experiences. A recent trend has involved presenting participants with the solution and analysing the resultant experience as if insight has taken place. We examined self-reports of the aha experience, a defining aspect of insight, before and after feedback, along with additional affective components of insight (e.g., pleasure, surprise, impasse). Classic insight problems, compound remote associates, and non-insight problems were randomly interleaved and presented to participants. (...) Solution feedback increased ratings of aha experience in both insight and non-insight problems, with this result being driven by responses to solutions that were initially incorrectly generated. Ratings of aha for correctly generated solutions decreased after the correct solution was presented. These findings have implications for insight research paradigms as well as informing teaching methods. (shrink)