Different Effects of Cognitive Shifting and Intelligence on Creativity

Levy

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

et al. 2018

169

192

Flexibility of thought is theorized to play a critical role in the ability of high creative individuals to generate novel and innovative ideas. However, this has been examined only through indirect behavioral measures. Here we use network percolation analysis (removal of links in a network whose strength is below an increasing threshold) to computationally examine the robustness of the semantic memory networks of low and high creative individuals. Robustness of a network indicates its flexibility and thus can be used to quantify flexibility of thought as related to creativity. This is based on the assumption that the higher the robustness of the semantic network, the higher its flexibility. Our analysis reveals that the semantic network of high creative individuals is more robust to network percolation compared with the network of low creative individuals and that this higher robustness is related to differences in the structure of the networks. Specifically, we find that this higher robustness is related to stronger links connecting between different components of similar semantic words in the network, which may also help to facilitate spread of activation over their network. Thus, we directly and quantitatively examine the relation between flexibility of thought and creative ability. Our findings support the associative theory of creativity, which posits that high creative ability is related to a flexible structure of semantic memory. Finally, this approach may have further implications, by enabling a quantitative examination of flexibility of thought, in both healthy and clinical populations.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Flexibility of thought in high creative individuals represented by percolation analysis

Levy

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

et al. 2018

169

192

“…Subsequently, novel theories, assessment methods, and statistical tools have shown that these constructs, historically viewed as distinct, are more closely connected than previously thought ( Silvia 2015 ). So far, support for the idea that creative thought includes a controlled component has been provided by correlational studies; for example, a substantial relationship between executive functions and performance on divergent thinking tasks has been shown several times through the use of latent variable models (see for example Süß et al 2002 ; Nusbaum and Silvia 2011 ; Benedek et al 2012a ; Silvia et al 2013 ; Benedek et al 2014b ; Pan and Yu 2016 ). Moreover, neuroimaging studies provide evidence that the creativity of ideas in divergent thinking tasks is related to the activation of brain regions that are associated with executive functioning, thus also supporting the idea that executive processes are involved in divergent thinking (see for example Benedek et al 2014a ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Experimental Approach to Investigate the Involvement of Cognitive Load in Divergent Thinking

2021

Up to now, support for the idea that a controlled component exists in creative thought has mainly been supported by correlational studies; to further shed light on this issue, we employed an experimental approach. We used four alternate uses tasks that differed in instruction type (“be fluent” vs. “be creative”) and concurrent secondary workload (load vs. no load). A total of 51 participants (39 female) went through all tasks and generated ideas for a total of 16 different objects; their responses were scored in terms of fluency (number of responses generated), creative quality, and flexibility. We did find, as expected, that the be-creative instruction resulted in fewer and more creative ideas, as well as more flexible idea sets, but neither of the expected interaction effects became significant. Specifically, fluency was not affected more strongly by secondary workload in the be-fluent instruction condition than in the be-creative instruction condition. Further, the performance drop evoked by the secondary workload was not stronger in the be-creative instruction condition compared to the be-fluent instruction condition when creative quality or flexibility were examined as dependent variable. Altogether, our results do not confirm that be-creative instructions involve more cognitive load than be-fluent instructions. Nevertheless, the analysis of the serial order effect and additional correlational examinations revealed some promising results. Methodological limitations which may have influenced the results are discussed in light of the inherent suspense between internal and external validity (i.e., most likely the applied self-paced dual-task approach increased external validity, but undermined internal validity) and potentially guide future research.

“…First, given the partial mediation relationship found in the current study, algebraic ability is definitely not the only mediator of this association. For example, several studies have found a positive link between set‐shifting ability and creativity (Madjar & Shalley, ; Nusbaum & Silvia, ; Pan & Yu, ), which implies that creativity might also be a mediator. Future studies are needed to find other new mediators, which may help to elucidate the mechanism underlying the association between set‐shifting and achievement.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Set‐shifting ability is specifically linked to high‐school science and math achievement in Chinese adolescents

Zhao

Zhou

et al. 2020

PsyCh Journal

Previous meta-analytic studies have revealed that set-shifting ability contributes to achievement in math and reading equally during childhood, but less is known about whether set-shifting ability plays an equally important role in achievement in different school subjects during high-school learning. To fill this research gap, the current study examined the association between set-shifting ability and academic achievement among 10th-grade Chinese adolescents who attended high school (N = 221). Meanwhile, we further explored the possible mechanisms underlying this association by testing the mediating role of math abilities (i.e., arithmetic and algebraic ability). Setshifting ability was measured through a task-switching task in which participants continuously change task rules based on color and shape sets. Academic achievement was indexed by curriculum-based examination scores. Based on exploratory factor analyses, the achievement scores could be classified into two categories: (a) science and math achievement, including math, physics, chemistry, biology, and geography scores; and (b) humanities achievement, comprising Chinese, English, history, and politics scores. Arithmetic ability and algebraic ability were measured by participants' ability to perform calculations and solve algebraic equations, respectively. Correlation and regression analyses found that set-shifting ability was related to science and math achievement, but not to humanities achievement. Furthermore, the association between set-shifting ability and science and math achievement is partly mediated by algebraic ability. Together, these results suggest that set-shifting ability plays a domain-specific role in achievement. That is, set-shifting ability is specifically linked to science and math achievement in Chinese adolescents, and this specific link may be partly mediated by algebraic ability.