Abstract
The current theories suggest the fundamental role of semantic memory in creativity, mediating bottom-up (divergent thinking) and top-down (fluid intelligence) cognitive processes. However, the relationship between creativity, intelligence, and the organization of the semantic memory remains poorly-characterized in children. We investigated the ways in which individual differences in children’s semantic memory structures are influenced by their divergent thinking and fluid intelligence abilities. The participants (mean age 10) were grouped by their levels (high/low) of divergent thinking and fluid intelligence. We applied a recently-developed Network Science approach in order to examine group-based semantic memory graphs. Networks were constructed from a semantic fluency task. The results revealed that divergent thinking abilities are related to a more flexible structure of the semantic network, while fluid intelligence corresponds to a more structured semantic network, in line with the previous findings from the adult sample. Our findings confirm the crucial role of semantic memory organization in creative performance, and demonstrate that this phenomenon can be traced back to childhood. Finally, we also corroborate the network science methodology as a valid approach to the study of creative cognition in the developmental population.
Highlights
Creativity is a central component of cognition which allows improvement in all knowledge domains, ensuring the flourishing of our civilization
In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between divergent thinking, fluid intelligence and semantic memory organization in children
As a result of the comparison for all of the groups, the analysis revealed that, Gf was more related to the structural properties of the semantic network, creativity was more related to the flexible properties of the network
Summary
Creativity is a central component of cognition which allows improvement in all knowledge domains, ensuring the flourishing of our civilization. Scholars have focused on the role of creativity in developmental age and education (e.g., Guilford 1967; Lewis 2009), documenting it as a predictor of successful achievement in academic performance and future workplace performance (Torrance 1981, 1972; Gajda et al 2017). Creative thinking abilities have been recognized as one of the major competences for the 21st century, within education and beyond (Donovan et al 2014; Ritter and Mostert 2017). These elements make the study of children’s creativity profoundly meaningful to developmental and educational scientists (Plucker et al 2004). Considering the relevance of this ability to human progress, we still lack a critical understanding of what makes certain people more creative than others, and this is especially true for children
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