Verbal Divergent Thinking Research Articles

Modeling influences on divergent thinking and artistic creativity

Despite widespread evidence of modeling effects across a wide range of human behaviors, empirical support for the role of modeling on creativity has been mixed and limited. In this study, 138 Chinese middle school students were separated into two groups, with one completing divergent thinking (DT) tasks and the other completing artistic creativity tasks. Half of each group were exposed to highly creative models beforehand, and half were exposed to no models. Results provide evidence of significant and large modeling effects on both DT and artistic creativity, although post hoc analyses suggest that the DT effects are largely restricted to verbal DT tasks.

Enhancing verbal creativity: Modulating creativity by altering the balance between right and left inferior frontal gyrus with tDCS

Creativity is the production of novel ideas that have value. Previous research indicated that while regions in the right hemisphere are implicated in the production of new ideas, damage to the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is associated with increased creativity, indicating that the left IFG damage may have a “releasing” effect on creativity. To examine this, in the present study we used transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to modulate activity of the right and the left IFG. In the first experiment we show that whereas anodal tDCS over the right IFG coupled with cathodal tDCS over the left IFG increases creativity as measured by a verbal divergent thinking task, the reverse stimulation does not affect creative production. To further confirm that only altering the balance between the two hemispheres is crucial in modulating creativity, in the second experiment we show that stimulation targeting separately the left IFG (cathodal stimulation) or the right IFG (anodal stimulation) did not result in changes in creativity as measured by verbal divergent thinking. These findings support the balance hypothesis, according to which verbal creativity requires a balance of activation between the right and the left frontal lobes, and more specifically, between the right and the left IFG.

The relation between gray matter morphology and divergent thinking in adolescents and young adults.

Adolescence and early adulthood are developmental time periods during which creative cognition is highly important for adapting to environmental changes. Divergent thinking, which refers to generating novel and useful solutions to open-ended problems, has often been used as a measure of creative cognition. The first goal of this structural neuroimaging study was to elucidate the relationship between gray matter morphology and performance in the verbal (AUT; alternative uses task) and visuo-spatial (CAT; creative ability test) domain of divergent thinking in adolescents and young adults. The second goal was to test if gray matter morphology is related to brain activity during AUT performance. Neural and behavioral data were combined from a cross-sectional study including 25 adolescents aged 15–17 and 20 young adults aged 25–30. Brain-behavior relationships were assessed without a priori location assumptions and within areas that were activated during an AUT-scanner task. Gray matter volume and cortical thickness were not significantly associated with verbal divergent thinking. However, visuo-spatial divergent thinking (CAT originality and fluency) was positively associated with cortical thickness of the right middle temporal gyrus and left brain areas including the superior frontal gyrus and various occipital, parietal, and temporal areas, independently of age. AUT brain activity was not associated with cortical thickness. The results support an important role of a widespread brain network involved in flexible visuo-spatial divergent thinking, providing evidence for a relation between cortical thickness and visuo-spatial divergent thinking in adolescents and young adults. However, studies including visuo-spatial divergent thinking tasks in the scanner are warranted.

An Exploratory Study on DRD2 and Creative Potential

One critical step toward to a better understanding of creativity is to unveil its underlying genetic architectures. Recently, several studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of dopamine (DA) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) related genetic polymorphisms on creativity. Among DA related genes, dopamine D2 receptor gene(DRD2) is one of the most promising candidate genes for creativity. This study systematically explored the associations between DRD2 genetic polymorphisms and creative potential in the Han Chinese population. Fifteen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering DRD2 were genotyped in 543 unrelated healthy Chinese undergraduate students whose creative potentials were assessed by divergent thinking (DT) tests. Single SNP analysis showed that, for verbal DT tests, 7 SNPs (rs4648319, rs2283265, rs1076560, rs6276, rs6279, rs6278, and rs1800497) showed significant associations with verbal fluency, and 2 SNPs (rs6277 and rs7122246) showed significant associations with verbal originality. For figural DT tests, 5 SNPs (rs2283265, rs6276, rs6279, rs6278 and rs1800497) showed significant associations with figural fluency, and 2 SNPs (rs6278 and rs1800497) showed significant associations with figural flexibility. Haplotype analysis showed that the 10-SNP haplotype consisting of rs4648319, rs4436578, rs7122246, rs2283265, rs1076560, rs6277, rs6276, rs6279, rs6278, and rs1800497 was significantly associated with verbal fluency. In conclusion, this exploratory study provides preliminary evidence for the involvement of DRD2in creative potential.

Incubation and creativity: Do something different

The experiment reported here investigated interactions between the type of creative task (verbal or spatial) and the type of incubation activity (verbal or spatial) on creative performance. The experiment used a verbal creative divergent thinking task (Alternative Uses) and a spatial creative task (Mental Synthesis). After 5 minutes of conscious work on Alternative Uses or Mental Synthesis, experimental groups had 5-minute incubation periods which involved either spatial (Mental Rotation) or verbal tasks (Anagrams). Following incubation, the experimental participants resumed their main task for a further 5 minutes. Control groups undertook Alternative Uses or Mental Synthesis for 10 minutes without any incubation periods. Significant incubation effects were found overall and there were interactions in that spatial incubation benefited verbal fluency and verbal-rated creativity, and verbal incubation benefited spatial-task fluency and spatial-rated creativity but not vice versa. The results supported a role for unconscious work during incubation periods in creative thinking tasks and did not support the hypotheses that incubation effects are due to selective forgetting or attention shifting.

The development of creative cognition across adolescence: distinct trajectories for insight and divergent thinking

We examined developmental trajectories of creative cognition across adolescence. Participants (N = 98), divided into four age groups (12/13 yrs, 15/16 yrs, 18/19 yrs, and 25-30 yrs), were subjected to a battery of tasks gauging creative insight (visual; verbal) and divergent thinking (verbal; visuo-spatial). The two older age groups outperformed the two younger age groups on insight tasks. The 25-30-year-olds outperformed the two youngest age groups on the originality measure of verbal divergent thinking. No age-group differences were observed for verbal divergent thinking fluency and flexibility. On divergent thinking in the visuo-spatial domain, however, only 15/16-year-olds outperformed 12/13-year-olds; a model with peak performance for 15/16-years-old showed the best fit. The results for the different creativity processes are discussed in relation to cognitive and related neurobiological models. We conclude that mid-adolescence is a period of not only immaturities but also of creative potentials in the visuo-spatial domain, possibly related to developing control functions and explorative behavior.

The EEG spatial pattern and psychophysiological characteristics of divergent and convergent thinking in humans

The psychophysiological parameters of the spatial synchronization of bioelectric potentials during the nonverbal divergent, nonverbal convergent, verbal divergent and verbal convergent thinking have been analyzed. The relationships between the performances of tests for these thinking styles were different. The strongest significant correlation has been found between the productivities of the verbal divergent and verbal convergent thinking styles; the weakest correlation, between those of the nonverbal divergent and nonverbal convergent thinking styles. The thinking styles differ from one another in the topography of spatial synchronization of bioelectric potentials. They are the most pronounced during the two nonverbal tasks and the least pronounced during the two verbal tasks. The thinking styles also differ from one another in the degree of the enhancement of the coherence between bioelectric potentials during tasks compared to the baseline (with the eyes open). Some human psychophysiological characteristics facilitating the performance of divergent (creative) tasks have a negative effect on the performance of convergent (noncreative) tasks. The data are discussed in terms of the differences in the level of general activation and involvement of different types of information processing (simultaneous and successive).

The influence of creativity and sex on the relationship between cortical activation and divergent verbal task demands

Event Abstract Back to Event The influence of creativity and sex on the relationship between cortical activation and divergent verbal task demands Olga Razumnikova1*, N.V Volf1 and I.V Tarasova1 1 Institute of Physiology, Russia EEG research into neurophysiology of creativity focuses on the level and topographical distribution of cortical activation during different divergent thinking tests. Our study was aimed at exploring creativity related differences in cortical activation patterns while verbal problem solving in consideration of task complexity. EEG changes in the alpha1,2 bands were analyzed during a performance of divergent vs. convergent verbal tasks to assess brain responses in creative vs. non-creative persons, and in men vs. women. In the first experimental condition, participants performed the remote associates task (RAT), and in the second - generated sentences using the triads of noun from remote semantic categories (SCT). Difficulty of each problem solving was estimated under self-rated score. Individual responses were divided into more and less original ideas. It was shown that the creative persons exhibited lower level of cortical arousal (i.e., the largest amount of alpha1,2 power) as compared with non-creative group. Task-related desynchronization increased together with an enhancement of difficulty rating: the RAT had higher scores vs. SCT. A decrease of alpha power was more pronounced in the left hemisphere during verbal fluency testing (VFT), and in the right one during RAT. The task-induced desynchronization effects were depended on both SEX and GROUP factors. Correlation analysis indicated positive relationship between both verbal fluency and originality of associates and power scores only in non-creative men. Regardless of creativity in women verbal fluency positively correlated with alpha2 power in the posterior cortex (see figure). In creative persons of both sexes, more original associations were accompanied by decreased alpha2-rhythm coherence. In non-creative women, interhemispheric interaction was, conversely, increased. The cortical activation patterns suggest interaction of creativity and sex on task demand - related alpha power changes during verbal divergent thinking. The results support the neural efficiency hypothesis to the effect between groups of good and bad performers of verbal creative tasks, and Martindale’s theory of defocused attention as characteristic of creative thinking only while taking lower self-rated difficulty test. The research was supported by a grant from the Russian Humanities Science Research Foundation (08-06-00615a). pic tn_pic Conference: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, Bodrum, Türkiye, 1 Sep - 5 Sep, 2008. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Abstracts Citation: Razumnikova O, Volf N and Tarasova I (2008). The influence of creativity and sex on the relationship between cortical activation and divergent verbal task demands. Conference Abstract: 10th International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.01.085 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 02 Dec 2008; Published Online: 02 Dec 2008. * Correspondence: Olga Razumnikova, Institute of Physiology, Novosibirsk, Russia, razoum@mail.ru Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Olga Razumnikova N.V Volf I.V Tarasova Google Olga Razumnikova N.V Volf I.V Tarasova Google Scholar Olga Razumnikova N.V Volf I.V Tarasova PubMed Olga Razumnikova N.V Volf I.V Tarasova Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.

The Convergent Validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and Creativity Interest Inventories

This study compared scores on two divergent thinking tests, the Verbal and the Figural Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking(TTCT), with scores on two creativity interest inventories, Davis’s How Do You Think? and Raudsepp’s How Creative Are You? The creativity interest inventories showed weak correlations with the Verbal TTCT and no correlations with the Figural TTCT. The two interest inventories showed a strong intercorrelation, but the Verbal and Figural TTCTs were only moderately intercorrelated. These interrelationships were not substantially affected by controlling for standardized academic test scores. A principal components analysis of the subscale scores on the four tests resulted in three factors: Interests and Attitudes, Verbal Divergent Thinking, and Figural Divergent Thinking. These results provide evidence that creative interest inventories are not measuring the same construct as divergent thinking tests and that both are distinct from academic aptitude/achievement. They also support the contention that divergent thinking is multidimensional.

Delusion disorder: Neuropsychological aspects

Previous studies concerned with neuropsychological aspect of delusions, were mainly focused on specific forms of this disorder. Comparatively small number of investigations were concerned with cognitive deficiencies accompanying the delusions. The substance of this study includes the detection of neuropsychological disfunctions in patients with persistent delusion disorder, and in tracing of these cognitive distortions to appropriate brain regions. Besides, characteristics of attribution style in these patients are analysed, from the aspect of their connections with unadjusted localized input for their reasoning system. The investigation is designed as a comparative study. The sample includes: a group of patients with persistent delusion disorder; a group of patients with paranoid schizophrenia; a group of healthy individuals. The participants have been tested by a neuropsychological battery that represents the following cognitive functions: attention, memory, vizuospatial and vizuoconstruction organization, executive ability, verbal divergent thinking. Projective Rorschach's method was used for estimation of attribution style.

Convergent—divergent thinking and arts—science orientation

The relationship between divergent thinking, intelligence, and arts and science orientation was investigated in a sample of 310 unspecialized, mixed‐ability, third‐year pupils (142 boys, 168 girls), with reference to the converger‐diverger dimension. A factor for verbal divergent thinking, orthogonal to an intelligence factor, correlated significantly positively (P < 0·001) with arts but not science orientation for both sexes. In regression, arts orientation was predicted from verbal tests (convergent and divergent) and science from non‐verbal. Analyses using convergent‐divergent bias scores indicated that these confounded two sources of variance (verbal‐non‐verbal mode and open‐ closed‐endedness) and the notion of convergence‐divergence as a dimension contrasting preference for open‐ended versus closed‐ended tests was not supported.

Divergent Thinking “Threshold Effect”-IQ, Age, or Skill?

The tentative hypothesis is proposed that data purported to support the intelligence “threshold effect” might better be interpreted as reflecting differences in verbal and/or mechanical skills. Evidence is presented for (1) operationally distinguishing between divergent thinking (DT) and IQ, and between verbal DT and non-verbal DT, among subjects representing the full normal ability range, and (2) a decrease of DT/IQ correlations (a) with increasing age and (b) among grammar school vs. secondary school girls.

Three Dimensions of Intellectual Functioning in Australian Aboriginal and Disadvantaged European Children

Tests of verbal intelligence, operational thinking, and divergent thinking were administered to thirty Aboriginal and thirty disadvantaged European children living in Alice Springs, N.T., Australia. Scores from the three types of tests were correlated with each other to determine the relationship among them. Differences were sought between age ranges and ethnic groups on each of the three kinds of tests by means of t tests and analyses of variance. With the exception of the correlation between the Matrices Test and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, the correlations were similar to those reported previously. The t tests confirmed significant differences between the Aboriginal and European sample on the PPVT. However, there were no significant differences between the Aboriginal and European sample on any of the other tests.