Skip to Main Content

Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology
2021. Vol. 10, no. 4, 44–54
doi:10.17759/jmfp.2021100404
ISSN: 2304-4977 (online)

Creativity and executive functions: a review of individual differences studies

405

S.S. Belova

PDF (RUS)
Online translation in english
GS
Information
in Google Scholar

Abstract

The paper presents a review of foreign studies of individual differences in creativity and executive functions (EF) carried out within the last decade. We consider mainly such EF as updating, inhibition and switching. The key research questions concern direct involvement of EF into creative abilities and their mediating role with respect to correlation of intelligence and creative performance. Studies applying structural equation modelling are being prioritized within the review. The key findings are described with respect to EF and (1) divergent and (2) convergent creative problem solving in adults. The latter includes performance on insight problems and remote associates tasks. Developmental perspective is highlighted by addressing to studies with children and adolescents’ samples involved. We discuss theoretical context, measurement issues as well as educational importance of the findings which link executive functioning and creativity within individual differences approach.

General Information

Keywords: creativity, executive functions, cognitive control, intelligence

Journal rubric: General Psychology

Article type: review article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/jmfp.2021100404

Funding. The review was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, № 0138-2021-0009.

Acknowledgements. The author would like to express her gratitude to I. Yu. Vladimirov, D.V. Lyusin and F.N. Markin for their valuable remarks on the draft of the paper.

Received: 15.11.2021

Accepted:

For citation: Belova S.S. Creativity and executive functions: a review of individual differences studies [Elektronnyi resurs]. Sovremennaia zarubezhnaia psikhologiia = Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 2021. Vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 44–54. DOI: 10.17759/jmfp.2021100404. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

References

  1. Weiss S. et al. A Reappraisal of the Threshold Hypothesis of Creativity and Intelligence. Journal of Intelligence, 2020. Vol. 8, no. 4, article ID 38, 20 p. DOI:10.3390/jintelligence8040038
  2. Zhang X. et al. Adolescents with different profiles of scientific versus artistic creativity: Similarity and difference in cognitive control. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2020. Vol. 37, 10 p. DOI:10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100688
  3. Bai X., Yao H. Differences in cognitive inhibition between persons with high and low creativity: Evidences from behavioral and physiological studies. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 2018. Vol. 50, no. 11, pp. 1197–1211. DOI:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2018.01197
  4. Benedek M., Könen T., Neubauer A.C. Associative abilities underlying creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 2012b. Vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 273–281. DOI:10.1037/a0027059
  5. Chein J.M., Weisberg R.W. Working memory and insight in verbal problems: analysis of compound remote associates. Memory and Cognition, 2014. Vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 67–83. DOI:10.3758/s13421-013-0343-4
  6. Chuderski A. How well can storage capacity, executive control, and fluid reasoning explain insight problem solving. Intelligence, 2014. Vol. 46, pp. 258–270. DOI:10.1016/j.intell.2014.07.010
  7. Chuderski A., Jastrzębski J. Much Ado About Aha: Insight Problem Solving Is Strongly Related to Working Memory Capacity and Reasoning Ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2018. Vol. 147, no. 2, pp. 257–281. DOI:10.1037/xge0000378
  8. Dahlman S. et al. Cognitive abilities of street children: Low-SES Bolivian boys with and without experience of living in the street. Child Neuropsychology, 2013. Vol. 19, pp. 540–556. DOI:10.1080/09297049.2012.731499
  9. Edl S. et al. Creativity and the Stroop interference effect. Personality and Individual Differences, 2014. Vol. 69, pp. 38–42. DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2014.05.009
  10. DeCaro M. S. When does higher working memory capacity help or hinder insight problem solving? In Vallee-Tourangeau F. (ed.), Insight: On the Origins of New Ideas. New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. 26 p. DOI:10.4324/9781315268118-5
  11. Benedek M. et al. Differential effects of cognitive inhibition and intelligence on creativity. Personality and Individual Differences, 2012a. Vol. 53, no. 4, pp. 480–485. DOI:10.1016/J.PAID.2012.04.014
  12. Ellis D.M., Robison M.K., Brewer G.A. The Cognitive Underpinnings of Multiply-Constrained Problem Solving. Journal of Intelligence, 2021. Vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 1–25. DOI:10.3390/jintelligence9010007
  13. Filippetti V.A., Krumm G. A hierarchical model of cognitive flexibility in children: Extending the relationship between flexibility, creativity and academic achievement. Child Neuropsychology, 2020. Vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 770–800. DOI:10.1080/09297049.2019.1711034
  14. Fry C.E. Executive functions, creativity, and mental health in homeless young people: implications for housing outcome: diss. doctor of philosophy [Elektronnyi resurs]. Cardiff: Cardiff University, 2018. 344 p. URL: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/111664/ (Accessed 10.12.2021).
  15. Gilhooly K.J., Fioratou E. Executive functions in insight versus non-insight problem solving: An individual differences approach. Thinking & Reasoning, 2009. Vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 355–376. DOI:10.1080/13546780903178615
  16. Wang L. et al. High schizotypal individuals are more creative? The mediation roles of overinclusive thinking and cognitive inhibition. Frontiers in Psychology, 2018. Vol. 9, article ID 1766, 14 p. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01766
  17. Himi S.A., Bühner M., Hilbert S. Advancing the understanding of the factor structure of executive functioning. Journal of Intelligence, 2021. Vol. 9, no. 1, 14 p. DOI:10.3390/JINTELLIGENCE9010016
  18. Korovkin S. et al. How Working Memory Provides Representational Change During Insight Problem Solving. Frontiers in Psychology, 2018. Vol. 9, article ID 1864, 14 p. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01864
  19. Benedek M. et al. Intelligence, creativity, and cognitive control: The common and differential involvement of executive functions in intelligence and creativity. Intelligence, 2014. Vol. 46, pp. 73–83. DOI:10.1016/j.intell.2014.05.007
  20. Frith E. et al. Keeping Creativity under Control: Contributions of Attention Control and Fluid Intelligence to Divergent Thinking. Creativity Research Journal, 2021. Vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 138–157. DOI:10.1080/10400419.2020.1855906
  21. Krumm G., Filippetti A., Gutierrez M. The contribution of Executive Functions to Creativity in Children: What is the role of Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence? Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2018. Vol. 29, pp. 185–195. DOI:10.1016/j.tsc.2018.07.006
  22. Lee C.S., Therriault D.J. The cognitive underpinnings of creative thought: A latent variable analysis exploring the roles of intelligence and working memory in three creative thinking processes. Intelligence, 2013. Vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 306–320. DOI:10.1016/j.intell.2013.04.008
  23. Marko M., Michalko D., Riečanský I. Remote associates test: An empirical proof of concept. Behavior Research Methods, 2019. Vol. 51, pp. 2700–2711. DOI:10.3758/s13428-018-1131-7
  24. Necka E., Zak P., Grushka A. Insightful Imagery is Related to Working Memory Updating. Frontiers in Psychology, 2016. Vol. 7, pp. 1–11. DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00137
  25. Nusbaum E.C., Silvia P.J. Are intelligence and creativity really so different? Fluid intelligence, executive processes, and strategy use in divergent thinking. Intelligence, 2011. Vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 36–45. DOI:10.1016/j.intell.2010.11.002
  26. Pan X., Yu H. Different Effects of Cognitive Shifting and Intelligence on Creativity. Journal of Creative Behaviour, 2018. Vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 212–225. DOI:10.1002/jocb.144
  27. Paulewicz B., Chuderski A., Nęcka E. Insight problem solving, fluid intelligence, and executive control: A SEM approach. In Vosniadou S., Kayser D., Protopapas A. (eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd European Cognitive Science Conference. Hove: Erlbaum, 2007, pp. 586–591.
  28. Sampedro A., Peña, J. Executive functions mediate the association between bilingualism and creativity in preadolescents. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 2019. Vol. 34, article ID 100605, 11 p. DOI:10.1016/j.tsc.2019.100605
  29. Bai H. et al. Serial order effect in divergent thinking in five-to six-year-olds: Individual differences as related to executive functions. Journal of Intelligence, 2021. Vol. 9, no. 2, article ID 20, 26 p. DOI:10.3390/jintelligence9020020
  30. Stolte M. et al. The contribution of executive functions in predicting mathematical creativity in typical elementary school classes: A twofold role for updating. Journal of Intelligence, 2020. Vol. 8, no. 2, article ID 26, 20 p. DOI:10.3390/jintelligence8020026
  31. Gerwig A. et al. The Relationship between Intelligence and Divergent Thinking — A Meta-Analytic Update. Journal of Intelligence, 2021. Vol. 9, no. 2, article ID 23, 28 p. DOI:10.3390/jintelligence9020023
  32. Beaty R.E. et al. The roles of associative and executive processes in creative cognition. Memory & Cognition, 2014. Vol. 42, pp. 1186–1197. DOI:10.3758/s13421-014-0428-8
  33. Miyake A. et al. The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions and Their Contributions to Complex “Frontal Lobe” Tasks: A Latent Variable Analysis. Cognitive Psychology, 2000. Vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 49–100. DOI:10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
  34. Karr J.E. et al. The Unity and Diversity of Executive Functions: A Systematic Review and Re-Analysis of Latent Variable Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 2018. Vol. 144, no. 11, pp. 1147–1185. DOI:10.1037/bul0000160
  35. Tidikis V., Ash I.K. Greater Stroop effect predicts better performance on creative insight problems, but not on divergent thinking tasks [Elektronnyi resurs]. The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Solving, 2018. Vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 27–37. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329783254 (Accessed 10.12.2021).
  36. Morra S. et al. Which tasks measure what? Reflections on executive function development and a commentary on Podjarny, Kamawar, and Andrews (2017). Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 2018. Vol. 167, pp. 246–258. DOI:10.1016/J.JECP.2017.11.004
  37. Wu Y., Koutstaal W. Charting the contributions of cognitive flexibility to creativity: Self-guided transitions as a process-based index of creativity-related adaptivity. PLoS ONE, 2020. Vol. 15, no. 6, 23 p. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0234473
  38. Zabelina D.L. Attention and Creativity. In Jung R., Vartanian O. (eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Neuroscience of Creativity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018, pp. 161–179. DOI:10.1017/9781316556238.010
  39. Zabelina D.L., Friedman N.P., Andrews-Hanna J. Unity and diversity of executive functions in creativity. Consciousness and Cognition, 2019. Vol. 68, pp. 47–56. DOI:10.1016/j.concog.2018.12.005
  40. Zabelina D.L., Saporta A., Beeman M. Flexible or leaky attention in creative people? Distinct patterns of attention for different types of creative thinking. Memory & Cognition, 2016. Vol. 44, pp. 488–498. DOI:10.3758/s13421-015-0569-4

Information About the Authors

Sophia S. Belova, PhD in Psychology, Research Fellow, Institute of Psychology, Psychology the Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1710-2180, e-mail: sbelova@gmail.com

Metrics

Views

Total: 987
Previous month: 20
Current month: 18

Downloads

Total: 405
Previous month: 13
Current month: 4