Previous research indicates that episodic retrieval contributes to divergent creative thinking. However, this research has relied on standard laboratory tests of divergent creative thinking, such as generating creative uses for objects; it is unknown whether episodic retrieval also contributes to domain-specific forms of creativity. Here we start to explore whether episodic retrieval contributes to content generation on one such domain-specific task: creative writing. In two experiments, we use an episodic specificity induction (ESI) that selectively impacts tasks that draw on episodic retrieval. If episodic retrieval contributes to content generation during creative writing, then ESI should selectively increase the number of episodic details that people subsequently generate on a creative writing task. In our first experiment, we found evidence that ESI increased the number of episodic details participants generated. We observed a similar, though non-significant, trend in the second experiment. These findings constitute a starting point for examining the contribution of episodic retrieval to creative writing, but additional studies will be needed to more definitively characterize the nature and extent of these contributions.

A large body of research has revealed that viewing example image stimuli tends to constrain creative idea generation. However, the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying such visual fixation in creative cognition are unclear. In the present experiment, we explored whether example images impacted creative imagination and patterns of neural activity within brain regions associated with visual object recognition. Participants first viewed example images (ambiguous line drawings) accompanied by high-constraint and low-constraint labels. High-constraint labels resembled the line drawings, whereas low constraint labels did not. Next, participants imagined new labels for the same line drawings, with the initial labels removed. Consistent with our predictions, semantic distance analysis comparing cue labels to newly generated labels showed lower average semantic distance (i.e., less creative ideas) on high-constraint trials compared to low-constraint trials. Using representational similarity analysis, we also demonstrated that neural pattern similarity was anticorrelated (less similar) from object recognition to high-constraint imagination trials within the right inferior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, and right superior occipital gyrus. Broadly, these findings suggest that salient visual examples may guide the formation of strong mental representations that constrain creative imagination. This research also offers a first step toward identifying neurocognitive signatures associated with the effortful process of producing new, creative ideas following exposure to fixating examples - particularly at the early level of object recognition/representation in the ventral visual stream.

Implicit learning refers to learning without conscious awareness of the content acquired. Theoretical frameworks of human cognition suggest that intuitions develop based on incomplete perceptions of regularity during implicit learning and, in turn, lead to the development of more explicit, consciously-accessible knowledge. Surprisingly, however, this putative information processing pathway (i.e., implicit learning. intuition. explicit knowledge) has yet to be empirically demonstrated. The present study investigated the relationship between implicit learning, intuitions, and explicit knowledge using a modified Serial Reaction Time Task. Results indicate that intuitions of implicitly-learned patterns emerge prior to the development of explicit knowledge. Moreover, intuition timing and accuracy were significantly associated with accuracy of explicit reports. We did not, however, find that stronger implicit learners developed more accurate intuitions. Our findings suggest a crucial role of intuition in the formation of explicit knowledge from implicit learning.

Semantic distance is increasingly used for automated scoring of originality on divergent thinking tasks, such as the Alternate Uses Task (AUT). Despite some psychometric support for semantic distance - including positive correlations with human creativity ratings - additional work is needed to optimize its reliability and validity, including identifying maximally reliable items (objects) for AUT administration. We identify a set of 13 AUT items based on a systematic item-selection strategy (belt, brick, broom, bucket, candle, clock, comb, knife, lamp, pencil, pillow, purse, sock). This item-set resulted in acceptable reliability estimates and was found to be moderately related to both human creativity ratings and a creative personality factor (Study 1). These results replicated in a new sample of Participants (Study 2). We conclude with the following recommendations for reliable and valid assessment of AUT originality using semantic distance: 1) make choices based on theoretical/practical considerations, 2) administer (some or all of) the 13 items from this study; 3) if other items must be used, avoid compound words as AUT items (e.g., guitar string); 4) include as many AUT items as time permits; 5) instruct participants to be creative; and 6) address fluency confounds that conflate idea quantity and quality (e.g., via max scoring).

Evidence from fMRI research indicates that individual creative thinking ability - defined as performance on divergent thinking tasks, subjectively assessed by human raters - can be predicted based on the strength of functional connectivity (FC) between the brain's default mode network (DMN) and frontoparietal control network (FPCN). Here, we sought to replicate and extend these findings in two ways: 1) using a natural language processing method to objectively quantify creative performance (instead of subjective human ratings), and 2) employing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a neuroimaging method that allows measuring brain activity in more naturalistic settings (compared to fMRI). By applying elastic-net regression to resting-state functional connectivity data, we constructed two separate prediction models to predict participants' creative performance based on static FC and dynamic FC respectively. Results from the static network analysis indicated that fNIRS-functional connectivity between the DMN and FPCN can reliably predict creative ability (assessed objectively via natural language processing; R-2 = .38). Moreover, we show that dynamic DMN-FPCN functional connectivity predicts creative ability nearly twice as strong as static connectivity (R-2 = .67). Our work demonstrates that objective measures of creativity can be predicted from resting-state functional connectivity and that the procedure can be efficiently implemented within highly naturalistic settings with fNIRS.

Despite its theoretical importance, little is known about how semantic memory structure facilitates and constrains creative idea generation. We examine whether the semantic richness of a concept has both benefits and costs to creative idea generation. Specifically, we tested whether cue set size—an index of semantic richness reflecting the average number of elements associated with a given concept—impacts the quantity (fluency) and quality (originality) of responses generated during the Alternate Uses Task (AUT). Across four studies, we show that low-association, sparse, AUT cues benefit originality at the cost of fluency compared to high-association, rich, AUT cues. Furthermore, we found an interaction with individual differences in fluid intelligence in the low-association AUT cues, suggesting that constraints of sparse semantic knowledge can be overcome with top-down intervention. Our findings indicate that semantic richness differentially impacts the quality and quantity of generated ideas, and that cognitive control processes can facilitate idea production when conceptual knowledge is limited.

Creativity has long been conceptually linked to experiences of emotion and mind wandering, yet these empirical relationships remain unclear, and few studies have explored the thoughts and emotions of creative people in daily life. To investigate how creativity relates to everyday cognitive and affective experiences, the present study (N = 159) used experience sampling to examine how creative cognition (divergent thinking ability) and creative behavior (self-reported creative activity and achievement) measured in the lab may predict thought content, affective state, and the frequency of mind wandering (i.e., task-unrelated thought) in daily life. Additionally, we assessed in-the-moment thoughts and emotions predictive of thinking about a creative project in everyday life (i.e., creative project thought ). We found that each form of creativity was generally associated with positively-valenced experiences, such as having pleasant thoughts, enjoying one's everyday activities, and feeling motivated and inspired. We also found that positive, activating emotions (happy and energetic) were positively associated with divergent thinking ability and in-the-moment creative project thought. Furthermore, positive, deactivating emotions (relaxed and connected) negatively predicted momentary creative project thought-indicating that positive affect can be tied to less creative thinking, depending on the activation level of emotions. No relationship was found between daily-life mind wandering frequency and divergent thinking ability or creative behavior/achievement, suggesting that the overall amount of task-unrelated thought in everyday life is not related to individual creativity. Taken together, the present findings provide novel evidence on the everyday experiential correlates of creative thinking and behavior.

The brain’s modular functional organization facilitates adaptability. Modularity has been linked with a wide range of cognitive abilities such as intelligence, memory, and learning. However, much of this work has (1) considered modularity while a participant is at rest rather than during tasks conditions and/or (2) relied primarily on lab-based cognitive assessments. Thus, the extent to which modularity can provide information about real-word behavior remains largely unknown. Here, we investigated whether functional modularity during resting-state and task-based fMRI was associated with academic learning (measured by GPA) and ability (measured by PSAT) in a large sample of high school students. Additional questions concerned the extent to which modularity differs between rest and task conditions, and across spatial scales. Results indicated that whole-brain modularity during task conditions was significantly associated with academic learning. In contrast to prior work, no such associations were observed for resting-state modularity. We further showed that differences in modularity between task conditions and resting-state varied across spatial scales. Taken together, the present findings inform how functional brain network modularity – during task conditions and while at rest – relate to a range of cognitive abilities.