Questions tagged [creativity]

Questions about the psychology and neuroscience of creativity.

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177 votes
6 answers
18k views

How is it that taking a break from a problem sometimes allows you to figure out the answer?

As a computer programmer, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon: If I am stuck on a particular problem in my work, often if I stop thinking about the problem and do something else, the answer will ...
Josh's user avatar
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17 votes
7 answers
1k views

Can creativity be taught?

I have heard of classes that teach 'creativity'. To me, the whole concept is absurd. I approached a student of the aforementioned class and asked him why he chose to learn creativity. He stated that ...
Artemisia's user avatar
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12 votes
1 answer
9k views

Do highly creative people dream more and/or differently than ordinary people?

Everybody dreams, and I'm trying to understand if there is a cause and effect relationship between ability to dream and recall dreams and creativity as an adult. I would define the kind of ...
Alex Stone's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
7k views

Is there a correlation between high IQ and creativity?

Is there a correlation between high IQ for example over 125 and creativity? Is creativity improved or does its importance simply diminish? Maybe there could also be confounding variables as well? It ...
InquilineKea's user avatar
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10 votes
3 answers
132 views

How can I incentivize users to perform creative tasks?

Gamification is often used to incentivize people into performing small, repetitive tasks. For example, as a Stack Overflow user, I receive 2 reputation points for an accepted edit. I can earn badges ...
user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
17k views

Is there a relationship between schizophrenia and genius?

When reading the biography of renowned personalities recognized as "geniuses" such as great mathematicians, painters or poets, I was surprised by the fact that a great portion of this population that ...
jihed gasmi's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
159 views

What research exists in the areas of formulating questions and "problem shaping"?

After recalling Eric Steven Raymond and Rick Moen's How to Ask Questions The Smart Way and a discussion in a systems engineering course regarding the impact of the proper formulation of a problem in ...
Thomas Owens's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
414 views

How do cognitive scientists measure creativity?

Einstein said once something like creativity is more important than intelligence. Intelligence as it is measured is really one's speed and efficiency at processing information. How one processes the ...
201044's user avatar
  • 301
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does mindful meditation inhibit diffuse thinking (aka default mode network), creativity and make studying less effective?

Barbara Oakley's "Learning how to Learn" and "Mindshift" courses claim that having some break time in which diffuse mode thinking (afaik it's the same as default mode network) is ...
CrabMan's user avatar
  • 181
6 votes
2 answers
297 views

How does architecture impact cognition and mental health?

Research indicates that scenic, natural environments positively impact human health and mental well-being [1][2]. But what about the impact of man-made architecture and various architectural styles on ...
w128's user avatar
  • 349
6 votes
1 answer
814 views

Does working memory have a role in creativity?

What role does working memory play in creativity? Creativity in this context being easily measurable creativity, so performance on things like the uses task etc. Divergent thinking is the ability to ...
queenslug's user avatar
  • 2,426
6 votes
1 answer
739 views

How does the L-game by Edward de Bono demonstrate lateral thinking?

From the information I gathered about lateral thinking, it means to solve problems using unconventional means, sometimes even without using logic. Edward de Bono invented the L-game to illustrate ...
Li Voon Loke's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
252 views

What are some theories or cognitive models of human imagination?

What cognitive models of human imagination exist? How does the human imagine things that don't exist? Suppose I ask anyone to imagine himself climbing a mountain. He can't imagine that until he has ...
Animesh Pandey's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
216 views

Can incubation be facilitated, while, at the same time, being focused on a different problem?

Is it possible to facilitate incubation as well as consciously think about a different problem at the same time, in effect multitasking, in order to gain insights more quickly, without having to stop ...
jiniyt's user avatar
  • 685
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why am I more "musically" creative in the last 30 seconds before falling asleep?

I am a music producer and often my "best" pieces always came to my mind shortly before I fell asleep. Sometimes I actually grab a recorder, hum the melody and finish the idea on the very next day. My ...
user2875404's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
6k views

Is critical thinking associated with IQ?

I consider myself a person with reasonable intelligence. In my job, I require a lot of critical thinking. I am good at think laterally, but sometimes I feel I missed important critical evaluations of ...
thinker235's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

The relationship between creativity and focus

From what I have read here and there, I've managed to stitch together some superficial understanding of focus and creativity. My understanding is that focus and creativity seem like opposites. I've ...
user1999728's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
157 views

Correlation between anxiety/calmness and innovation development?

Is there any research or clues about whether anxious/calm people are more/less likely to be inventive / creative / develop innovations? I am interested about this both on an individual and cultural (...
drabsv's user avatar
  • 945
4 votes
0 answers
56 views

Is there any research connected with typing/writing to help in creativity or focus?

In my personal experience, typing my thoughts when I am working through creative problems seem to help. But it's subjective and would like to have some confirmation. Atkin in "The Phenomenological ...
qnsi's user avatar
  • 161
3 votes
1 answer
217 views

What challenges the ideasthesia balance theory has to answer?

Ideasthesia "can be defined as a phenomenon in which activation of concepts produces phenomenal experience". The examples vary from the Kiki/Bouba phenomenon applied to (possibly) everyone ...
Ooker's user avatar
  • 1,771
3 votes
2 answers
151 views

Does creativity decrease when invested in multiple areas?

I'm a math student and I find that coming up with original ideas and being creative is very important in the field. I love math and I'm also a voracious reader and I like to learn about many things ...
MaTHStudent's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
44 views

Observations on the role of iteration time in creative work

I recall hearing about a concept related to one's ability to work creatively. Essentially, the ability to do creative work was linked to the time between taking an action and seeing the result of ...
Rob McDonald's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
67 views

Can observing neutral objects prime the brain to integrate them into new ideas in the waking state?

I'm aware of a few concepts, primarily from dream research, which indicate that dreams feature or integrate observed objects from the past several days into dream content. For example, seeing a bike ...
Alex Stone's user avatar
  • 9,390
3 votes
1 answer
85 views

Does the lexical hypothesis have any role in 'creativity'?

The lexical hypothesis was used to I think create the 5 factor model of personality. Has anything similar been done in the science of 'creativity'? While, clearly, "creativity" is a component of ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
61 views

How does recognizing an answer differ from creating an answer to a question?

What are the scientific terms to use when researching the difference between the brain abilities demonstrated in recognizing an answer (e.g. multiple choice) versus creating an answer (e.g. fill in ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 33
2 votes
2 answers
174 views

Math understanding: intuitions and proofs

I think that cogsci can help me to study a problem in philosophy of math. Consider this case (adapted from M. Detlefsen, Brouwerian intuitionism): Lucy has the kind of understanding of a given math ...
MatteoBianchetti's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
528 views

How does cognitive science explain the origins of intuition and intelligence, that accurately describes the laws of nature?

What is the origin of non-incremental, revolutionary intuition and intelligence? For example, a human mind like Albert Einstein's can "come up" with revolutionary ideas and theories that correctly ...
Greg McNulty's user avatar
  • 1,926
2 votes
3 answers
162 views

Can machines really create anything new?

AlphaGo is an artificial intelligence which has beaten top human GO-players. Even the creators and instructors do not know how AlphaGo came to it's conclusion to put a stone just at this position. Top-...
user11102's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
45 views

Have there been tests used to measure one's perception of how creative something is? [duplicate]

I'm trying to think of ways to 'measure' creativity from an objective standpoint. One way that I can think of is to show multiple different 'creations' to observers and to ask them to rate the ...
Sydney Maples's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
76 views

Does creativity have a neurological basis independent of the art form used to express it? [closed]

The arts provide a medium for creativity, and while some ideas might be easily expressed in various forms of art, some might not be (for example, a sculptor might be able to express the same idea in ...
user1999728's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
3k views

Consumer vs creator, what are the differences?

Creators create, consumers consume what has been created. Consumers watch TV, creators write the script. Consumers play the game, creators design and make the game. There are all kinds of creators ...
Cestarian's user avatar
  • 489
2 votes
0 answers
183 views

How strongly are creative ideas influenced by our environment? [closed]

Background : I was recently reminded of an abandoned project of mine that is related to railways and "green energy," so I started doing some Internet searches to see if there are any similar projects ...
jihed gasmi's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
94 views

Do more creative people have more unusual dreams? [closed]

Title says it all: Do more creative people have more unusual dreams?
Levi Lindsey's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
55 views

Is there any theory supporting the idea that writing with your non-dominant hand is beneficial? [closed]

E.g. Could writing with your left hand increase creativity? Especially if the left hand is the non-dominant one. Could placebo effect also play a significant role?
Nemo's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
2 answers
107 views

What was creativity called before the 1950s, i.e. before Guilford coined the term?

It is known that Guilford coined the term, but the concept is much older. What did people in Freud's time call it? Genius? innovation? Something else?
zoagli's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

Does Computer science has any role to play in Cognitive science? [closed]

Does Computer science(or computationalism) has any role to play in Cognitive science or Creativity studies?
Akarsh Kandala's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
21 views

Do solutions for complicated problems ripe during long breaks? [duplicate]

I often solve complicated problems by thinking about the problem for maybe 15 minutes, then taking a break for one or two hours, and then think for another 15 minutes. This often leads to much better ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
1 answer
159 views

How does the brain create original thoughts? [closed]

Since the generation of thoughts requires the coordination of various parts of the brain, how does the brain know which parts to activate to develop unique ideas? Does the brain randomly activate its ...
Longmire Longsnapper's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
31 views

How do ideas come to our minds? [duplicate]

how does a new or creative idea come to mind ? or else how does an idea that leads you to solve a problem you have been working on for days suddenly come up ? you just feel like it lightened up in ...
Sofia693's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
49 views

Is there an accepted age range for peak creativity? [closed]

I have noticed in myself, and others (from afar) that creativity seems to decline with age. Physically, it's obvious that people peak rather early (say, 25 or 30 or so years of age). But what about ...
B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
201 views

Relation between memory and creativity

What theories exist explaining the interaction between creativity and long term memory? I am especially interested in how, in creative work, a thought triggers a memory that may not be related to it ...
Richard5832's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
166 views

What is the difference between creators of derivative works of art and original creators? [closed]

I like to write and am a frequent user on writers.stackexchange.com. Many questions there and in other writing or art related communities ask a variation of: I want to use the setting / characters / ...
user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
110 views

Is there a link between intelligence and mental disturbances? [closed]

Is there a link between high intelligence or creativity, measured with currently valid psychometrics, such as IQ tests or tests of creativity and mental disorders like depression, anxiety, or ...
NoName's user avatar
  • 11