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10 - Creativity and Cognitive Control

from Cognitive Underpinnings of Creativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2019

By
Mathias Benedek and
Emanuel Jauk
Edited by
James C. Kaufman and
Robert J. Sternberg
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
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Summary

This chapter examines the role of cognitive control for creativity. Empirical research has approached this topic from many different perspectives, including studies exploring the relationship between creativity and executive functions, intelligence, incubation, and mind-wandering. Further insights come from experimental manipulations of cognitive control and from neuroscientific investigations. The available evidence suggests that creativity may variably benefit from high or reduced cognitive control, depending on the goal-directedness and the complexity of tasks, as well as the stage within the creative process. Short, well-defined creative problems typically profit from high cognitive control, whereas tasks that are hard to approach analytically and especially complex long-term creative work often benefit from the interplay between controlled and spontaneous processing.

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The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity , pp. 200 - 223
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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