The contribution of executive functions to creativity in children: What is the role of crystallized and fluid intelligence?

Abstract

Highlights We provide data about the relationships among intelligence, executive functions and creativity.  First study in proposing a SEM model in order to explain the components that predict creative in Spanish-speaking children.  Only cognitive flexibility predicts creativity in children and, in the presence of this executive function, intelligence would not have direct effects on creative potential.  This study has implications for the understanding of the higher-order cognitive mechanisms that explain individual differences in creativity.

Revealing the Role of Divergent Thinking and Fluid Intelligence in Children’s Semantic Memory Organization

“…Several studies related DT to cognitive flexibility both in adults ( Pan and Yu 2018 ; Benedek et al 2012 ) and children ( Krumm et al 2018 ). Indeed, the flexibility of thought facilitates the production of innovative ideas by switching from one concept (or category) to another and forming remote connections ( Pan and Yu 2018 ).…”

“…In regard to Gf, a study found positive associations between creativity and Gf in children aged from 8 to 14 years, as measured by the Verbal TTCT and both the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test and Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) ( Krumm et al 2014 ). Another recent work investigated the role of executive function on creativity, demonstrating that—after controlling for the children’s level of intelligence—some specific executive functions, such as shifting and inhibition, make a significant contribution to creativity ( Krumm et al 2018 ). Consequently, the current theories mainly agreed in seeing creative cognition as either a bottom-up or top-down cognitive process ( Beaty et al 2014 ).…”

“…The top-down process, on the other hand, taps individual differences in creative cognition within the ability to exert control over attention ( Beaty et al 2017 , 2014 ; Nusbaum and Silvia 2011 ), and it relates to convergent thinking, executive functions, and particularly fluid intelligence ( Benedek et al 2014 ; Jauk et al 2013 ; Frith et al 2019 ; Silvia 2015 ; Prabhakaran et al 2014 ; Silvia and Beaty 2012 ; Nusbaum and Silvia 2011 ; Lee and Therriault 2013 ). Supported by the executive theory of creative thought, the top-down process is thought of as being preponderant during the selection and evaluation of an idea, allowing a more efficient memory retrieval and implementation ( Beaty and Silvia 2012 ; Dietrich 2004 ; Benedek et al 2014 ; Krumm et al 2018 ), and mediating switching ability ( Nusbaum and Silvia 2011 ), shifting ( Lee and Therriault 2013 ), and updating ( Beaty et al 2014 ). Although the bottom-up and top-down processes appear to be competing, a growing body of research indicates that both processes synergistically contribute to creative ability ( Benedek et al 2014 ; Benedek and Jauk 2018 ; Frith et al 2019 ).…”

Bases psicobiológicas de la creatividad en los niños con altas capacidades

“…Las investigaciones señalan que a partir de los 4 años el desarrollo cognitivo y creativo de los niños con AC parece depender más del entorno cultural, socioeconómico y educativo que en años anteriores 37 Las investigaciones sugieren que la superdotación se cultiva fomentando la curiosidad intelectual desde la infancia temprana, apoyando la capacidad para conectar el trabajo escolar con un propósito más amplio, fomentando el pensamiento independiente, crítico e investigador a través de entornos desafiantes 38,39 . Sin embargo, en la educación actual el funcionamiento creativo a menudo se atenúa temporalmente cuando los individuos participan en tareas monótonas y repetitivas, dedicadas a la atención externa y la acción inmediata, pudiendo socavar el cultivo a largo plazo de la superdotación.…”

Comparison of gifted and non-gifted students’ executive functions and high capabilities

“…The concept of giftedness is too broad and prone to controversy when the authors try to define it (Sak, 2020;Smedsrud, 2020). Intelligence, and in particular IQ, is traditionally assumed to be the most decisive variable in the definition of giftedness, however several authors point out its ambiguity and insufficiency for this definition, including other variables related to motivation, personality or creativity in the explanation of high capabilities and high performance (Gagné, 2018;Krumm, Arán, & Gutierrez, 2018;Renzulli, 2012;Sternberg, 2005). This broadening of the variables involved in giftedness highlights the psychological processes inherents to development and learning, introducing the relevance of the executive functions in explaining intelligence and giftedness.…”