Creativity and the Simon task performance

Prema kognitivnom pristupu kreativnosti, procesi koji se nalaze u podlozi kreativne misli se kvalitativno ne razlikuju od elementarnih kognitivnih procesa, što znači da se informacije o načinu na koji oni tvore kreativnu misao mogu iskoristiti za unaprjeđenje kreativnog mišljenja. U većini kognitivnih modela kreativnosti je istaknuto da su procesi različitog stupnja inhibitorne kontrole korisni u različitim fazama kreativnosti. Njihova fleksibilna izmjena se čini ključnom za kreativnost, no nalazi empirijskih istraživanja o odnosu inhibitorne kontrole i kreativnosti su nekonzistentni. Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio ispitati učinak inhibitorne kontrole mjerene Simonovim zadatkom s obzirom na individualne razlike u kreativnom i ideacijskom ponašanju kod muškaraca i žena. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 105 studenata, od čega ih je 24 bilo kreativnog usmjerenja, i 57 osoba iz mlađe radne populacije, od čega ih se 17 bavilo kreativnim zanimanjem. Rezultati su pokazali da je vrijeme reakcije u Simonovom zadatku u prosjeku bilo kraće u kongruentnim nego u nekongruentnim pokušajima. Kada se u obzir uzme i kongruentnost prethodnog pokušaja, taj efekt je bio prisutan samo kada je prethodio kongruentni pokušaj, dok je u pokušajima koji su slijedili nakon nekongruentnih vrijeme reakcije bilo kraće u nekongruentnim nego u kongruentnim pokušajima. Taj efekt nije bio izraženiji kod kreativnijih u odnosu na manje kreativne sudionike, ali su sudionici natprosječnog rezultata na skali kreativnih aktivnosti u prosjeku reagirali sporije od pojedinaca ispodprosječnog rezultata. Nadalje, utvrđena je međusobna umjerena pozitivna povezanost rezultata na skalama kreativnog i ideacijskog ponašanja. Nije utvrđena povezanost rezultata na skalama kreativnog i ideacijskog ponašanja s prosječnim vremenom reakcije u Simonovom zadatku, ni s veličinom Grattonovog efekta. Osim toga, vrijeme reakcije muškaraca u Simonovom zadatku je u prosjeku bilo kraće od vremena reakcije žena, ali nisu utvrđene razlike među njima u Simonovom efektu, kao ni u rezultatima na skalama kreativnog i ideacijskog ponašanja.Within the creative cognition approach, processes underlying a creative thought are not considered qualitatively different from the elementary cognitive processes, which implies that information about how those processes form a creative thought can be used to facilitate creative thinking. Most cognitive models of creativity postulate that different degree of controlled processing is required at different stages of creativity. Although flexible shifting between different processing types seems to be the most beneficial for creativity, results of empirical studies on the relation of inhibitory control and creativity are quite inconsistent. The aim of this study was to examine performance in the Simon task, which is considered to reflect inhibitory control, with regard to individual differences in creative and ideational behaviour in men and women. The study included 105 students, 24 of whom had high creative demand in their studies, and 57 younger working-age people, 17 of whom had a creative profession. Results have shown the average reaction time in the Simon task was shorter for congruent than for incongruent trials. However, that effect was found only if the previous trial was congruent. If the previous trial was incongruent, reaction time was shorter for incongruent than congruent trials. That effect was not more pronounced among more creative individuals, but the average reaction time of participants who reported above average number of creative activities was significantly longer than that of participants who reported below average number. Furthermore, there was a significant moderate correlation between the self-assessments of creative and ideational behaviour. No significant correlation was found between the self-assessment of creative/ideational behaviour and the average reaction time in the Simon task, nor the size of the Gratton effect. Results have also shown that women performed more slowly in the task than men, but no significant differences were found in the size of the Simon effect, nor in the self-assessments of creative and ideational behaviour