Are creativity and schizotypy products of a right hemisphere bias?

Prior research has shown associations between higher creativity (e.g., semantic association, verbal fluency), higher schizotypy (e.g., magical ideation), and relatively stronger right hemisphere laterality measures--when each of the three pairings has been studied individually. Our prior study related creativity and schizotypy to signal detection theory response criterion aspects of laterality. The present study attempted to integrate findings regarding these three constructs and to replicate the signal detection theory laterality results by providing measures of all three constructs in a within subjects design. Participants were 60 undergraduates who completed a test battery including two measures of creativity, three measures of schizotypy, a lateralized lexical decision task, and a dichotic listening task. Results are consistent with individual differences in creativity and schizotypy being partly related to a response criterion favoring right hemisphere, possibly nonconscious, processing. Dichotic listening results revealed a strong association of better right hemisphere (left ear) localization ability and creativity.     

An investigation into the relationships between convergent and divergent thinking, schizotypy, and autistic traits

This study explored the relationships between positive and negative schizotypy, convergent and divergent thinking, and autistic traits within the normal population. Seventy-seven students at Oxford University completed tasks to assess divergent and convergent thinking, and completed questionnaires to measure schizotypy and autistic tendencies. Evidence for relationships between negative schizotypy, autistic traits, and convergent thinking was found, but the expected association between positive schizotypy and divergent thinking was not replicated. These findings are discussed in the context of a cognitive inhibition theory of creativity.     

Schizotypy and affective temperament: Relationships with divergent thinking and creativity styles

Schizotypy and affective temperament have both been linked to creativity using measures such as divergent thinking (DT) but not in terms of creativity styles. The relationship between schizotypy and affective temperament has also not been examined directly in a creativity paradigm. Seventy-eight (44 female, 34 male) university students completed two DT tasks and measures of schizotypy, affective temperament, and creativity styles. Positive schizotypy was correlated with creativity styles, and affective temperament was correlated with both creativity styles and DT scores. Furthermore, schizotypy and affective temperament differentially predicted DT scores and creativity styles. Finally, the relationship between schizotypy and affective temperament gave evidence towards a unitary psychosis theory. Results are discussed in terms of current theories about psychosis and psychoticism and their association to creativity.     

How semantic memory structure and intelligence contribute to creative thought: a network science approach

The associative theory of creativity states that creativity is associated with differences in the structure of semantic memory, whereas the executive theory of creativity emphasises the role of top-down control for creative thought. For a powerful test of these accounts, individual semantic memory structure was modelled with a novel method based on semantic relatedness judgements and different criteria for network filtering were compared. The executive account was supported by a correlation between creative ability and broad retrieval ability. The associative account was independently supported, when network filtering was based on a relatedness threshold, but not when it was based on a fixed edge number or on the analysis of weighted networks. In the former case, creative ability was associated with shorter average path lengths and higher clustering of the network, suggesting that the semantic networks of creative people show higher small-worldness.     

Investigating the interaction between schizotypy, divergent thinking and cannabis use

Cannabis acutely increases schizotypy and chronic use is associated with elevated rates of psychosis. Creative individuals have higher levels of schizotypy, however links between cannabis use, schizotypy and creativity have not been investigated. We investigated the effects of cannabis smoked naturalistically on schizotypy and divergent thinking, a measure of creativity. One hundred and sixty cannabis users were tested on 1 day when sober and another day when intoxicated with cannabis. State and trait measures of both schizotypy and creativity were administered. Quartile splits compared those lowest (n=47) and highest (n=43) in trait creativity. Cannabis increased verbal fluency in low creatives to the same level as that of high creatives. Cannabis increased state psychosis-like symptoms in both groups and the high creativity group were significantly higher in trait schizotypy, but this does not appear to be linked to the verbal fluency change. Acute cannabis use increases divergent thinking as indexed by verbal fluency in low creatives.     

Schizotypy and creativity in visual artists

‘Every work of art is an uncommitted crime ’ Adorno (1951) . Cited in Julius (2002) . Given the putative relationship between creativity and schizotypy/psychoticism, the current study set out to investigate differences in scores on a range of personality and creativity measures between visual artists and non‐artists. Results found that the visual artists group scored higher on measures of positive‐schizotypy, disorganized‐schizotypy, asocial‐schizotypy, neuroticism, openness and divergent thinking (uniqueness) than did the non‐artist group and lower on agreeableness. These findings lend support to other studies reporting higher schizotypy scores in artistic and creative cohorts, although provide some of the first evidence of higher unusual experiences and impulsive nonconformity scores on the Oxford‐Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (O‐LIFE) in visual artists. The relationship between creativity and schizotypy is discussed in terms of unusual ideas and a propensity to endorse socially undesirable responses.     

Personality,creativity and latent inhibition

The current study set out to investigate the relationship between creativity, multi‐dimensional schizotypy and personality more generally. This was achieved by analysing scores on a range of personality scales and measures of creativity, where it was found that the creativity measures were more closely related to asocial‐schizotypy than positive‐schizotypy. The study also sought to test Eysenck's prediction ( 1993 , 1995 ) that, given the putative relationship between creativity and psychosis‐proneness, high psychosis‐prone scoring individuals and high creativity scoring individuals would demonstrate the same cognitive style of ‘overinclusiveness’ on latent inhibition. However, the results failed to demonstrate any evidence of a shared ‘widening of the associative horizon’ between high creativity and high psychosis‐prone scorers. The findings are discussed in relation to multi‐dimensional schizotypy. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The roles of associative and executive processes in creative cognition

How does the mind produce creative ideas? Past research has pointed to important roles of both executive and associative processes in creative cognition. But such work has largely focused on the influence of one ability or the other—executive or associative—so the extent to which both abilities may jointly affect creative thought remains unclear. Using multivariate structural equation modeling, we conducted two studies to determine the relative influences of executive and associative processes in domain-general creative cognition (i.e., divergent thinking). Participants completed a series of verbal fluency tasks, and their responses were analyzed by means of latent semantic analysis (LSA) and scored for semantic distance as a measure of associative ability. Participants also completed several measures of executive function—including broad retrieval ability (Gr) and fluid intelligence (Gf). Across both studies, we found substantial effects of both associative and executive abilities: As the average semantic distance between verbal fluency responses and cues increased, so did the creative quality of divergent-thinking responses (Study 1 and Study 2). Moreover, the creative quality of divergent-thinking responses was predicted by the executive variables—Gr (Study 1) and Gf (Study 2). Importantly, the effects of semantic distance and the executive function variables remained robust in the same structural equation model predicting divergent thinking, suggesting unique contributions of both constructs. The present research extends recent applications of LSA in creativity research and provides support for the notion that both associative and executive processes underlie the production of novel ideas.     

Probing Linear and Nonlinear Relations Among Schizotypy,Hypomania, Cognitive Inhibition,and Creativity

This study explored the relationship between schizotypy, hypomania, and indicators of creativity in 152 adult undergraduate students. We were interested in exploring a possible inverted U-shaped relationship between mental illness and creativity where moderate (vs. high or low) amounts of pathology are associated with facilitating creative responses. An indicator of cognitive inhibition derived from Stroop mismatch reaction times was also evaluated as a potential moderating factor between symptomatology and levels of creativity. College students (n = 152) were recruited from an introductory psychology class and completed a series of questionnaires (Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-BR; Hypomania Checklist-32; Creative Achievement Questionnaire) and experimental tasks (color Stroop task; Wallach-Kogan Creativity Test) with a research assistant in a controlled environment. Polynomial regression results suggested that creative accomplishments were predicted by levels of disorganized schizotypy, but negatively associated with levels of interpersonal schizotypy. Scores on two divergent thinking indices were predicted by levels of disorganized schizotypy, yet surprisingly negatively associated with scores of hypomania. Although the relationship between disorganized symptoms and creative processes was not anticipated, these results may reflect certain nonconforming characteristics (e.g., tendency to wander off the topic in conversations) associated with this symptom domain. Although there was no definitive evidence supporting an inverted-U relationship between symptom severity and creativity within our sample, several linear relationships emerged suggesting that cognitive inhibition acted as a moderator variable for originality in those with higher levels of interpersonal schizotypy. Limitations and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Creative Activity,Personality, Mental Illness,and Short‐Term Mating Success

It has been argued that creativity evolved, at least in part, through sexual selection to attract mates. Recent research lends support to this view and has also demonstrated a link between certain dimensions of schizotypy, creativity, and short‐term mating. The current study delves deeper into these relationships by focusing on engagement in creative activity and employing an expansive set of personality and mental health measures (Five Factor Model, schizotypy, anxiety, and depression). A general tendency to engage in everyday forms of creative activity was related to number of sexual partners within the past year in males only. Furthermore, schizotypy, anxiety, and Neuroticism were all indirectly related to short‐term mating success, again for males only. The study provides additional support for predictions made by sexual selection theory that men have a higher drive for creative display, and that creativity is linked with higher short‐term mating success. The study also provides support for the contention that certain forms of mental illness may still exist in the gene pool because particular personality traits associated with milder forms of mental illness (i.e., Neuroticism & schizotypy) are also associated directly with creativity and indirectly with short‐term mating success.     

Interplay between Creativity,Executive Function and Working Memory in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Studies reveal inconclusive evidence of the relationship between executive function and creativity. Further, there is a dearth of studies investigating creativity in older adults in the Indian context. Three tests—namely, Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Figural), the Stroop Test, and Mental Balance (PGI memory scale)—were administered on a sample of 58 middle-aged and older adults (50–64 years). Analysis revealed a significant correlation between creativity and executive function (r_s = ?.35). Mann-Whitney U confirmed that individuals who were above average on creativity performed significantly better on executive function. However, there was an insignificant relationship between creativity and working memory, as well as between working memory and executive function. Further, no age decline nor gender differences were found except for speed of processing, which decreased with increase with age. These findings might aid in planning interventions and cognitive retraining exercises for individuals of the same age bracket by targeting their creative strengths. Academically, they can contribute to understanding the cognitive processes underlying creativity and can further help create norms in the Indian context.     

Creativity and schizotypy from the neuroscience perspective

Behavioral research has revealed that some cognitive features may be similar between creative and psychotic/schizophrenic-like thoughts. In this study, we addressed the potential link between creativity and schizotypy at the level of the brain by investigating functional patterns of brain activity (using functional magnetic resonance imaging) during creative cognition in preselected groups with low versus high psychometrically determined schizotypy. Our findings revealed an association between the originality component of creativity and reduced deactivation of right parietal brain regions and the precuneus during creative cognition, congruent with the idea that more-creative people may include many more events/stimuli in their mental processes than do less-creative people. Similarly, the high-schizotypy group showed weaker deactivation of the right precuneus during creative cognition. The fact that originality and schizotypy show similar functional brain activity patterns during creative ideation (i.e., reduced deactivation of the right precuneus) strongly supports the contention that similar mental processes may be implicated in creativity and in psychosis proneness.     

Creativity,Schizotypicality, and Mystical Experience: An Empirical Study

This study examined the commonalities and the differences between creativity and the schizophrenia spectrum. The variables measured were creativity, schizotypy, absorption, mystical experiences, spatial ability, balance, positive and negative presence, and neuroticism. Three community groups were recruited: 31 artists, 10 people with schizophrenia, and 31 comparisons matched for gender and age with the artists. A larger student group, consisting of 102 students, was also recruited to examine the correlations among the same variables within a larger, more normative, group. The largest commonality between the artist and the schizophrenic groups was the propensity to mystical experiences. The greatest differences between them were that the artists were higher in creativity, had better spatial ability, had better balance, had more positive states of presence, and were lower in neuroticism. In the student group, creativity was positively correlated with positive schizotypy, impulsive nonconformity, spatial ability, positive presence, absorption, and mystical experiences, although in the student group, the relation between creativity and mystical experiences was completely mediated by absorption.     

基于语义网络的创造性认知机制研究现状与展望

语义网络是主要的知识表征方式之一,对创造性研究具有重要意义。近年来不断发展的网络科学方法为相关研究提供了强大的方法论框架及量化工具,研究者得以分别从语义网络结构及语义相关认知操作的角度探讨语义网络与创造性的内在联系。已有证据表明语义网络中所储存的概念越丰富、概念间的连接通路越多元化或越灵活,则个体创造性水平越高;而个体创造性水平亦受制于个体对概念的检索、抑制、选择、整合及扩展等认知能力。在此方向上,未来研究工作应当更多地思考如何在一个相对整合的认知框架中深入探讨语义网络结构及相关认知过程对创造性的交互作用,并结合神经影像等技术手段,将语义网络之于创造性的认知机制嵌套于神经科学体系中进行解释。     

Characteristics of ADHD Related to Executive Function: Differential Predictions for Creativity-Related Traits

Although the relationship between creativity and ADHD is uncertain, recent studies examining how dimensionally assessed characteristics of ADHD relate to creativity and divergent thinking in adults suggest an occasional positive, linear relationship between the constructs. However, the executive functions proposed to underlie characteristics of ADHD have not been examined in relation to creativity. This study was conducted to determine how different characteristics of ADHD related to executive functioning (as assessed by the Brown ADD Scales) predict different components of figural divergent thinking, intellectual risk-taking, and creative self-efficacy. Undergraduate engineering students (N = 60) completed the Brown ADD Scales, a figural divergent thinking task, and self-report measures of intellectual risk-taking and creative self-efficacy. A series of multivariate regression models demonstrated that several components of divergent thinking (i.e., fluency, originality, and resistance to closure) were predicted by different characteristics of ADHD. Although fluency was predicted by affect only and originality was predicted by activation only, resistance to closure was predicted by activation, effort, and attention. Additionally, intellectual risk-taking was predicted by memory, effort, and activation, whereas creative self-efficacy was predicted by effort. The implications of these results relating to the relationship between ADHD and creativity, as well as for engineering undergraduate education are discussed.     

The Relationship Between Nonclinical Schizotypy and Handedness on Divergent and Convergent Creative Problem-Solving Tasks

Previous research indicated a relationship between hemispherical dominance, the extent of schizotypal tendencies, and creativity. Little research has been conducted to assess the degree of schizotypy in nonclinical samples. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which measures of multidimensional schizotypy and predominant handedness could predict measures of creativity, as assessed by both divergent and convergent tasks. One hundred and twenty-six participants participated in a quasi-experiment involving tests of predominant handedness, schizotypal tendencies, and divergent and convergent thinking. Results suggest that individuals who scored high on a test for schizotypal tendencies performed better on divergent problem-solving tasks, as opposed to low scoring individuals who performed better on convergent problem-solving tasks. Furthermore, results suggest that there was relationship between handedness on divergent and convergent thinking. There was, however, a relationship between handedness (right hemisphere) on the degree of schizotypal tendencies with left-handed individuals demonstrating greater schizotypal tendencies.     

The relationship between measures of creativity and schizotypy

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which a measure of multidimensional schizotypy and intelligence predicted measures of creativity, as assessed by self-rated creativity, a measure of the creative personality (CPS: Gough, 1979) and an inventory of creative behaviours. Additionally an aggregation of the three different measures; total creativity was examined. 140 participants completed the creativity measures, a general intelligence test (Wonderlic Personnel Test: Wonderlic, 1992) in addition to a multidimensional schizotypy inventory (O-LIFE: Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995). The Unusual Experiences and Impulsive Nonconformity dimensions of the O-LIFE were positively and significantly related to creativity. The Cognitive Disorganisation dimension was found to be negatively and significantly related to creativity. The implications of the findings were discussed.     

Schizotypy: An Organizing Framework for Schizophrenia Research

ABSTRACT— Schizophrenia is the most devastating form of psychopathology known to humankind, and it has been slow to yield clues to its origins. Meehl's (1962, 1990) model detailed the nature of the latent liability for schizophrenia known as schizotypy and provided a major organizing function for research on schizophrenia. The schizotypy model integrates genetic and environmental contributions to liability as well as accounting for a range of clinical outcomes, all deriving from a genuine liability for the illness. Schizotypy, as a latent personality organization that harbors the liability for schizophrenia, provides a framework for detecting fundamental features of liability to schizophrenia prior to the onset of clinical illness. The schizotypy model is reviewed, the strategic benefits of it are discussed, and methods for detecting schizotypy are presented. A focus on perceptual aberrations—a schizotypic feature—in individuals unaffected by schizophrenia has yielded valuable clues to preclinical disturbances in neurocognitive processes, risk for schizophrenia among biological relatives, and genomic substrates, all of which are of interest to schizophrenia researchers.     

Creativity, unique designs, and schizotypy in a nonclinical sample

The present study examined whether creativity and novel design construction differ in 60 individuals who scored low and high (based on a median split) on a measure of schizotypy. Groups differed on one measure, total designs made, but not on creativity.     

Schizotypy in relatives of patients with schizophrenia

Previous studies indicate that relatives of patients with schizophrenia are more likely to present characteristics of schizotypal personality than the general population. Few transcultural studies of schizotypy have been carried out. Most instruments constructed to measure schizotypy have been applied in specific cultures; conceivably, in other populations its components may be distributed in different ways. These cultural differences may affect the relations between schizotypy and schizophrenia. The objective of this study is to obtain data on schizotypy in relatives of patients with schizophrenia and relatives of patients with other disorders in a Latin American rural population. The results suggest that cultural factors must be taken into account in order to establish the relationship between schizotypy and schizophrenia.