Positive mood enhances divergent but not convergent thinking

A positive mood enhances creative performance. We examined which type of creativity, divergent or convergent thinking, was enhanced by a positive mood. Half of the participants listened to happy music and thought about happy events (positive group). The other half listened to the Japanese Constitution (neutral group). Participants' emotional valence and arousal were measured before and after mood induction. All participants then engaged in a creative activity involving the generation of new names for rice. The results indicated that the positive group produced more divergent ideas than did the neutral group. On the other hand, the two groups did not differ with respect to the number of convergent ideas that were generated. We suggest that being in a positive mood facilitates flexible thinking and consequently leads to production of unconventional and atypical ideas.     

Assessing support networks: Stability and evidence for convergent and divergent validity

Data on important methodological problems in assessing support networks is presented. Stability (over 1 year) and construct validity were examined in two groups of mothers of preschool children. One group of mothers had children with a physical handicap (n = 25); the other group had normally developing children (n = 44). When their children were 4 years of age and again at 5 years of age, mothers' support networks were assessed with the Pattison Psychosocial Kinship Inventory (a semistructured interview) and a log diary. Results indicated considerable stability in mothers' support networks over the 1-year period. In addition, agreement across methods was fairly high despite marked differences in format, providing evidence for the construct of support networks. Further evidence for construct validity was provided by generally low correlations between support network variables and other measures of social ecology. Findings were roughly similar for both groups of mothers indicating general replicability of findings.     

Effects of personality and threat of evaluation on divergent and convergent thinking

This study explores the effects of the Big Five personality traits and threat of evaluation on divergent and convergent thinking in a sample of 82 UK students. Results showed that Openness and Extraversion predicted divergent thinking under both threat of evaluation and no evaluation, whilst Neuroticism correlated significantly with divergent thinking (negatively) only under threat of evaluation. However, mediational analysis showed that the effects of Neuroticism on divergent thinking under threat of evaluation were fully accounted for by Extraversion. Thus neurotics’ divergent thinking was significantly more impaired because they were more introverted. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Creative mood swings: divergent and convergent thinking affect mood in opposite ways

Increasing evidence suggests that emotions affect cognitive processes. Recent approaches have also considered the opposite: that cognitive processes might affect people’s mood. Here we show that performing and, to a lesser degree, preparing for a creative thinking task induce systematic mood swings: Divergent thinking led to a more positive mood, whereas convergent thinking had the opposite effect. This pattern suggests that thought processes and mood are systematically related but the type of relationship is process-specific.     

Influence of divergent and convergent thinking on visuomotor adaptation in young and older adults

Visuomotor adaptation declines in older age. This has been attributed to cognitive impairments. One relevant cognitive function could be creativity, since creativity is implicated as mediator of early learning. The present study therefore evaluates whether two aspects of creativity, divergent and convergent thinking, are differentially involved in the age-dependent decline of visuomotor adaptation.In 25 young and 24 older volunteers, divergent thinking was assessed by the alternative-uses-task (AUT), convergent thinking by the Intelligenz-Struktur-Test-2000 (IST), and sensorimotor-adaptation by a pointing task with 60° rotated visual feedback.Young participants outperformed older participants in all three tasks. AUT scores were positively associated with young but not older participants’ adaptive performance, whereas IST scores were negatively associated with older but not young participants’ adaptive performance. This pattern of findings could be attributed to a consistent relationship between AUT, IST and adaptation; taking this into account, adaptation deficits of older participants were no longer significant.We conclude that divergent thinking supports workaround-strategies during adaptation, but doesn’t influence visuomotor recalibration. Furthermore, the decay of divergent thinking in older adults may explain most of age-related decline of adaptive strategies. When the age-related decay of divergent thinking coincides with well-preserved convergent thinking, adaptation suffers most.     

Verbal expression of right cerebrovascular accident patients: convergent and divergent language

This investigation examined the role of the right hemisphere in language expression. Three groups of 12 subjects each--right CVAs, left CVAs, and controls--performed convergent and divergent language tasks of naming, function, and connected speech. For all convergent tasks and for number of words, number of message units, and fluency in divergent connected speech, controls surpassed both brain-damaged groups, who performed similarly. For the other divergent tasks, controls were superior to the brain-damaged groups, but the right CVAs outperformed the left CVAs. In general, verbal expression problems of right-hemisphere-damaged patients were almost as severe as those of left-hemisphere-damaged patients.     

Validation of the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale: factor, convergent, and divergent validity

The Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) was created to assess fear of overall appearance evaluation. Initial psychometric work indicated that the measure had a single-factor structure and exhibited excellent internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent validity. In the current study, the authors further examined the factor, convergent, and divergent validity of the SAAS in two samples of undergraduates. In Study 1 (N = 323), the authors tested the factor structure, convergent, and divergent validity of the SAAS with measures of the Big Five personality traits, negative affect, fear of negative evaluation, and social interaction anxiety. In Study 2 (N = 118), participants completed a body evaluation that included measurements of height, weight, and body fat content. The SAAS exhibited excellent convergent and divergent validity with self-report measures (i.e., self-esteem, trait anxiety, ethnic identity, and sympathy), predicted state anxiety experienced during the body evaluation, and predicted body fat content. In both studies, results confirmed a single-factor structure as the best fit to the data. These results lend additional support for the use of the SAAS as a valid measure of social appearance anxiety.     

Social cues for creativity: The impact of behavioral mimicry on convergent and divergent thinking

We present behavioral mimicry as a social cue for creative thinking. Specifically, we argue that being mimicked by an interaction partner cues convergent thinking by signalling a social opportunity for collaboration, while not being mimicked cues divergent thinking by signalling a social demand for improvisation and innovation. To test this theory, we experimentally manipulated whether individuals were subtly mimicked or not by an experimenter during a 5 min social interaction, and subsequently measured participants’ capacity for convergent thinking (Experiment 1) and divergent thinking (Experiment 2). The results point to the importance of understanding how social relationships influence the creative processes and contributes to the growing understanding of the social function of behavioral mimicry.     

Older age, traumatic brain injury, and cognitive slowing: some convergent and divergent findings

Reaction time (RT) meta-analyses of cognitive slowing indicate that all stages of processing slow equivalently and task independently among both older adults (J. Cerella & S. Hale, 1994) and adults who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI; F. R. Ferraro, 1996). However, meta-analyses using both RT and P300 latency have revealed stage-specific and task-dependent changes among older individuals (T. R. Bashore, K. R. Ridderinkhof, & M. W. van der Molen, 1998). Presented in this article are a meta-analysis of the effect of TBI on processing speed, assessed using P300 latency and RT, and a qualitative review of the literature. They suggest that TBI induces differential slowing. Similarities in the effects of older age and TBI on processing speed are discussed and suggestions for future research on TBI-induced cognitive slowing are offered.     

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.     

Attempts to predict intelligent behavior: III. The relative importance of divergent and convergent production

Scores on a test built on Raaheim's (1974) theory of problem solving and intelligence (the Family Test, Part I) were correlated with scores of divergent and convergent production within the same ideational area (the Family Test, Parts II and III). The results indicate that both divergent and convergent production contribute to the solution of the problem-solving tasks. To expand the findings to a broader field of intelligence research scores on the tests of divergent and convergent production were correlated with school achievement. Multiple correlations of 0.61 (males) and 0.67 (females) were found between school achievement and the two tests. Comparisons of groups with scores above and below the means of the two tests show that school achievement depends on the combination of divergent and convergent production, suggesting that, although the two types of production reflect two different aspects of intellectual activity, as a rule they work together in the process of intelligent adjustment.     

Obsessions and compulsions: Dimensional structure, reliability, convergent and divergent validity of the padua inventory

This study presents data on dimensional structure, reliability, convergent and divergent validity of the Padua Inventory (PI). In a sample (n = 430) of normal Dutch subjects. The dimensional structure and the strength of the factors were comparable to those found in the Italian sample. The reliability of the PI was found to be satisfactory. As hypothesized substantial correlations were found between the PI and related scales of the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) and between the PI and the subscales Sensitivity, Hostility and Depression of the revised version of the Symptom Checklist. Low correlations were found between the PI on the one side and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire revised Extraversion, Psychoticism and Social Desirability scale on the other side. Finally, the mean score of the PI differs across the Italian, American and Dutch samples. This is of theoretical interest and deserves further study.     

The contributions of convergent thinking,divergent thinking,and schizotypy to solving insight and non-insight problems

The ability to generate diverse ideas (divergent thinking) is valuable in solving creative problems (e.g., insight problems); yet, however advantageous, this ability is insufficient to solve the problem alone and requires the ability to logically deduce an assessment of correctness of each solution (convergent thinking). Positive schizotypy may help isolate the aspects of divergent thinking prevalent in insight problem solving. Participants were presented with a measure of schizotypy (Oxford-Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences), divergent and convergent thinking tasks, insight problems, and non-insight problems. We found no evidence for a relationship between schizotypy and insight problem solving. Relationships between divergent thinking and insight problem solving were also surprisingly weak; however, measures of convergent thinking had a stronger relationship with problem solving. These results suggest that convergent thinking is more important than divergent thinking in problem solving.     

The Relationship Quality Interview: evidence of reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and incremental utility

Relationship satisfaction and adjustment have been the target outcome variables for almost all couple research and therapies. In contrast, far less attention has been paid to the assessment of relationship quality. The present study introduces the Relationship Quality Interview (RQI), a semistructured, behaviorally anchored individual interview. The RQI was designed to provide a more objective assessment of relationship quality as a dynamic, dyadic construct across 5 dimensions: (a) quality of emotional intimacy in the relationship, (b) quality of the couple's sexual relationship, (c) quality of support transactions in the relationship, (d) quality of the couple's ability to share power in the relationship, and (e) quality of conflict/problem-solving interactions in the relationship. Psychometric properties of RQI ratings were examined through scores obtained from self-report questionnaires and behavioral observation data collected cross-sectionally from a sample of 91 dating participants and longitudinally from a sample of 101 married couples. RQI ratings demonstrated strong reliability (internal consistency, interrater agreement, interpartner agreement, and correlations among scales), convergent validity (correlations between RQI scale ratings and questionnaire scores assessing similar domains of relationship quality), and divergent validity (correlations between RQI scale ratings and (a) behavioral observation codes assessing related constructs, (b) global relationship satisfaction scores, and (c) scores on individual difference measures of related constructs). Clinical implications of the RQI for improving couple assessment and interventions are discussed.     

Screening ADHD problems in the sports behavior checklist: factor structure, convergent and divergent validity, and group differences

The Sports Behavior Checklist (SBC) is subjected to a principal components analysis, and subscales are correlated with subscales of the Conners' Revised Parent Form and the Social Skills Rating System. Both of these analyses are conducted to determine the construct validity of the instrument. A subsample of lower socioeconomic status individuals is used to compare ADHD and control group differences on the subscales of the SBC. The authors find that a six-factor solution, as proposed by the original authors, accounted for 71.5% of the variance. As hypothesized, subscales on the SBC are low to moderately related to subscales on the anchor measures. Significant group differences are found on the Aggression, Emotional Reactivity, and Injury subscales. Implications and limitations are discussed.     

Cognitive determinants of the success of inventors: Complex problem solving and deliberate use of divergent and convergent thinking

With reference to Henderson's (2004) assumption that inventors are “expert problem solvers”, we studied the ability of inventors to solve complex problems (CPS) using a sample of 46 German inventors. The participants had to use FSYS 2.0, a computer-simulated microworld. Additionally, we assessed metacognition, in particular the participants' ability to make deliberate use of divergent and convergent thinking. This ability was expected to be an important skill involved in solving complex problems (Dörner, Kreuzig, Reither, & Stäudel, 1983). We assumed a positive correlation between the individual success of inventors (number of granted and marketed patents) and CPS abilities. Controllability of divergent and convergent thinking turned out to be a predictor of the success of inventors and allowed us to identify the top 10% performers. Oddly however, the best problem solvers were inventors with exactly one granted patent. Data from a posteriori conducted interviews help explaining the results.     

The (b)link between creativity and dopamine: Spontaneous eye blink rates predict and dissociate divergent and convergent thinking

Human creativity has been claimed to rely on the neurotransmitter dopamine, but evidence is still sparse. We studied whether individual performance (N = 117) in divergent thinking (alternative uses task) and convergent thinking (remote association task) can be predicted by the individual spontaneous eye blink rate (EBR), a clinical marker of dopaminergic functioning. EBR predicted flexibility in divergent thinking and convergent thinking, but in different ways. The relationship with flexibility was independent of intelligence and followed an inverted U-shape function with medium EBR being associated with greatest flexibility. Convergent thinking was positively correlated with intelligence but negatively correlated with EBR, suggesting that higher dopamine levels impair convergent thinking. These findings support the claim that creativity and dopamine are related, but they also call for more conceptual differentiation with respect to the processes involved in creative performance.