Evaluating Creativity Through the Degrees of Solidity of Its Assessment: A Relational Approach

In this paper, we introduce a new approach to creativity assessment. Arguably, one of the main obstacles to creativity assessment is that creativity criteria are likely to change depending on what is assessed and who is making the assessment. We argue that we might be able to solve this problem by adopting a relational ontology, i.e., an ontology according to which beings of the world acquire their properties by relating to other beings. First, we present the main consequences of this ontological approach for creativity assessment: (a) Accounting for the creativity of a given object involves retracing the beings (including criteria) that relate it to its alleged creativity; (b) One can assess the creativity of this object by looking at the number of beings that substantiate this relation, i.e., by looking at what we call the “degree of solidity” of the relation; (c) One can thus account for the specificity of various forms of creativity and, at the same time, compare them in terms of solidity. Building on these ontological assumptions, we then present a new assessment technique, the Objection Counting Technique, before putting it to the test using an excerpt taken from a naturally occurring brainstorming session.     

A Deleuzian rethinking of time in healthy lifestyle advice and change

Time is a powerful but under‐examined element in healthy lifestyle advice, particularly in the promise of stable states of future health achievable through sustained lifestyle change. But such linear, sequential time frames reinforce notions of rational choice, personal control, and responsibility despite common experiences of diet and exercise regimens as non‐linear, effortful, and difficult to maintain. An over‐simplification of time thus contributes to the logic of blame when people fail to achieve healthy lifestyle goals, producing spoiled health identities and abject bodies as people struggle to sustain what can be unsustainable. Addressing these problems, we argue that Deleuze's philosophy offers tools to develop an alternative approach in health promotion. Deleuze affords a conceptualisation of multidimensional, embodied, and affective temporalities of health, which give rise to plural subjectivities and disrupt linear models of time. This framework affords a recognition of multiple time frames, such as histories and imagined futures that form part of a living present and shape lifestyle behaviours and identities. Deleuzian concepts that tie into his philosophy of time and form his process ontology, including monism and rhizomes, affect, becoming, and assemblages, are discussed in relation to health promotion. The article concludes that Deleuze offers a critical theory of time that enables a mapping of the ways that people embody multiplicity, non‐linearity, and fluidity as they negotiate healthy lifestyle advice. His concepts illuminate ways in which people can be oppressed and limited by discourses of healthy living, but also point to new, more affirmative directions for health promotion and healthy lifestyle advice.     

The impact of cognitive interventions on cognitive symptoms in idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review

This systematic review addressed efficacy of cognitive stimulation (CS), cognitive training (CT), and cognitive rehabilitation (CR) to improve cognitive functions in Parkinson’s disease (PD) with (PD-MCI) and without mild cognitive impairment (PD-H). Five databases were searched. Twelve CT, four CS, and a combination of CT with CR were found. PD-H benefited from CT or CS compared to active or passive controls in 42.1% of cognitive tests, and in 33.3% of psychological and functional measures. PD-MCI alone, compared with controls, only improved in 6.9% of cognitive measures after CT. PD-H and PD-MCI, alone or together, somehow improved information processing speed, attention, working memory, executive functions, and visual episodic memory. PD-MCI improved better than PD-H in global cognition and planning abilities. The outcomes suggest some efficacy of cognitive interventions in PD. However, small samples, lack of information regarding standardization of interventions, and poor methodological quality limit results validity and prevent firm conclusions.