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Utilizing Electroencephalography Measurements for Comparison of Task-Specific Neural Efficiencies: Spatial Intelligence Tasks
Published on: August 9, 2016
Creativity meets neuroscience: experimental tasks for the neuroscientific study of creative thinking
Andreas Fink1, Mathias Benedek, Roland H Grabner
1Institute of Psychology, University of Graz, Universitaetsplatz 2/III, A-8010 Graz, Austria. andreas.fink@uni-graz.at
Abstract:
The psychometric assessment of different facets of creative abilities as well as the availability of experimental tasks for the neuroscientific study of creative thinking has replaced the view of creativity as an unsearchable trait. In this article we provide a brief overview of contemporary methodologies used for the operationalization of creative thinking in a neuroscientific context. Empirical studies are reported which measured brain activity (by means of EEG, fMRI, NIRS or PET) during the performance of different experimental tasks. These tasks, along with creative idea generation tasks used in our laboratory, constitute useful tools in uncovering possible brain correlates of creative thinking. Nevertheless, much more work is needed in order to establish reliable and valid measures of creative thinking, in particular measures of novelty or originality of creative insights.
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