"Forward flow": A new measure to quantify free thought and predict creativity.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Linguistics
• Psychometrics

Background:

• Subjective experience is a continuous stream of thought.
• Free association captures thought streams but lacks quantification and predictive power.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify streams of thought using a novel metric.
• To determine if quantified thought streams predict psychological phenomena, particularly creativity.

Main Methods:

• Developed "forward flow," a metric using latent semantic analysis to measure semantic evolution of thoughts.
• Assessed forward flow's predictive validity for creativity in lab and real-world settings across multiple studies.
• Controlled for intelligence and divergent thinking task performance.

Main Results:

• Forward flow significantly predicts creativity in college students and a general American sample.
• Forward flow predicts membership in creative groups (e.g., actors, entrepreneurs) and creative achievement in celebrities.
• Forward flow shows potential for predicting other psychological phenomena like mental illness and leadership.

Conclusions:

• "Forward flow" effectively quantifies thought streams and predicts creativity.
• This metric offers a novel tool for psychological research and understanding cognitive processes.
• Open-access tools are provided for assessing and visualizing forward flow.