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The development of creative search strategies
Yuval Hart1, Eliza Kosoy2, Emily G Liquin3
1Psychology Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
Cognition
|March 30, 2022
Summary
Children explore more but less efficiently than adults when being creative. As children mature, their creative output becomes less unique and more adult-like, indicating developmental changes in creative search strategies.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Creativity Research
Background:
- Creativity is a complex behavior, making precise measurement across developmental stages challenging.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of creativity is crucial for cognitive science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental changes in creativity using a novel "creative foraging" task.
- To compare creative processes between children (4-8 years old) and adults.
Main Methods:
- A "creative foraging" task was employed to measure distinct facets of creativity.
- The study compared search strategies, exploration efficiency, and product uniqueness between age groups.
Main Results:
- Children exhibited higher exploration rates but less efficient exploitation compared to adults.
- Children focused their creative search in a smaller, distinct area, producing more unique outputs.
- Creative products became less unique and more adult-like with increasing age.
Conclusions:
- Creative search strategies significantly evolve throughout development.
- Navigating the possibility space and idea selection undergo developmental shifts.
- The study provides insights into how creative thinking changes from childhood to adulthood.
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