Enhancing creative divergent thinking in older adults with a semantic retrieval strategy

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Neuroscience of Aging

Background:

• Creative divergent thinking relies on semantic memory and cognitive flexibility.
• While general cognitive abilities may decline with age, semantic memory remains relatively stable.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if a brief cognitive training strategy can enhance creative divergent thinking in older adults.
• To leverage intact semantic memory stores for improving creativity.

Main Methods:

• Older adults were trained on a semantic retrieval strategy.
• Creativity was assessed using the Alternate Uses Task (AUT) and Divergent Association Task (DAT).
• Testing occurred at three time points: pre-strategy (T0, T1) and post-strategy (T2).

Main Results:

• The semantic retrieval strategy significantly enhanced idea novelty on the AUT.
• Participants with lower initial AUT scores demonstrated the most substantial improvements.
• No significant changes were noted on the DAT.

Conclusions:

• A brief semantic retrieval strategy can effectively enhance creative divergent thinking in older adults.
• This approach capitalizes on preserved semantic memory in aging.
• The training shows particular promise for individuals with lower baseline creativity.