Related Experiment Videos
Beyond Cognitive Support: Social Interaction and Affective Experience in AI-Assisted Creative Thinking Among
Yawen Cheng1,2, Xiaoting Huang2,3
1School of Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China.
Journal of Intelligence
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Social interaction in human-AI collaboration enhances creative thinking, particularly convergent thinking, by fostering positive emotions. Cognitive support alone is less impactful than engaging, affectively positive AI partnerships.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Artificial Intelligence in Education
Background:
- Creative thinking is vital in education, but its support within human-AI collaboration remains under-explored.
- Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used as partners in learning and problem-solving.
- Understanding how AI collaboration impacts creative thinking is crucial for educational applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between cognitive support and social interaction in AI-assisted collaboration with divergent and convergent thinking.
- To determine the role of affective experiences in mediating the relationship between AI collaboration features and creative thinking outcomes.
- To provide insights into optimizing AI tools for fostering creativity in educational settings.
Main Methods:
- 92 undergraduate students engaged in creative problem-solving tasks using GPT-4.0.
- Data collected included task outputs and self-report measures.
- Structural equation modeling was employed to test hypothesized associations, with indirect effects analyzed.
Main Results:
- Social interaction, not cognitive support, correlated with more positive affective experiences during human-AI collaboration.
- Positive affective experiences were specifically linked to enhanced convergent thinking, not divergent thinking.
- The quality of social engagement and emotional positivity in AI collaboration significantly influenced creative outcomes.
Conclusions:
- The impact of AI-assisted collaboration on creative thinking is more dependent on social engagement and positive affect than cognitive support alone.
- AI tools should be designed to foster socially engaging and affectively positive interactions to maximize creative potential.
- Future research should explore nuanced ways to integrate cognitive and social support in AI for diverse creative thinking skills.
Related Concept Videos
01:29The Influence of Affect on Cognition
Positive affect significantly influences cognitive processes, including evaluation, memory, creativity, and social judgments. Compared to negative affect, positive emotional states promote more favorable interpretations of stimuli, cognitive flexibility, and heuristic processing. These effects highlight emotions' powerful role in shaping how individuals perceive, remember, and interact with the world.Influence on Evaluation and AttributionWhen individuals experience positive affect, they are...
01:20Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think. It attempts to explain how and why we think the way we do by studying the interactions among human thinking, emotion, creativity, language, and problem-solving, as well as other cognitive processes. Cognitive psychology studies how information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing.
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
01:25Creative Thinking
Creative thinking encompasses innovative and unconventional methods for addressing challenges, often leading to groundbreaking solutions. Instead of focusing solely on enhancing existing systems, such as increasing smartphone battery capacity, creative thinking might inspire advancements like energy-efficient batteries or processors that minimize power consumption. This multidimensional approach underscores the importance of exploring novel pathways to innovation.
Divergent thinking is the...
Divergent thinking is the...
01:18Cognitive Development During Adolescence
During adolescence, individuals experience significant cognitive development that enhances their understanding of others' emotions and thoughts, known as cognitive empathy. This period is marked by an increased ability to adapt to others' perspectives and a more nuanced understanding of others' mental states, a skill that is foundational for social problem-solving and conflict avoidance. The development of cognitive empathy relies heavily on the theory of mind — the recognition that people have...
01:29The Influence of Cognition on Affect
Cognition plays a pivotal role in shaping emotional experiences, as demonstrated by Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory of emotion. According to this model, emotion arises from a combination of physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation. The body’s physiological response to stimuli is ambiguous and only gains emotional significance through cognitive labeling. For instance, an increased heart rate and adrenaline surge while standing near an attractive person may be interpreted as...
01:21Cognitive Learning
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...