Driving factors of individual differences in broad retrieval ability: Gr is more than the sum of its parts.

Broad retrieval ability (Gr) posits an essential factor of human cognitive abilities. Previous literature indicates Gr is best modeled as a higher-order factor model with lower-level factors such as ideational fluency (IF), word fluency (WF), expressional fluency (EF), or figural fluency (FF). However, the dimensionality of Gr is not well studied. Furthermore, it remains unclear whether specific retrieval affordances such as differing retrieval time periods (e.g., short vs. long) can be psychometrically separated from more general retrieval affordances. Such a distinction would imply differential associations between specific retrieval, general retrieval, and other cognitive abilities, which, in turn, depict a vital part of explanatory models of individual differences in Gr. To test these assumptions, we conducted a multivariate study (N = 331) and evaluated competing latent variable measurement models for a variety of Gr tests. We then regressed the best measurement model onto working memory capacity, secondary memory, mental speed, and crystallized intelligence in order to evaluate the distinctiveness of Gr. Our results suggest that no specific retrieval affordances with regard to time periods can be distinguished. A higher-order model, with a second-order Gr factor above three first-order factors (IF, WF, EF, and FF) fitted the data best, extending previous literature by increasing construct coverage through the implementation of FF. All covariates show incremental predictive validity, beyond their communality. Summarizing, our results endorse a perspective on Gr as a strong and discriminant factor of cognitive abilities that is not affected by time constraints, and show that Gr is more than a linear combination of its parts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Conscientiousness, Students' Goal Orientation, and Reasoning Ability: Significance for Educational Standards.

Previous studies show that students' goal orientation and conscientiousness are related to academic performance. Few studies, however, allow conclusions to be drawn about the factor structure of goal orientation and its distinctions from conscientiousness. In a study with N = 145 secondary school students (M = 13.9, SD = 0.85; 41% male), we investigated if the residuals of latent factors of goal orientation are still meaningfully correlated with academic performance and reasoning. Based on structural equation models, we have replicated the theoretically derived four-factor structure and showed that conscientiousness explains 29% of the variance in learning goals and 40% of the variance in work avoidance. Furthermore, we show that the residuals of goal orientation are mainly not significantly related to reasoning or educational standards (only work avoidance correlated with reasoning, and performance goals correlated with educational standards). Educational standards were highly correlated with reasoning. Implications for school practice and possible interventions are discussed.

Is Flexibility More than Fluency and Originality?

Flexibility (i.e., the number of categorically different ideas), fluency (i.e., the answer quantity), and originality (i.e., the quality of ideas) are essential aspects of the ability to think divergently. Theoretically, fluency and ideational flexibility tasks are akin to one another. However, flexibility was also considered to be uniquely related to working memory capacity due to the task requirements involved in generating diverse answers (e.g., self-monitoring, suppression, and category generation). Given that the role of working memory is strengthened in flexibility tasks relative to fluency and originality tasks, flexibility should be more strongly related with working memory. Additionally, mental speed should show a similar pattern of results because mental speed has been previously related to task complexity. Based on a sample of N = 409 adults (Mage = 24.01 years), we found in latent variable models that fluency/originality strongly predicts flexibility and accounts for 61% of its variance. Creative flexibility was unrelated to working memory and mental speed after controlling for fluency/originality. Additionally, the residual of a latent flexibility factor was unrelated to self-reported creative activities. We concluded that flexibility, as measured here, can be deemed primarily a method factor that did not show value over and above fluency/originality as assessed in traditional fluency and originality tasks. We discussed perspectives for disentangling trait and method variance in flexibility tasks.

Exploring Neural Signal Complexity as a Potential Link between Creative Thinking, Intelligence, and Cognitive Control.

Functional connectivity studies have demonstrated that creative thinking builds upon an interplay of multiple neural networks involving the cognitive control system. Theoretically, cognitive control has generally been discussed as the common basis underlying the positive relationship between creative thinking and intelligence. However, the literature still lacks a detailed investigation of the association patterns between cognitive control, the factors of creative thinking as measured by divergent thinking (DT) tasks, i.e., fluency and originality, and intelligence, both fluid and crystallized. In the present study, we explored these relationships at the behavioral and the neural level, based on N = 77 young adults. We focused on brain-signal complexity (BSC), parameterized by multi-scale entropy (MSE), as measured during a verbal DT and a cognitive control task. We demonstrated that MSE is a sensitive neural indicator of originality as well as inhibition. Then, we explore the relationships between MSE and factor scores indicating DT and intelligence. In a series of across-scalp analyses, we show that the overall MSE measured during a DT task, as well as MSE measured in cognitive control states, are associated with fluency and originality at specific scalp locations, but not with fluid and crystallized intelligence. The present explorative study broadens our understanding of the relationship between creative thinking, intelligence, and cognitive control from the perspective of BSC and has the potential to inspire future BSC-related theories of creative thinking.

What Does Temporal Brain Signal Complexity Reveal About Verbal Creativity?

Recent empirical evidence reveals that creative idea generation builds upon an interplay of multiple neural networks. Measures of temporal complexity yield important information about the underlying mechanisms of these co-activated neural networks. A few neurophysiological studies investigated brain signal complexity (BSC) during the production of creative verbal associations and resting states, aiming to relate it with creative task performance. However, it is unknown whether the complexity of brain signals can distinguish between productions of typical and original verbal associations. In the present study, we investigated verbal creativity with multiscale entropy (MSE) of electroencephalography (EEG) signals, which quantifies complexity over multiple timescales, capturing unique dynamic features of neural networks. MSE was measured in verbal divergent thinking (DT) states while emphasizing on producing either typical verbal associations or original verbal associations. We hypothesized that MSE differentiates between brain states characterizing the production of typical and original associations and is a sensitive neural marker of individual differences in producing original associations. Results from a sample of N = 92 young adults revealed slightly higher average MSE for original as compared with typical association production in small and medium timescales at frontal electrodes and slightly higher average MSE for typical association production in higher timescales at parietal electrodes. However, measurement models failed to uncover specificity of individual differences as MSE in typical vs. original associations was perfectly correlated. Hence, individuals with higher MSE in original association condition also exhibit higher MSE during the production of typical associations. The difference between typical and original association MSE was not significantly associated with human-rated originality of the verbal associations. In sum, we conclude that MSE is a potential marker of creative verbal association states, but replications and extensions are needed, especially with respect to the brain-behavior relationships.

A Reappraisal of the Threshold Hypothesis of Creativity and Intelligence.

Intelligence has been declared as a necessary but not sufficient condition for creativity, which was subsequently (erroneously) translated into the so-called threshold hypothesis. This hypothesis predicts a change in the correlation between creativity and intelligence at around 1.33 standard deviations above the population mean. A closer inspection of previous inconclusive results suggests that the heterogeneity is mostly due to the use of suboptimal data analytical procedures. Herein, we applied and compared three methods that allowed us to handle intelligence as a continuous variable. In more detail, we examined the threshold of the creativity-intelligence relation with (a) scatterplots and heteroscedasticity analysis, (b) segmented regression analysis, and (c) local structural equation models in two multivariate studies (N1 = 456; N2 = 438). We found no evidence for the threshold hypothesis of creativity across different analytical procedures in both studies. Given the problematic history of the threshold hypothesis and its unequivocal rejection with appropriate multivariate methods, we recommend the total abandonment of the threshold.

Using Anchoring Vignettes to Adjust Self-Reported Personality: A Comparison Between Countries.

Data from self-report tools cannot be readily compared between cultures due to culturally specific ways of using a response scale. As such, anchoring vignettes have been proposed as a suitable methodology for correcting against this difference. We developed anchoring vignettes for the Big Five Inventory-44 (BFI-44) to supplement its Likert-type response options. Based on two samples (Rwanda: n = 423; Philippines: n = 143), we evaluated the psychometric properties of the measure both before and after applying the anchoring vignette adjustment. Results show that adjusted scores had better measurement properties, including improved reliability and a more orthogonal correlational structure, relative to scores based on the original Likert scale. Correlations of the Big Five Personality Factors with life satisfaction were essentially unchanged after the vignette-adjustment while correlations with counterproductive were noticeably lower. Overall, these changed findings suggest that the use of anchoring vignette methodology improves the cross-cultural comparability of self-reported personality, a finding of potential interest to the field of global workforce research and development as well as educational policymakers.