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Autor*innen: Benedek, Mathias; Könen, Tanja; Neubauer, Aljoscha C.
Titel: Associative abilities underlying creativity
In: Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 6 (2012) 3, S. 273-281
DOI: 10.1037/a0027059
Dokumenttyp: 3a. Beiträge in begutachteten Zeitschriften; Aufsatz (keine besondere Kategorie)
Sprache: Englisch
Schlagwörter: Assoziation; Denken; Empirische Untersuchung; Fähigkeit; Graz; Intelligenz; Kognitive Kompetenz; Kognitive Prozesse; Kreativität; Österreich; Student; Test
Abstract (english): Empirical approaches to cognitive ability claim that divergent thinking represents a useful estimate for
the potential of creative thought. According to associative approaches, the ability to fluently retrieve and
combine remote associations was suggested to facilitate creative solutions. Taken together, these
approaches suggest a close relationship of associative processes and divergent thinking, which so far,
however, has not been properly tested. Therefore, the present study examines the validity of associative
abilities with respect to divergent thinking, and also, on a more general level, with respect to creativity
and intelligence. Four different word-association tasks were employed to assess associative fluency,
associative flexibility, dissociative ability, and the ability of associative combination. The sample
comprised 150 students from studies with varying amount of creativity-related demands. Associative
abilities were found to explain about half of the variance of divergent thinking ability. Latent variable
modeling confirmed the significance of dissociation and associative combination for creativity, but also
substantiates the relevance of basic associative retrieval processes for intelligence. It is concluded that
associative abilities represent valid elementary cognitive abilities underlying creativity.
DIPF-Abteilung: Bildung und Entwicklung