Abstract
Creativity is commonly defined as a process that leads to a novel and useful outcome (an idea, product, or expression). However, two dilemmas about this definition remain unresolved: (1) A strict application of usefulness is difficult to apply to artistic works: who decides what artwork is useful, and how it is useful? (2) The implied boundary conditions of novelty are problematic: The default perspective is that novelty has a monotonic increasing relationship with creativity, or it is categorical-i.e., novel or not. To address these dilemmas, this paper proposes a spreading activation model of creativity (SAMOC), a model built on a brain-architecture-inspired vast interconnected network of nodes, each node representing information, and assigned meanings through interaction with the environment. Nodes are linked to each other according to principles of temporal contiguity (linking objects/events in time) and similarity (linking objects/events by shared features). A node activated by attention spreads through the network through previously linked nodes. Nodes that are well connected activate each other easily, while those that are weakly connected do not. Net total activation corresponds to positive affect (e.g., pleasure), and ...Continue Reading
References
Jun 4, 1994·BMJ : British Medical Journal·J M Bland, D G Altman
May 15, 2003·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. A, Human Experimental Psychology·Oshin VartanianJonna Kwiatkowski
May 1, 1962·Psychological Review·S A MEDNICK
Jun 10, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Denise J CaiSara C Mednick
Dec 1, 1946·The Journal of Applied Psychology·L WELCH
Mar 25, 2011·Cognitive Science·Paul Thagard, Terrence C Stewart
Feb 26, 2014·Frontiers in Psychology·Emery SchubertAdrian C North
Jul 6, 2014·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Markus J Hofmann, Arthur M Jacobs
May 8, 2015·Neuron·Kent C Berridge, Morten L Kringelbach
Mar 21, 2016·New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development·John Baer
Aug 9, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Kenneth J Gilhooly
Oct 6, 2016·Frontiers in Psychology·Judit PéterváriJoydeep Bhattacharya
Oct 3, 2017·Frontiers in Psychology·Xiaofei WuJing Luo
Nov 16, 2018·Frontiers in Psychology·Simeng GuJason H Huang
Apr 13, 2021·Frontiers in Psychology·Alister Spence