What Box?': behavioral, neuro-imaging, and training studies on the development of creative cognition in adolescence

Kleibeuker, S.W. (2016)

Doctoral Thesis

This thesis focused on the development of creative thinking across adolescence and into adulthood. To this end, a range of creativity tasks, both with and without an fMRI scanner, and before and after training paradigms has been used to ex_amine both age- and experience-related effects on creative thinking performance during functional brain develop_ment. Chapter 1 provides a theoretical background for the research described in chapters 2 to 6. In Chapter 2, developmental trajectories of creative cognition across adolescence and early adulthood were examined using a set of tasks gauging both insight and divergent thinking in the verbal and visual domain. In Chapter 3, behavioral and neural differences for creative problem solving in middle-adolescents and adults were examined. Chapter 4 examined the neural correlates of divergent thinking in adults and adolescents. Chapter 5 focused on the effectiveness of creative ideation training in adolescents and adults. In Chapter 6, the benefits of training creativity in adolescents were examined using fMRI techniques. Finally, Chapter 7 summarizes the main results of the empirical studies presented in this thesis. Here, implications of the results are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.

• Training
• fMRI
• Prefrontal cortex
• Insight
• Divergent thinking
• Adolescence
• Creativity

• All authors: Kleibeuker, S.W.
• Supervisor: Crone, E.A.; De Dreu, C.K.W.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden University
• Date: 2016-01-09
• ISBN (print): 9789090295282