NOTES
Chapter One Wanted: Your Creative Brain
1. The definition of creativity accepted by most researchers is found in Frank Barron's classic book on creativity: Creative Person and Creative Process. See Barron (1969).
2. A set of studies conducted by Colin Martindale at the University of Maine suggested that people who were categorized as highly creative demonstrated different brain activation patterns when solving two different types of problems (divergent versus convergent problems—you'll learn more about these in Chapter Seven), while people who were rated as less creative tended to display the same brain activation patterns when trying to solve both types of problems. These studies indicate that people who use their creative thinking skills change between brain activation patterns more easily than those who have less-developed creative thinking skills. A review of these studies is found in Martindale (1999).
3. For information on creativity and business schools, see Gangemi (2006). For information on creativity as a driving force in the global economy, see Allison (2011). Gordon Brown's comments come from a talk given at the Innovation Edge conference in London, on March 10, 2009, sponsored by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA). You can access the speech at www.nesta.org.uk/assets/external_video/public_services_innovation_summit__gordon_brown. Information on creative parenting comes from Google and Amazon.com searches conducted on February 5, 2009. For information on the sports conference, see ENAS conference bulletin available at www.enas-sport.net/SysBilder/enas_File/Congress_2009_160609.pdf. For information on sports figures and creative achievers, see Colvin (2008).
4. For more information on the theory of how creativity is a “fitness indicator” and thus makes an individual attractive to potential mates, see Miller (2000) and Miller (2001).
5. For the Buss and Barnes study, see Buss and Barnes (1986). For more information on the evolutionary theory of mate selection, see David Buss's book: Buss (2003). For differences between the sexes in human mate selection, see Buss (1989). Also see Nettle and Clegg (2006).
Chapter Two Your Mental Comfort Zone
1. The three premises of the CREATES model:
Creatively productive individuals in the arts and sciences are more likely to access states of mental disinhibition (see Chapter Five for a discussion). For empirical and theoretical evidence, see Carson et al. (2003), Carson (2010a), Carson (2011), and Dietrich (2003).
Creatively productive individuals are able to switch brainsets. This is an aspect of cognitive flexibility. Cognitive or mental flexibility appears to be a characteristic of creative thought; highly creative subjects tend to be able to change mental states depending upon the task at hand (see Martindale, 1999). We are currently conducting a cognitive flexibility study in our lab (see Carson and Yong, 2010). Based on the results of about 80 subjects, individuals who scored higher on measures of creativity were able to switch mental sets more effectively than those who scored lower on creativity measures. Learning to enter certain brainsets may actually increase your cognitive flexibility. For an explanation of how reducing levels of certain neurotransmitters through disinhibition may lead to increased cognitive flexibility, see Heilman (2005).
You can learn to enter different brainsets through training practice. A number of studies have demonstrated that it is possible to modulate brain activation patterns through practice. For an example of brain activation modulation through neurofeedback, see Kaiser and Othmer (2000). For a review of how it is possible to change brain activation through cognitive behavioral therapy (the principles of which guide many of the exercises in this book), see Porto et al. (2009). Finally, note that the popular Six Hats program (de Bono, 1992) successfully trains business teams to switch thinking modes during the creative process.
2. See Csikszentmihalyi (1996).
3. This exercise is from David Perkins's informative and entertaining book on creativity: Archimedes’ Bathtub (see Perkins, 2000). Perkins's book has other interesting puzzles . . . but don't read them until you finish this assessment!
4. The mental rotation figures are adapted from the Vandenberg and Kuse Mental Rotation Test. See Vandenberg and Kuse (1978).
5. This inkblot is patterned after the famous Rorschach Inkblot test. The Rorschach is called a “projective” test because individuals project their own personalities and concerns onto the pictures (which are after all only inkblots). The test was created by Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach in 1921 to detect underlying thought disorder in patients who were unwilling or unable to talk about their symptoms openly. Though the test yields interesting information, many psychologists consider the inkblot test to lack reliability and validity (see Lilienfeld et al., 2001). It is used in this assessment as a measure of imagination rather than of personality or mental disorder.
6. The types of problems in this exercise are called “remote association” problems. Similar problems were developed by Sarnoff Mednick to test the ability to activate multiple associational networks in the brain simultaneously. Mednick believes that creativity is predicated on the ability to combine and recombine items or concepts in novel ways—the more remotely related the items are to begin with, the more original and creative the resulting combination will be. See Mednick (1962).
Chapter Three Tour Your Creative Brain
1. The associationist theory of creativity was first elaborated by Sarnoff Mednick. See Mednick (1962).
2. For information on connections between dispersed areas of the brain and creative thinking, see Fink et al. (2009); Razumnikova (2007).
3. One hundred billion neurons. Researchers have placed the number of neurons from 10 billion (see Andreasen, 2005) all the way up to one trillion. The reason for the debate is our uncertainty about the number of neurons located in the cerebellum or so-called “little brain,” located in the back of the skull just below the occipital lobe. See Azevedo et al., 2009; Williams and Herrup (1988).
4. Read more about how memories are stored and retrieved in Schacter (1996).
5. For a good review of the split-brain studies, see Schiffer (1998).
6. The basic neuroscience in this chapter can be found in a variety of textbooks. I recommend Kandel et al. (2000) and Kolb and Wishaw (2008).
8. See Charron and Koechlin (2010); Ridderinkhof et al. (2004).
10. For research on the areas of the brain and the “me” center, see Craik et al. (1999); Fossati et al. (2003); Northoff et al. (2006).
11. See Buckner et al. (2008).
12. While there are likely additional areas involved in judgment and decision making, the role of frontal areas including the executive centers, OFC, and parts of the ACC have been replicated. See Ellamil et al. (2011); Longe et al. (2010); Walton et al. (2004).
13. The original description of the Phineas Gage incident is in Harlow (1868), republished in Macmillan (2000).
14. For a review of disinhibition syndrome, see Cummings (1993).
15. For a review of the role of nucleus accumbens in the reward circuit, see Ikemoto and Panksepp (1999).
16. The original study of rats and the reward or pleasure center was accidentally conducted by James Olds and Peter Milner of McGill University in the 1950s. They had inserted electrodes into the brains of rats at a location in the limbic system that they thought would stimulate fear. Fortunately, their aim was slightly off and the reward circuit of the brain was discovered! See Olds and Milner (1954).
17. Teresa Amabile (Harvard Business School) has conducted extensive research on motivation and creativity. Her findings indicate that people who engage in creative acts are highly motivated by intrinsic rewards (see Amabile, 1996). The reward circuit is mediated by the neurotransmitter dopamine. When you do something that is intrinsically rewarding, dopamine is released in the reward center of the brain, producing pleasure and increasing your motivation to repeat the rewarding behavior.
18. The pioneering work on the fear circuit and the amygdala was conducted by Joseph LeDoux at NYU. See his review: LeDoux (2000).
19. For a discussion of emotional hijacking, see Chapter Ten. Also see Goleman (1995).
20. See Kolb and Wishaw (2008) for information about the function and connectivity of the association areas. For the importance of the angular gyrus in producing associations that enhance creativity, see Ellamil et al. (2011) and Jung et al. (2010).
21. For information on the association centers and metaphors, see Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001); and Ramachandran and Hubbard (2003).
22. For information on Einstein's brain, see Witelson et al. (1999).
Chapter Four Brainsets and the Creative Process
1. The LaughLab Web site is www.laughlab.co.uk/.
2. The deliberate and spontaneous pathways to creativity are described in Dietrich (2004a).
3. Researchers Janet Metcalfe (Indiana University) and David Wiebe (University of British Columbia) conducted a study in which participants either solved insight or noninsight problems. Those who answered problems with a moment of insight (“aha!” or spontaneous solutions) reported having no inkling that they were getting close to an answer until the solution was upon them, whereas participants who did not have an insight moment reported getting “warmer” as they neared a solution. See Metcalfe and Wiebe (1987).
4. For a discussion of the deliberate nature of the composition of the Brandenburg Concertos, see Siddharthan (1999).
5. The Mozart letter is cited in Ghiselin (1952), p. 34.
6. For a discussion of the validity of the Mozart letter and examples of other Romantic composers’ creative process, see Solomon (1980).
7. Information on Jay Greenberg is from a segment of 60 Minutes, which aired Nov. 28, 2004, “Prodigy, 12, Compared to Mozart: Scott Pelley Talks to Boy Who Has Written Five Full Symphonies,” by Rebecca Leung, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/24/60minutes/main657713.shtml. Additional information on Greenberg is available at www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/60minutes/main2205521.shtml.
8. The description of Schumann's beliefs about his compositions was reported by Lombroso (1891/1976) in his book The Man of Genius. Confirmation of Schumann's psychotic beliefs is also reported by Eric Frederick Jensen in his biography of Schumann (see Jensen, 2001).
9. The John Forbes Nash quotation is found in Nasar (1998), p. 11.
10. See Jung-Beeman et al. (2004); Kounios et al. (2008).
11. See Christoff et al. (2010).
12. See Buckner et al. (2008).
14. The first account of the story of Archimedes and the bathtub is found in the writings of the Roman writer and engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in his work De Architectura, written in the 1 B.C., some two centuries after Archimedes’ discovery. De Architectura contains 10 books on the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. The Archimedes story appears in Book IX. An English translation of the 10 books can be found at http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html.
15. See Ghiselin (1952) for other examples of creative luminaries describing the creative process.
16. Graham Wallas's model of the creative process is found in Wallas (1926). Wallas built his model on testimonial accounts of highly creative individuals, including mathematician Henri Poincaré and experimental physiologist Hermann von Helmholtz. Wallas's model is widely accepted (with some occasional modifications) by both researchers in the field of creativity and by creative luminaries themselves. See Ghiselin (1952) for some firsthand accounts.
17. Pasteur is cited in Harnad (1990).
18. For more information on the incubation stage, see Smith and Dodds (1999).
19. For an example of the effectiveness of token economies in clinical settings, see Higgins and Silverman (1999).
Chapter Five Opening the Mind: Accessing the Absorb Brainset
1. The William James quotation is found in James (1890/1905), p. 110.
2. The Joe Lawson quotations come from Erin Schulte, “The Evolution of the Postmodern Caveman,” Esquire, March 22, 2007.
3. From a taped interview with S.W. for my research on creative achievers on March 4, 1999.
4. I have combined several areas of research to form what I call the absorb brainset, including research on mindfulness and the personality trait of openness to experience, as well as the brain research on response to novelty and disinhibition. All of these concepts have been shown to be correlated, and the mindfulness research has demonstrated that this state is amenable to purposeful manipulation and training. It, therefore, seems valuable to conceptualize this constellation of attributes as a brain state (the absorb brainset) rather than as a personality trait. For more information on openness to experience, see McCrae and Costa (1987); McCrae (1994); McCrae and John (1992). For information on mindfulness and how it can be cultivated, see Langer (1989), and Carson and Langer (2006). For the relationship between openness and disinhibition, see Peterson and Carson (2000). For evidence that openness is responsive to training, see Federman (2010). Openness is related to a number of neuropsychological factors. See DeYoung et al. (2005).
5. The Blake quotation is from Blake et al. (1982), p. 35. The lines are from “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” which was composed sometime between 1790 and 1793.
6. The Newton-and-the-apple story is from Stukeley (1936).
7. The Vincent van Gogh quotation is from Stone (1937), p. 424.
8. This version of the story of the discovery of penicillin is found in Perkins (2000).
9. The concept of the “willing suspension of disbelief” as we think of it today is credited to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Biographica Literaria, published in 1817. It is available through Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.org/etext/6081.
10. Talking trash cans information comes from CNN.com Technology section, “Talking trash cans keep Berlin clean,” posted on September 28, 2005, http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/09/27/spark.rubbish/index.html.
11. For a primer on the cognitive theory of mindfulness and how it can be learned, see Langer (1989), and Langer (1997).
12. For a discussion of a specific type of cognitive disinhibition and how it relates to creativity, see Carson (2010a).
13. See Dagenbach and Carr (1994).
14. Kenneth Heilman (Heilman, 2005) has suggested that modulation of norepinephrine in the prefrontal lobes may be the key to states of mind that allow information into conscious awareness that would ordinarily be blocked. Norepinephrine is associated with high levels of arousal (such as anxiety and excitement). Thus, lower levels of this chemical may be associated with the receptive state I call the absorb brainset. Other research suggests that levels of acetylcholine may remain high in the prefrontal lobe during states such as “quiet-waking” (as opposed to “active-waking;” the absorb brainset would be a state of quiet-waking, while deliberate thinking—see Chapter Four—would be active-waking), while other neurochemicals (including perhaps dopamine and norepinephrine may fluctuate during these altered states of consciousness. See Faw (2006).
15. See Dietrich (2004a) for a full description of TOP.
17. See Martindale (1999) for a review of the studies of alpha activity and creativity.
19. See Peterson and Carson (2000); and Peterson et al. (2002).
21. Horace is quoted in Goodwin (1992), p. 425.
23. See Norlander and Gustafson (1996, 1998). Also see Jarosz et al. (2012).
24. See Gray et al (1992) for an example of how amphetamine reduces latent inhibition.
27. See Arias-Carrión and Pöppel (2007).
28. See Ikemoto and Panksepp (1999).
29. See Schacter (1996) for more information on encoding information in long-term memory.
30. The “antechambers of consciousness” is a reference to Sir Francis Galton's description of how he found solutions to problems via what we're calling (after Dietrich, 2004a) the spontaneous pathway. See Galton (1911), p. 146.
31. See Ivanovski and Malhi (2007) for information on how meditation can affect brain state.
32. See Kounios et al. (2008).
33. See Kounios et al. (2008).
35. See Kubitz and Pothakos (1997); Schneider et al. (2009). Note that at least 10 studies have also found an increase in creativity per se after aerobic activity (see Steinberg et al., 1997).
37. See Hobson et al. (2000); and Walker et al. (2002).
Chapter Six Imagining the Possibilities: Accessing the Envision Brainset
1. The Einstein quotation is found in “What Life Means to Einstein: An Interview by George Sylvester Viereck” in The Saturday Evening Post, Vol. 202 (26 October 1929), p. 117.
2. For information on how remembering the past and envisioning the future employ similar brain regions, see Addis et al. (2007); Szpunar (2010); Szpunar and McDermott (2009); Szpunar et al. (2006).
4. For Salthouse's research on the early onset of cognitive decline, see Salthouse (2009). However, Salthouse's claim that cognitive aging begins in the twenties has been challenged by researchers that criticize his use of cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data. Critics also believe that animal research and other sources of knowledge about the brain may contradict Salthouse's findings; see Schaie (2009) and Nilsson et al. (2009).
5. See Rakic (2002) and Doidge (2007).
7. Personal anecdotes (e.g., Einstein's quotation at the beginning of Chapter Six), as well as empirical evidence, indicate that visualization (mental imagery) skills and imagination are both important components of creative thought. I have brought together what we know about the brain and these two areas of research to define the envision brainset. Brain research on imagination (see Buckner, 2010) indicates that there are both deliberate and spontaneous elements to the imagination process. For empirical evidence on the importance of mental imagery in creative thought, see Daniels-McGhee and Davis (1994).
8. The essence of identity is having a continuous sense of self across time and events. This continuous self is accomplished through the weaving together of episodic or autobiographical memories with images of the ideal self and the self as reflected back to you by others. This weaving together of memories to construct a self appears to use the same brain circuits described by Buckner (2010) that unite memory and imagination. For some interesting reading on developing a sense of self, see Fivush and Haden (2003).
9. For research on mental imagery and healing, see Donaldson (2000); and Warner and McNeill (1988).
10. For research on mental imagery and golf, see Brouziyne and Molinaro (2005); Taylor and Shaw (2002); Woolfolk et al. (2005). For research on mental imagery and basketball, see Clark (1960); Wrisberg and Anshel (1989).
11. For examples of musicians, surgeons, and linemen using mental imagery, see Kosslyn and Moulton (2009).
12. Semihallucinatory experiences are a characteristic of schizotypal personality. A number of studies have indicated that people who are involved in creative professions or hobbies score higher on measures of schizotypal personality than control groups who are not involved in creative professions. See Nettle (2006); Rawlings and Locarnini (2006). I review this research in Carson (2011).
13. Scientists and visualization: According to British researchers Nicholas LeBoutillier and David Marks, here is a list of scientists who have used visualization in their work: Bohr, Cannon, Crick, Descartes, Edison, Einstein, Faraday, Freud, Galton, Hadamard, Helmholtz, Herschel, Kant, Kekulé, Leibniz, Loewi, Maxwell, Neitszche, Poincaré, Snyder, Tesla, Watson, and Watt. See LeBoutillier and Marks (2003).
In the 1992 release of a video based on his best-seller A Brief History of Time, eminent Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking revealed, “I tended to think in pictures and diagrams I could visualize in my head.” See Hawking (1992); and A Brief History of Time (video) by Gordon Freeman Productions.
14. For examples of improved visualization with training, see Lohman and Nichols (1990); Yates (1986).
16. See Lohman and Nichols (1990).
17. The practice of tracing an image in the air to enhance visualization was described by Sir Francis Galton. See Galton (1907).
18. Vision processing in primates and humans is divided into two streams in the brain. The dorsal stream (the “where” stream) projects from the occipital cortex in the back of the brain to the posterior parietal lobe and processes the location of an object in space. The ventral stream (the “what” stream) projects from the occipital cortex to the lower part of the temporal lobe and processes the description of an object (color and shape). See Kosslyn et al. (2006) for more detail.
19. The Einstein quotation is from Ghiselin, 1952, p. 32.
20. The Dickens incident is related in Shaw (2000). The quotation from Tesla is in Tesla and Johnston (1919/1982), p. 64.
21. For information on the brain during sleep, see Hobson and Pace-Schott (2002).
23. Information on lucid dreaming is found in Voss et al. (2009).
24. There is growing evidence that this modulation of executive center activation is the result of fluctuations in the neurochemicals norepinephrine and acetylcholine. See Cai et al. (2009) and Heilman (2005) for more information.
25. See D'Esposito et al. (1997).
26. See Kowatari et al. (2009).
Chapter Seven Thinking Divergently: Accessing the Connect Brainset
1. The Poincaré quotation is found in Ghiselin (1952), p. 25.
2. The connect brainset is based on research on the brain activation pattern associated with divergent thinking. Because activation of the reward circuits are associated with increased verbal fluency and divergent thinking, I have also included information on the activation of reward circuitry (including some of the research on addiction, which is heavily dependent upon these circuits). In addition, divergent thinking activates associational areas that are involved in the condition of synaesthesia. An examination of the synaesthesia research also contributes to the construct of this brainset. Examples of the relevant literature include the following: For divergent thinking and reward, see Ashby et al. (1999). For reward and addiction, see National Institute on Drug Abuse (2009), The neurobiology of drug addiction, www.drugabuse.gov/pubs/Teaching/Teaching2/Teaching.html. For creativity and synaesthesia, see Ramachandran and Hubbard (2003).
3. In my research on creativity and divergent thinking, I've administered divergent thinking tasks to over 1,000 participants. At the end of the tasks, I ask them to record whether the tasks energized or exhausted them. According to data on 326 participants, those who are less divergent report being significantly more exhausted, while participants who score high on these tasks report being energized. There appears to be a correlation between how much you access divergent thinking brain patterns and how energized you become. Further, repeated practice on divergent thinking tasks improves divergent thinking scores and also self-reported energizing feelings (Carson, 2010b).
4. For the connection between divergent thinking and disinhibition, see Peterson and Carson (2000). For the connection between creative thinking and reward, see Ashby et al. (1999); and Isen et al. (1987). For the connection between divergent thinking and nonjudgmental, see McCrae (1987); divergent thinking is highly correlated with openness to experience, the non-judgmental personality variable related to the absorb brainset.
5. For a discussion of how widely divergent thinking is used as a measure of creativity in research and why its use may give us a skewed view of creativity, see Dietrich (2007). I agree with this argument; divergent thinking is only one aspect of creative thought. This is why we need to consider the other brainsets of the CREATES model when we discuss human creativity.
6. For a description of convergent thinking and the differences between convergent and divergent thinking, see Runco (2007).
7. The problem is from the SAT I Reasoning Test (dated May 1997), College Board.
9. This personal communication is from a very creative student who took my creativity course at Harvard in response to why it took him three times as long as most other students to complete 10 convergent thinking questions.
10. In the continuing education version of my course Creativity: Madmen, Geniuses, and Harvard Students, all students—many of whom are accomplished members of the Boston arts community—take a set of divergent thinking tests, as well as a variety of personality questionnaires. Students who answer “yes” to the “square peg in a round hole” question have displayed significantly higher divergent thinking scores over the years. The “octagonal peg” response was scrawled next to this question on the test booklet of a screenwriter who took the course. (There are other examples of student and study participant responses in this book. Of ethical necessity, all participants and student names will remain anonymous.)
11. This percentage is based on the percentage of 326 participants who found divergent thinking tasks exhausting rather than energizing (see Note #3).
12. These problem types are described in David Perkins's informative and entertaining book on creativity (see Perkins, 2000).
13. The Einstein quotation is cited in Holton (1973), p. 357.
14. Based on a sample of participants who have taken both the Cluster One quiz in Chapter Two and divergent thinking tasks. Individuals who preferred the reason brainset had lower divergent thinking scores than those who preferred the connect or absorb brainset.
16. What follows is a selection of divergent answers for “uses for a soup can,” but don't peek until you have completed Connect Exercise #1! Additional uses for a soup can that do not involve the “container” description include: string telephone, paperweight, doorstop, weapon, shovel/ladle/scoop, drum, hearing aid, cookie cutter, sharp edge, sand castle mold, bookend, scrap metal, lamp base, hammer, rain gauge, birdhouse, building block, noisemaker, portable stove, advertising space, hockey puck, periscope, goat food, mousetrap, bowling pin, drink holder in car, tie on wedding car, rolling pin, freeze for cold pack.
17. Both this response and the following “divergent” response are from students in my course Creativity: Madmen, Geniuses, and Harvard Students.
19. See Roozenburg and Eekels (1995).
20. This Einstein quotation is found in Einstein and Infeld (1938), p. 83.
21. Word association tests have been used for over forty years as a measure of the spread of associational networks. See Mednick et al. (1964).
22. In 1996, when I was doing some early research for my dissertation, I ran a number of subjects through word association tests, divergent thinking tasks, and creative personality tests. This particular subject stood out, not only because of her high scores on the creativity tests, but also because of her unusual responses to the “leaf” prompt. (For example, one of her first responses was the word Viking.) I sat with her after testing and diagrammed her responses. Sure enough, once I saw them on paper, I was able to understand the spreading of associations, and the responses that had seemed so bizarre during testing began to make sense.
23. Neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp has been a major influence in spreading the word that play is important for the development of certain neural circuits associated with prosocial behavior and reward. He sees play as a precursor to innovative thought and creativity. See Panksepp (2004). Photographs of the creative and playful workplaces at PIXAR and other companies are available on Smashing Magazine, www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/12/10/monday-inspiration-creative-workplaces/.
Recent books by Daniel Pink and Joseph Brown have also increased awareness of the value of adult playfulness. See Brown and Vaughan (2009); Pink (2005).
25. For a review of Alice Isen's work on creativity and mood, see Ashby (1999).
26. See Baas et al. (2008) for the meta-analysis of mood and creativity.
27. See Pronin and Wegner (2006).
28. See Oettingen and Gollwitzer (2002).
29. See Schwarz and Bohner (1996).
30. See Carson and Flaherty (2010). Alice Flaherty has also written an extraordinary book on creative drive called The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain. See Flaherty (2004).
31. See Biederman and Vessel (2006).
32. For the effect of drugs, see Farah et al. (2009); Swartwood et al. (2003). For dose-dependent effects of amphetamine, see Gray et al. (1992). For the debate over Ritalin and creativity, see Zaslow (2005), p. D1.
33. For caffeine use in artists versus controls, see Kerr et al. (1991). For the dose-dependent effects of caffeine on cognition, see Kaplan et al. (1997).
34. Evidence for increased alpha activity in the prefrontal lobes during effective divergent thinking can be found in Martindale (1999); Fink et al. (2006); Fink et al. (2009); Jung et al. (2010).
35. However, not all researchers agree as to the meaning of this alpha activity: For instance, an Austrian group, including Andreas Fink from the University of Graz, interprets increased alpha activity in the frontal lobes as an indicator of the brain deliberately shutting out information from the outside world via the five senses so that the mind can concentrate on internally generated stimuli. Both this and the deactivation/defocusing explanations make sense theoretically. (Support for the defocusing explanation jibes with findings from neurochemical changes in the brain as well as many of the personal reports we've heard from the likes of Mozart, Nash, and Poincaré. However, the shutting-out-external-stimuli account makes sense as well, as you can increase alpha activity to some extent just by closing your eyes.) Of course, there's also the possibility that alpha activity is indicative of both explanations. Perhaps we are simultaneously increasing our focus on our inner world and broadening our focus by allowing more of the stimuli from that inner world into our conscious awareness when we increase alpha activity in the frontal regions.
36. See Christoff et al. (2010).
37. See Fink et al. (2009). Because increased activation has been found in both the prefrontal areas (roughly equivalent to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex DLPFC) and the association areas of the temporal and parietal lobes, there is new interest in a theory that emphasizes the activation of a specific prefrontal/parietal network as being important for creative thinking. In another study, Japanese researchers, using fMRI, found that individuals with very high divergent thinking scores displayed unusual brain activation patterns while they were completing working memory tasks. Rather than displaying the normal pattern associated with the tasks (namely activating the prefrontal executive areas and deactivating areas in the rear of the brain associated with daydreaming and the default network), the divergent thinkers activated the prefrontal areas all right but did not deactivate the rear areas. The researchers suggested that this unusual activation/deactivation pattern may provide additional clues to brain states associated with creative idea generation. See Takeuchi et al. (2011).
38. Evidence for a relative increase in ratio of right-to-left prefrontal hemisphere activation in effective divergent thinking is found in Bechtereva et al. (2004); Carlsson et al. (2000); Howard-Jones et al. (2005); Razoumnikova (2000).
39. The Daniel Pink quotation is from the subtitle of his best seller. See Pink (2005).
Note that increased right-to-left prefrontal activation can be caused by a decrease in left prefrontal activation as well as an increase in right activation. For example. cases of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in which increased creative activity has been noted tend to have lesions in the left hemisphere (leading to deactivation of that area). See Miller et al. (2000).
40. Evidence for activation of the parietal association cortex in divergent thinking is found in Bechtereva et al. (2004); Razumnikova (2000); Starchenko et al. (2003).
43. For information on creativity and synaesthesia, see Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001; 2003).
45. For information on Tommy McHugh's condition, see Lythgoe et al. (2005).
46. For Tommy's quotation to reporter Jim Giles, see Giles (2004).
47. Divergent thinking training programs use exercises similar to those described in this chapter. These have been shown to be effective at increasing divergent thinking skills. See Scott et al. (2004).
Chapter Eight Shaping the Creative Idea: Accessing the Reason Brainset
1. Ayn Rand quotation is from Rand (1943/1993).
2. I have defined the reason brainset as the brain activation pattern associated with logical, sequential, and realistic (cause-and-effect) thinking. It is modeled on research that has investigated reasoning skills, including rational problem solving, convergent thinking, setting and maintaining goals, intentional thought, and abstract reasoning.
3. For Edison, Bach, and other examples of creative work done via the deliberate pathway (and thus the reason mode), see Dietrich (2004a). For information on art in the Trompe l'Oeil style, see Ebert-Schifferer et al. (2002).
4. For accounts of Coleridge and the writing of Kubla Khan, see Skeat (1963–1964).
5. For criticism of Kubla Khan as a spontaneous vision, see Weisberg (1993).
6. The Clancy quotation is found in Clancy (2005), p. 33. For a theory of how delusions (such as the alien abduction syndrome) are formed using rational thinking processes, see Maher (1988).
7. Decartes’ famous one-liner first appeared in the Latin in The Principles of Philosophy (IX), published in 1644. However the phrase appeared earlier in French (“Je pense donc je suis.”), in Discourse on Method (Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences), published in 1637. Translations of both books are available online through Project Gutenberg at www.gutenberg.org.
8. For information on Alex the parrot, see Pepperberg (1999) and Pepperberg (2008).
9. See Banaji and Kihlstrom (1996).
10. For information on talking trash cans around the world, see Talking trash, www.talkingtrash.fi/.
11. See Tolkien (1954–55/2005).
12. For information on serial or sequential processing versus parallel processing, see Gazzaniga et al. (1998).
13. For information on the sequential nature of “multitasking” see Parasuraman (1998); Hahn et. al. (2008).
14. For more information on the functions of the prefrontal lobes, see Kolb and Wishaw (2008).
15. For information on goal setting, see Moskowitz and Grant (2009).
16. For more on left hemisphere activation with verbal thought, see Logie et al (2003).
17. For recruitment of right hemisphere prefrontal regions when dealing with complexity, see Charron and Koechlin (2010); Howard-Jones et al. (2005); Beeman and Chiarello (1998).
18. Beta frequency tends to predominate during states of high arousal, alertness, and active concentration. Alpha frequency tends to predominate in restful waking states. Beta is associated with more focused attention, while alpha is associated with more diffuse attention. See Parasuraman et al. (1998).
20. For research on the Mozart Effect, see Schellenberg (2003); Roth and Smith (2008).
21. For a good description of secondary and primary process, see Ochse (1990).
24. For articles on neuro-psychoanalysis, see Kaplan-Solms and Solms (2000); Solms and Turnbull (2002).
25. Thought stopping is a cognitive-behavioral technique that has been used extensively in clinical settings to help control anger, depressive rumination, and OCD obsessions. Though it has shown limited value for the treatment of obsessions, research indicates it is effective as a tool in anger management and prevention of depression. See Peden et al. (2001).
26. The problem-solving exercise is adapted from my work on the Department of Defense program afterdeployment.org. One of the programs housed within this site is an online Resilience program designed to help build resilience for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. There are workshops on resilience-building skills, including steps for effective problem solving. The site is free and available to anyone.
27. The goal-setting exercise is adapted from my work on the Department of Defense program afterdeployment.org. For the value and effectiveness of setting goals, see Tubs (1986).
Chapter Nine Recognizing Useful Ideas: Accessing the Evaluate Brainset
1. See Ambady and Rosenthal (1993).
2. I patterned the evaluate brainset on psychological and neuroscientific research that describes judgment and the propensity to judge (a judgmental attitude). There is an advantage of conceptualizing evaluation as a brainset rather than as a stage of the creative process. My work with creative professionals has shown me that people have to get into a certain highly focused state in order to evaluate their work with accuracy. If they remain in the defocused state associated with absorb, envision, or connect, they often make vague or indecisive stabs at evaluation that are not effective or helpful to their creative work.
3. Type I and II errors. (These are statistical terms that help determine whether a statistical result differs from the null hypothesis.) Checking for these errors can be useful in everyday judgments and decision making as well. Type I error, also known as an “error of the first kind” or a “false positive,” occurs when we judge something to be true or appropriate that is not in fact true or appropriate. For example, if a pregnancy test indicates you are pregnant when you are not, that would be a Type I error. Type I errors are sometimes referred to as errors of excessive credulity or acceptance. The Type II error, also known as an “error of the second kind” or a “false negative,” occurs when we judge something as not being true or appropriate when, in fact, it is. For example, if a pregnancy test indicates that you are not pregnant when you actually are, that would be a Type II error. These are sometimes referred to as errors of excessive skepticism. In our parlance of brainsets, the person whose comfort zone is the absorb or the envision brainset is more likely to make Type I errors by pursuing ideas and creative products that ultimately have little value, while the person who prefers the evaluate brainset is more likely to make Type II errors by judging ideas or products as inferior when they are, in fact, worthwhile.
4. Because categorization of stimuli into “friend” or “foe” and “dangerous” or “safe” are related to our survival, it seems appropriate that a system of internal reward for making such categorizations should have evolved. In fact, there is some evidence for such a system. There is also some evidence that we can automatically adjust categorization boundaries when faced with an item that may not fit into a narrow category (category uncertainty). See Grinband et al. (2006).
5. For information on hoarders, see Frost and Steketee (1998).
6. See Frost and Steketee (1998).
7. The Pauling quotation is found in Csikszentmihalyi (1996), p. 116.
9. This version of Edison's quotation is cited in Fraser (1991), p. 76.
10. The procedure of monitoring your self-talk and treating it as a hypothesis, then seeking evidence to support or refute the hypothesis, and finally replacing unfounded hypotheses with more positive and realistic self-talk was first described by Aaron Beck in his groundbreaking cognitive theory of depression. See Beck et al. (1979). If you're finding that negative self-talk is interfering with your creative work, I recommend the book Unlock Your Creative Genius by clinical psychologist Bernard Golden (see Golden, 2006). I also recommend Ellen Langer's book On Becoming an Artist (see Langer, 2005).
11. See Vogels et al. (2002) for more on activation of DLPFC (especially in the left hemisphere) and orbitofrontal cortex during evaluation. See Ellamil et al. (2012) for information on activation of DLPFC and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during evaluation.
12. Speculation about the modulation of norepinephrine during states of focused attention is found in Heilman et al. (2003); Heilman (2005).
Chapter Ten Using Emotion Creatively: Accessing the Transform Brainset
1. The Einstein quotation is from Einstein, A., Religion and science, New York Times Magazine, November 9, 1930, pp. SM1–4. The quotation is on page SM1.
2. I've based the transform brainset primarily on research that examines the relationship of creativity and psychopathology, as well as research that addresses the clinical states of dysthymia and depression. Certain states of mental distress have been shown to be an impetus for creative and innovative activity. Although I will discuss this at length throughout the chapter, a major archival study of over 1,000 eminent luminaries conducted by Arnold Ludwig (who was then at the University of Kentucky) found that “psychological unease” was one of the strongest predictors of creativity within this group. See Ludwig (1995).
3. Stream of affect is described in Watson and Clark (1994).
4. For differences between moods and emotions, see Plutchik (2003). Note that clinical mood states differ from the typical ups and downs of mood in daily life by the degree of their duration and frequency. A mood disorder must also cause distress and a certain degree of dysfunction in one's life. See American Psychiatric Association (2004). For a review of evidence-based psychotherapies for depression, see Gallagher (2005).
5. For more information on the components of emotion, see Scherer (1984).
6. For more about emotional hijacking, see Goleman (1995).
7. Early versions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) classified disorders as “neurotic” (including what we would now call anxiety and mood disorders) or “psychotic.” The term neurotic is no longer used clinically, but is still used frequently in vernacular speech and is a favorite descriptor of Woody Allen movie characters!
8. Psychologists have long recognized that individuals who are depressed have an exaggerated self-referential focus. They spend more time ruminating about their own distress, and they are deemed less socially competent by themselves and others, partly because of their focus on the self during conversation. See Lewinsohn (1980).
9. Aaron Beck, the pioneer of the cognitive theory of depression, believed that a negative view of self (combined with a negative view of the world and the future) was at the heart of depression. See Clark and Beck (1999).
10. Although there are very few accounts throughout history of people actually liking negative mood states, it maybe the case that we have become, as a society, much less willing and able to tolerate them in recent times. For instance, depression rates have increased for people born after 1940 and for every generation born thereafter (see Lewinsohn et al., 1993)—yet these generations did not live through the hardships of the Great Depression and were for the most part too young to remember the deprivations that accompanied World War II. In addition, prescriptions for antidepressant/antianxiety medications have increased substantially even though many of those prescribed the medications don't actually suffer from depression (see Ulene, 2009), suggesting that many people are taking medications rather than finding ways of coping with negative moods.
11. For the Emily Dickinson poem, see Dickinson and Johnson (1976). Edvard Munch painted several versions of The Scream. The oldest was painted in 1893 and resides in the National Gallery of Norway. For a discussion of the blues, see Davis (1995). Note that not all blues music is melancholy. For Long Day's Journey into Night, see O'Neill (1956). Horowitz's quotation about Tchaikovsky is found in the article “Pacific Symphony paints ‘Tchaikovsky Portrait’ this week” by Timothy Mangen in The Orange County Register on December 24, 2009. For The Catcher in the Rye, see Salinger (1951).
12. See Ludwig (1995) and his description of psychological unease.
13. For information on the increase in depression, see World Health Organization (2001); Twenge et al. (2010).
14. Graham Greene's quotation is from Greene (1980). It was also cited in the Books section of the New York Times on April 4, 1991, “Graham Greene, 86, Dies; Novelist of the Soul,” www.nytimes.com/books/00/02/20/specials/greene-obit.html.
15. For information on sublimation as a defense mechanism, see Vaillant (1977).
Creative therapies are generally used as an adjunct therapy rather than a primary therapy. For evidence of effectiveness, see Gussak (2009); Lyshak-Stelzer et al. (2007); Monti et al. (2006).
16. For more on Isaac Newton, see Westfall (1994).
17. Plato discussed four different types of madness in The Phaedrus (c. 370 B.C.). The Aristotle quotation is from Aristotle, Problems II or XVI: Books XXII-XXXVIII, translated by W. S. Hett (1936), pp. 155–157. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
19. Mood disorders: see Jamison (1993); alcoholism: see Dardis (1989); psychotic behavior: see Prentky (1989).
20. William Blake: see Shaw (2000). Tesla: see Pickover (1998). Dickens and Beethoven: see Shaw (2000).
22. See Carson (2011); Dietrich (2003).
23. See Carson et al (2003); Norlander and Gustafson (1996; 1998).
24. See Jamison (1993) for a discussion of how hypomania can enhance creativity.
25. See Carson (2011) for a discussion of how psychosis proneness and hyperconnectivity can both enhance creativity.
26. Richards et al. (1988) did a study of bipolar individuals, their first-degree relatives, cyclothymes (people who have a mild version of bipolar disorder), and control subjects. They found that cyclothymes and first-degree relatives of those with full-blown bipolar disorder were more creative than the other two groups. This finding lends support to the idea that a small amount of psychopathology may be beneficial to creativity, but full-blown mental illness is detrimental. They later repeated this study looking at people who were psychosis prone (see Kinney et al., 2000–2001).
30. One of the main components of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression is behavioral activation. Getting clients up, moving, and reengaged with the environment has therapeutic benefits. See Craske (2010); Gawrysiak et al. (2009).
31. The Core Strengths exercise is adapted from my work with the afterdeployment.org project. Recognizing your strengths is a resilience skill. Please visit afterdeployment.org for more information on resilience skills.
32. For a review of the Pennebaker studies on expressive writing, see Pennebaker and Chung (2007).
Chapter Eleven Performing Creatively: Accessing the Stream Brainset
1. The Emerson quote is found in Emerson (1856), p. 7.
2. Information about Flight 1549 was retrieved from CNN.com on November 18, 2009, www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/11/18/langewiesche.miracle.hudson.flight/index.html#cnnSTCText.
3. For more about the experience of flow, see Csikszentmihalyi (1996) and Csikszentmihalyi (2008).
4. The stream brainset is the component of the CREATES model that is defined as a state of automatic performance. In this state, actions seem to stream in a meaningful manner without the sensation of having consciously guided them. This brainset is patterned on research in the field of improvisation, and upon Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow (see Csikszentmihalyi, 1996). For the stream component of the CREATES model, I owe much to Csikszentmihalyi's groundbreaking work. The difference between flow and the stream brainset is that flow is conceived as a state of optimal experience (see Csikszentmihalyi, 2008) while the stream brainset is conceived as a brain activation pattern that facilitates creative performance in a variety of domains.
5. See Bengtsson et al. (2007).
6. Sullenberger's “surreal” quotation is from the article “Pilot Says Hudson River Landing Was ‘Surreal.’” The New York Times, February 3, 2009. Retrieved from The New York Times online: www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/nyregion/03pilot.htmlTopofForm.
7. See Csikszentmihalyi (1996).
8. For additional information on flow, see Csikszentmihalyi's talk on TED.com: www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html.
9. For a discussion of implicit and explicit memory, see Schacter (1996).
11. For the “10-Year Rule,” see Chase and Simon (1973); Simon and Chase (1973). For the application of the rule to Bobby Fischer, see Ericsson et al. (1993).
12. See Colvin (2008); Ericsson et al. (1993).
14. See Csikszentmihalyi (1996).
15. See Csikszentmihalyi (1996).
16. For a review of Amabile's work on intrinsic motivation, see Amabile (1996) and Amabile (1998). For Bill Breen's interview with Amabile, see Breen (2004).
17. See Hennessey and Amabile (1988); Csikszentmihalyi (1996).
18. This definition of impulsivity is found in glossary of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at www.aaas.org/spp/bgenes/glossary.
19. See APA (2004). Public speaking is feared by somewhere between 20 and 50% of the population, depending upon the criteria used to measure fear.
20. Tetris is a trademark owned by Tetris Holding and licensed to The Tetris Company. The game was designed by Alexey Pajitnov. This information was retrieved from www.tetris.com. For an interesting article on flow and video games, see LeMay (2007).
21. See Bengtsson et al. (2007); Limb and Braun (2008).
22. See Bengtsson et al. (2007); Limb and Braun (2008).
25. Internal rewards (mediated by dopamine at the nucleus accumbens site) can be so subtle that the individual is not aware of feeling good. However, the subtle release of dopamine may be sufficient to influence future behavior (we are more likely to repeat behavior that is rewarded). See Berridge and Robinson (2003) for a discussion of the psychological components of the Reward system.
26. See Csikszentmihalyi (1996).
27. The Doing What You Love exercise is based on a cognitive-behavioral technique for the treatment of depression in which the individual gradually increases the number of calendar slots that contain positively reinforcing activities. See Craske (2010) for more information on cognitive-behavioral techniques.
Chapter Twelve Flexing Your Creative Brain
2. See Freeman and Golden (1997).
4. The discovery of penicillin is recounted in Perkins (2000).
5. The Grisham quotation is found in Moore (2009).
6. For information about implicit filtering of social codes, see Cacioppo et al. (2005)
7. See Dietrich (2003); Dietrich (2004a).
8. A number of confluence theories of creative achievement have been described. See Amabile (1996); Eysenck (1995); and Ludwig (1995).
10. See Linden (2006); Paquette et al. (2003).
11. Although there are no studies that look specifically at brain changes due to token economy interventions, there are studies that show that contingency training (of which token economy is one type) can help subjects to voluntarily influence brain states. See Weiskopf et al. (2004) for a review.
13. Norepinephrine is released from brain stem nuclei as part of the brain's global alarm system. See Tsigos and Chrousos (2002).
15. As the field of molecular biology matures, there is increasing evidence that genes turn on and off due to environmental factors. See Munafò et al. (2009) for an example and review.
16. The tendency is for attention to broaden with an increase in positive affect. See Ashby et al. (1999); Isen et al. (1987).
17. In one ongoing task, I have asked subjects to write down a memory from childhood, and it is coded for global (big picture) versus local statements. Thus far, subjects who score high in openness and in divergent thinking have shown greater global scores whereas those who score higher on convergent tasks show more detail statements. This data is based on a small sample, but the results are in the predicted direction.
18. See Heilman (2005) for the effects of norepinephrine. Dopamine deficits in frontal regions of the brain have been associated with inability to maintain focused attention (a symptom of ADHD). See Coccaro et al. (2007) for recent research.
19. Please note that you will not cause conditions such as attention deficit disorder or psychosis proneness by purposefully entering a state of disinhibition. (Mental disorders are characterized by rigid patterns of activation, and we are aiming for cognitive flexibility here.) What I am emphasizing is that a disinhibited state may make some daily tasks (including keeping track of time) more difficult.
20. See Carson and Yong (2010).
21. There is a growing body of research that indicates you can increase your ability to flexibly shift attentional states by practicing shifting attentional states. See White and Shah (2006) for examples.
22. For more on polymaths, see Andreasen (2005).
25. The Internet not only opens up venues to enhance your individual learning but also opens opportunities for social creativity endeavors. See Fischer and Giaccardi (2007).
Chapter Thirteen Applying the Brainsets to Real-World Creativity
1. The FDR quotation is from his first inaugural address, delivered on March 4, 1933.
4. A good example of his kind of problem finding is described by Phil Baechler, inventor of the Baby Jogger. Phil wanted to combine spending time with his infant son along with his favorite pastime—jogging. However, ordinary baby strollers wouldn't stand up to the rigors of running on grass or sand. Baechler recognized this as a creative problem and used it to invent a product and launch a new career. His story is found in the June 11, 1984, issue of People magazine and online at www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20088037,00.html.
5. The suggestions provided by publicist Diane Terman were included in a guest lecture she gave at Harvard. See Terman (2008).