1. Is poorer cognitive control
associated with increased
creativity in children?
Introduction Method Results
• Prefrontal cortex maturity is highly
associated with an increase in intelligent
activity from cognitive control (Shaw et
al, 2006).
• However, it has been suggested that a
lack of cognitive control from prefrontal
immaturity can have its benefits; good
cognitive control could hinder flexible
thinking (Thompson-Schill et al, 2009)
• Support for this idea comes from White &
Shah (2006; 2011) who found improved
creativity in ADHD adults (who have
impaired cognitive control by inhibition)
as compared to non-ADHD adults
• The relationship between cognitive
control and creativity remains untested in
children, and most research has only
focused on one aspect of cognitive control
• The current study explored three aspects
of cognitive control – working memory,
inhibitory control and cognitive flexiblity
and used three creativity tasks over two
separate sessions
References
• Thompson-Schill, S. L., Ramscar, M., & Chrysikou, E. G.
(2009). Cognition without control when a little frontal lobe
goes a long way. Current Directions in Psychological
Science, 18(5), 259-263.
• White, H. A., & Shah, P. (2006). Uninhibited imaginations:
creativity in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder. Personality and Individual Differences, 40(6),
1121-1131.
• White, H. A., & Shah, P. (2011). Creative style and
achievement in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder. Personality and Individual Differences,50(5), 673-
677.
Session one Session two
SwIFT – Cognitive
Flexiblity
“Touch the one
that’s the same
colour”
“Touch the one
that’s the same
shape”
Rule
change
Pattern Meanings -
Creativity
Giraffe
Backwards Word Span
– Working Memory
Ruler
Cow
Instances Task -
Creativity
Go/No-Go - Inhibition
Alternative Uses Task -
Creativity
Newspaper
Ball
Knife
BPVS - Vocabulary
Bubble Popping –
Processing Speed
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by the SURE scheme
for Madeleine Sinclair. We thank the school that
participated in this research.
Madeleine Sinclair and Emma Blakey
Department of Psychology, The University of Sheffield
• A significant correlation was found for cognitive
flexibility and creativity (p<.05)
• Better cognitive flexibility uniquely contributed to both
the originality(β=-.402, p=.015). and fluency (β=-.464,
p=.002) of creative answers
• Both Working Memory and Inhibition had non
significant correlations with creativity measures
• Vocabulary was significantly correlated with the fluency
of creative scores (p<.005), as was age (p<.05)
• Processing Speed had non significant correlations with
creative measures
Discussion
• Cognitive flexibility was positively correlated with the
fluency and originality of creative scores; better
cognitive flexibility was correlated with more original
and fluent creative ideas
• Previous research indicated that inhibition would be
linked with creativity, but a non-significant correlation
was found between the measures
• Current inhibition task could’ve been too young for the
age group as most children performed ceiling
• Future research could use a more age-
appropriate task
• Could also use the same tasks on younger
children
42 children participated, aged 4-6 years (M age =
5 years 5 months)
• Future research could compare the measures
between children and adults as cognitive control is
still developing into young adulthood