A main goal of this research is to investigate the potential gain of using more ecologically valid divergent thinking to study creative cognition, with musical creative performance as a model behavior.

Our research group has previously made extensive use of music as domain to study both psychological traits related to creative achievement, as well as neural processes related to creative performance. We have demonstrated that creative cognition in music is dependent on both domain specific ability (musical ear) expertise (amount of practice) and employed problem solving strategies, which consequently means that the neural underpinnings of creativity must rely on a dynamic interplay between several brain regions, networks, and systems. Thus, creative thinking is far more multifaceted in its nature and neural underpinnings than what has been commonly assumed, in particular with regard to goal representation and response selection, and the projects in this research theme are designed to explore and analyze this complexity further.

The standard psychometric approach to studying creativity uses divergent thinking (DT) tests, where participants are typically asked to generate multiple responses to open-ended questions. Several studies have found correlations between DT and real-life creativity, but the effect sizes have been underwhelming. One reason could be that DT tests are often designed to be domain-general, while real-life creativity depends heavily on domain-specific expertise and related information processing. Thus, developing more domain-specific DT tests could potentially target more relevant cognitive processing and creative potential. For this purpose, we have developed a musical divergent thinking test (MDTT), in which musicians create improvised continuations to “prime melodies”. Initial research clearly indicates that this domain specific test, which taps into musical talent and expertise, greatly outperforms traditional divergent thinking tests in predicting real-life creative achievement in music. These findings may indicate a paradigm shift, both regarding the conceptualization and operationalization of creativity.    

Musical improvisation is an interesting form of creativity, requiring real-time generation and evaluation of novel ideas. It engages several neural mechanisms, such as cognitive control, sensorimotor coordination, and memory retrieval. These mechanisms vary significantly based on the expertise of the improviser. Previous research has demonstrated that expert improvisers have enhanced connectivity in brain regions associated with motor control and rely less on brain areas involved in executive control. These general observations however leave several questions unanswered concerning the dynamics of creative cognition in relation to performance, and to what extent neural mechanisms are shared across performance domains.

Connecting to Create: Expertise in Musical Improvisation Is Associated with Increased Functional Connectivity between Premotor and Prefrontal Areas
https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4769-13.2014

Addressing a Paradox: Dual Strategies for Creative Performance in Introspective and Extrospective Networks
https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhv130

Does divergent thinking relate to expertise? Introducing a novel test of creative ideation in music.
https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/aca0000715
 

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