창의성은 독창적이고 유용한 아이디어를 생성할 수 있는 능력이다. 연구자들은 창의적인 문제해결에 대한 인지적 유연성의 중요성을 강조하고 관련 연구를 수행하였으나, 집행기능의 유연성과 창의성의 관계를 살펴본 경험적 연구는 부족하다. 이에 본 연구는 집행기능의 유연성과 창의성의 관계를 연구하기 위한 개념적, 방법론적 기반을 마련하기 위해 관련 연구 결과들을 개관하였다. 이를 통해 창의성 연구에서 나타나는 유연성을 (1) 창의적 사고(creative thought)의 유연성(C-유연성), (2) 확산적 사고(divergent thinking)의 유연성(DT-유연성), (3) 집행기능(executive functions)의 유연성(EF-유연성)으로 구분하고, 각 유형에서 드러나는 개념적, 방법론적 차이를 구체적으로 비교 분석하였다. 그 결과, 각각의 관점은 인지적 유연성에 대해 창의적인 발견을 이끄는 인지적 특성, 다양한 범주에서 아이디어를 생성하는 능력 및 심적 세트를 전환하는 능력으로 정의하고 있는 것을 확인하였다. 특히 EF-유연성 관점에서 수행된 경험적 연구들을 살펴본 결과, 서로 일치하지 않은 연구 결과들을 제시하고 있으며, 유연성에 대해 상이한 조작적 정의를 사용하고 있는 것을 확인하였다. 이에 본 연구에서는 EF-유연성을 측정하기 위해 필수적으로 고려해야 할 사항들을 제시하였다. 마지막으로, 창의성과 집행기능 유연성의 관계를 이해하기 위한 다양한 연구 주제를 제안하였다.
Creativity is the ability to generate original and useful ideas. Although many studies have shown that cognitive flexibility is important for creative problem solving, empirical evidence supporting the relationship between flexibility, as a component of executive function (EF-flexibility), and creativity is largely lacking in the previous studies. In this review, we sought to provide a conceptual and methodological basis for examining the relationship between EF-flexibility and creativity. To this end, we classified various concepts for flexibility into three perspectives (i.e., creative thought, divergent thinking, and executive functions) and analyzed differences in regard of their conceptual and methodological characteristics. Each perspective provides distinct definition of cognitive flexibility such as a trait of cognition that leads to creative findings, an ability to generate ideas from diverse categories, and an ability to shift between mental sets. In particular, empirical studies of EF-flexibility showed that their results were inconsistent with each other due to adopting different operational definitions for EF-flexibility. Finally, we suggest some essential considerations for measuring EF-flexibility and highlight some topics for future research to concretely understand the relation between EF-flexibility and creativity.
Creativity is the ability to generate original and useful ideas. Although many studies have shown that cognitive flexibility is important for creative problem solving, empirical evidence supporting the relationship between flexibility, as a component of executive function (EF-flexibility), and creativity is largely lacking in the previous studies. In this review, we sought to provide a conceptual and methodological basis for examining the relationship between EF-flexibility and creativity. To this end, we classified various concepts for flexibility into three perspectives (i.e., creative thought, divergent thinking, and executive functions) and analyzed differences in regard of their conceptual and methodological characteristics. Each perspective provides distinct definition of cognitive flexibility such as a trait of cognition that leads to creative findings, an ability to generate ideas from diverse categories, and an ability to shift between mental sets. In particular, empirical studies of EF-flexibility showed that their results were inconsistent with each other due to adopting different operational definitions for EF-flexibility. Finally, we suggest some essential considerations for measuring EF-flexibility and highlight some topics for future research to concretely understand the relation between EF-flexibility and creativity.