Kounios and Oh [ 1. Kounios J. Oh Y. Creativity and semantic memory: the answers are upstream. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2023; 27: 977-978 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Google Scholar ] offer a perspective on our recent review on the role of associative processes in creativity [ 2. Beaty R.E. Kenett Y.N. Associative thinking at the core of creativity. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2023; 27: 671-683 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1) Google Scholar ], highlighting potential theoretical considerations surrounding semantic memory structure. Kounios and Oh critique network-based approaches to analyzing semantic memory structure that rely, in their view, on behavioral tasks ‘downstream’ from the original source of semantic representation. Instead, they advocate for ‘upstream’ processes of semantic activation via electrophysiological methods (the N400 component). 

On semantic structures and processes in creative thinking

Exploring the impact of acute physical activity on creative thinking: a comprehensive narrative review with a focus on activity type and intensity

Creative idea generation plays an important role in promoting successful memory formation. Yet, its underlying neural correlates remain unclear. We investigated the self-generated learning of creative ideas motivated by the schema-linked interactions between medial prefrontal and medial temporal regions framework. This was achieved by having participants generate ideas in the alternative uses task, self-evaluating their ideas based on novelty and source (i.e. new or old), and then later being tested on the recognition performance of the generated ideas. At the behavioral level, our results indicated superior performances in discriminating novel ideas, highlighting the novelty effect on memory. At the neural level, the regions-of-interest analyses revealed that successful recognition of novel ideas was associated with greater activations in the hippocampus (HPC) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during ideation. However, only activation in the right HPC was positively related to the successful recognition of novel ideas. Importantly, the weaker the connection between the right HPC and left mPFC, the higher the recognition accuracy of novel ideas. Moreover, activations in the right HPC and left mPFC were both effective predictors of successful recognition of novel ideas. These findings uniquely highlight the role of novelty in promoting self-generated learning of creative ideas.

Recognizing ideas generated in a creative task: the roles of the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex in facilitating self-generated learning.

Crystallized intelligence (Gc)—knowledge acquired through education and experience—supports creativity. Yet whether Gc contributes to creativity beyond providing access to more knowledge, remains unclear. We explore the role of a "flexible" semantic memory network structure as a potential shared mechanism of Gc and creativity. Across two studies (N = 506 and N = 161) participants completed Gc tests of vocabulary knowledge and were divided into low, medium, and high Gc groups. They also completed two alternate uses task, to assess verbal creativity, and a semantic fluency task, to estimate semantic memory networks. Across both studies, the semantic memory network structure of the high Gc group was more flexible—less structured, more clustered, and more interconnected—than that of the low Gc group. The high Gc group also outperformed the low Gc group on the creativity tasks. Our results suggest that flexible access to semantic memory supports both verbal intelligence and creativity. Crystallized intelligence (Gc)—knowledge acquired through education and experience—supports creativity, yet whether Gc contributes to creativity beyond providing access to more knowledge (semantic memory), remains unclear. In this two-part study, we find that individuals with higher Gc tended to have a more flexible semantic memory structure, which in turn supported greater verbal creativity. This finding suggests that building students' vocabulary knowledge and verbal skills may not just expand their knowledge base, but also increase creativity through enabling more flexible access to that knowledge. If supported by further research, this could mean educational interventions targeting growth in Gc and semantic flexibility may foster students' creative capacities beyond just improving content mastery. Overall, this research highlights the interplay between building domain knowledge and cultivating creative thinking, suggesting educators should aim to develop both abilities in tandem rather than treating them separately. 

The role of semantic memory networks in crystallized intelligence and creative thinking ability

Creative fluency and originality are pivotal indicators of creative potential. Both have been embedded in hierarchical intelligence models as part of the ability to retrieve information from long‐term memory; an ability that is often measured with indicators of retrieval fluency. Creative fluency and retrieval fluency, both expressed by the count of correct responses, are procedurally highly similar. This raises the question how creative fluency and originality are related with retrieval fluency and how both are predicted by other cognitive abilities. In a multivariate study (N = 320), we found that retrieval fluency is very strongly related with creative fluency (r = .87) and substantially related with originality (r = .59). A combined fluency factor still fitted the data well. Cognitive abilities accounted for 63% variance in fluency and 47% variance in originality. After controlling for established cognitive abilities, latent variables for fluency and originality were unrelated with one another. This suggests that the procedural proximity of the ability to fluently generate either information from long‐term memory or ad‐hoc solutions to unusual tasks and the ability to come up with original ideas needs reconsideration. Locating originality below an overarching retrieval factor is contradicted by the present data.

How Much Retrieval Ability Is in Originality?

Increasing evidence suggests that specific memory systems (e.g., semantic vs. episodic) may support specific creative thought processes. However, there are a number of inconsistencies in the literature regarding the strength, direction, and influence of different memory (semantic, episodic, working, and short-term) and creativity (divergent and convergent thinking) types, as well as the influence of external factors (age, stimuli modality) on this purported relationship. In this meta-analysis, we examined 525 correlations from 79 published studies and unpublished datasets, representing data from 12,846 individual participants. We found a small but significant (r = .19) correlation between memory and creative cognition. Among semantic, episodic, working, and short-term memory, all correlations were significant, but semantic memory – particularly verbal fluency, the ability to strategically retrieve information from long-term memory – was found to drive this relationship. Further, working memory capacity was found to be more strongly related to convergent than divergent creative thinking. We also found that within visual creativity, the relationship with visual memory was greater than that of verbal memory, but within verbal creativity, the relationship with verbal memory was greater than that of visual memory. Finally, the memory-creativity correlation was larger for children compared to young adults despite no impact of age on the overall effect size. These results yield three key conclusions: (1) semantic memory supports both verbal and nonverbal creative thinking, (2) working memory supports convergent creative thinking, and (3) the cognitive control of memory is central to performance on creative thinking tasks. 

Memory and creativity: A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between memory systems and creative cognition

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Memory and creativity: A meta-analytic examination of the relationship between memory systems and creative cognition