Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks

Yoed N. Kenett; Joseph L. Austerweil

Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks

Yoed N. Kenett, Joseph L. Austerweil

Brown University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

43 Scopus citations

Abstract

The creative process involves several cognitive processes, such as working memory, controlled attention and task switching. One other process is cognitive search over semantic memory. These search processes can be controlled (e.g., problem solving guided by a heuristic), or uncontrolled (e.g., mind wandering). However, the nature of this search in relation to creativity has rarely been examined from a formal perspective. To do this, we use a random walk model to simulate uncontrolled cognitive search over semantic networks of low and high creative individuals with an equal number of nodes and edges. We show that a random walk over the semantic network of high creative individuals “finds” more unique words and moves further through the network for a given number of steps. Our findings are consistent with the associative theory of creativity, which posits that the structure of semantic memory facilitates search processes to find creative solutions.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016
Editors	Anna Papafragou, Daniel Grodner, Daniel Mirman, John C. Trueswell
Publisher	The Cognitive Science Society
Pages	313-318
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9780991196739
State	Published - 2016
Externally published	Yes
Event	38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Recognizing and Representing Events, CogSci 2016 - Philadelphia, United States Duration: 10 Aug 2016 → 13 Aug 2016

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016

Conference

Conference	38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Recognizing and Representing Events, CogSci 2016
Country/Territory	United States
City	Philadelphia
Period	10/08/16 → 13/08/16

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016. All rights reserved.

Funding

Data was collected as part of the PhD research of the first author in Bar-Ilan University, Israel.

Keywords

Cognitive Search
Creativity
Random Walks
Semantic Networks

Cite this

Kenett, Y. N., & Austerweil, J. L. (2016). Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks. In A. Papafragou, D. Grodner, D. Mirman, & J. C. Trueswell (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016 (pp. 313-318). (Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016). The Cognitive Science Society.

Kenett, Yoed N. ; Austerweil, Joseph L. / Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016. editor / Anna Papafragou ; Daniel Grodner ; Daniel Mirman ; John C. Trueswell. The Cognitive Science Society, 2016. pp. 313-318 (Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016).

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Kenett, YN & Austerweil, JL 2016, Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks. in A Papafragou, D Grodner, D Mirman & JC Trueswell (eds), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016. Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016, The Cognitive Science Society, pp. 313-318, 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society: Recognizing and Representing Events, CogSci 2016, Philadelphia, United States, 10/08/16.

Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks. / Kenett, Yoed N.; Austerweil, Joseph L.
Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016. ed. / Anna Papafragou; Daniel Grodner; Daniel Mirman; John C. Trueswell. The Cognitive Science Society, 2016. p. 313-318 (Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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Kenett YN, Austerweil JL. Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks. In Papafragou A, Grodner D, Mirman D, Trueswell JC, editors, Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016. The Cognitive Science Society. 2016. p. 313-318. (Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, CogSci 2016).

Examining Search Processes in Low and High Creative Individuals with Random Walks

Abstract

Publication series

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Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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Cite this