Editorial: Exploring goal-directed behavior through creativity: perspectives from psychology, neuroscience, and psychiatry

Abstract

leading to a rise in RI for fluency and flexibility but not originality. Interestingly, growth mindsets had the reverse effect on DT, resulting in decreased fluency but increased flexibility. According to this study, it is essential to consider cognitive status and control functions to understand how tDCS changes the brain during ideational processes. This paper offered a new perspective on the moderating function that mindset (in the sense of cognitive status and, more specifically, the growth mindset) plays in psychological development.To examine the neuromodulatory signatures linked to creative ideation, Khalil et al. utilized a brain stimulation technique called transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). This study investigated the role of individual mindset in influencing response inhibition (RI) and divergent thinking (DT) using tDCS. It involved 40 undergraduate students aged 18-23. Results showed that mindset levels influenced stimulation conditions, enhancing RI on fluency and flexibility but not originality using the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). Growth mindsets had opposite effects on DT, with reduced fluency but enhanced flexibility. This study concluded that understanding neural modulatory signatures of ideational processes with tDCS is crucial for cognitive status and control functions. This report presented a novel perspective on the moderator role of mindset (as cognitive status, particularly the growth mindset) on DT.In a thoroughly designed experiment, Harada explored the impact of group dynamics on the relationship between risk-taking and divergent thinking. Participants engaged individually, in dyadic pairs or triadic groups. Triadic group participants outperformed others on the AUT. Risk attitudes were assessed using a two-armed bandits reinforcement learning task combined with a Q-learning computational model. In individual settings, risk aversion in gains and risk-seeking in losses negatively correlated with AUT composite scores, whereas loss aversion positively correlated with AUT composite scores. Risk attitudes were unrelated to AUT composite scores in dyadic pairs, while loss aversion negatively correlated with them. In triadic groups, risk aversion in gains positively correlated with AUT composite scores, while risk-seeking in losses negatively correlated with them; loss aversion showed no relevance. These findings underline the value of considering group dynamics and individual risk attitudes in fostering creativity within organizational contexts.Employing the same computational framework, in another study, Harada investigated insight problem-solving, a facet of convergent thinking. Loss aversion is inversely correlated with performance on the 9-dot problem. For second-time tasks, loss aversion negatively correlated with performance on both the 8-coin problem and the 9-dot problem, suggesting the importance of accepting losses for successful insight problem-solving. This aligns with recent evidence suggesting excessive loss aversion's maladaptive nature and its association with poor psychological growth and various neuropsychiatric issues (Koan et al., 2021).Fürst & Grin investigated the association between multilingualism and creativity. Utilizing a latent variables model, they found that multilingualism and multicultural experiences positively relate to creativity personality, which further contributes to creative activities across various domains, including music, writing, arts, inventions, and science. This finding is consistent with a growing body of evidence that links multilingualism and multicultural experiences to creative thinking. This includes enhanced divergent thinking skills (Kharkhurin et al., 2023) and superior abilities in appreciating creative metaphors (Werkmann Horvat et al., 2021).In a review article, Liu discussed the crucial role of feedback valence in team creativity. He suggested that accurate positive feedback provides strategic information and fosters employee intere