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The Creative Brain: Corepresenting Schema Violations Enhances TPJ Activity and Boosts Cognitive Flexibility

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Title: The Creative Brain: Corepresenting Schema Violations Enhances TPJ Activity and Boosts Cognitive Flexibility
Language: English
Authors: Ritter, Simone M., Kühn, Simone, Müller, Barbara C. N., van Baaren, Rick B., Brass, Marcel, Dijksterhuis, Ap
Source: Creativity Research Journal. 2014 26(2):144-150.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 7
Publication Date: 2014
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Creativity, Experiments, Brain, Creative Thinking, Correlation, Foreign Countries, Schemata (Cognition), Cognitive Ability, Identification (Psychology), Scores, Diagnostic Tests
Geographic Terms: Netherlands
DOI: 10.1080/10400419.2014.901061
ISSN: 1040-0419
Abstract: Cognitive flexibility is one of the essential mental abilities underlying creative thinking. Previous findings have shown that cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by schema violations, and it has been suggested that active involvement is needed for schema violations to facilitate cognitive flexibility. The possibility that identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) can enhance cognitive flexibility was investigated in 2 studies. In the first study, under conditions of high or low identification, participants watched an actor preparing a sandwich. The way the actor made the sandwich followed either a schema violation or contained the normal schema of preparing a sandwich. When identification was high, watching a schema-violation-enhanced cognitive flexibility as compared to watching the corresponding normal event. No effect of schema violation occurred under conditions of low identification. As little is known about the neural correlates of schema violations, in the second study the brain activity during schema violations was explored by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants were instructed to identify with an actor and brain activity was measured while participants watched the actor performing a schema violation or the corresponding normal schema. Activity in the temporal parietal junction (TPJ), a brain region that is associated with violation of expectations, was higher in the schema-violation condition than in the normal schema condition. These findings enhance the theoretical understanding of the effects of schema violations and may provide important practical implications in various settings where creative thinking is needed.
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 33
Entry Date: 2016
Accession Number: EJ1088904
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0095961431;7lo01apr.14;2019Feb12.16:57;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0095961431-1">The Creative Brain: Corepresenting Schema Violations Enhances TPJ Activity and Boosts Cognitive Flexibility. </title> <p>Cognitive flexibility is one of the essential mental abilities underlying creative thinking. Previous findings have shown that cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by schema violations, and it has been suggested that active involvement is needed for schema violations to facilitate cognitive flexibility. The possibility that identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) can enhance cognitive flexibility was investigated in 2 studies. In the first study, under conditions of high or low identification, participants watched an actor preparing a sandwich. The way the actor made the sandwich followed either a schema violation or contained the normal schema of preparing a sandwich. When identification was high, watching a schema-violation-enhanced cognitive flexibility as compared to watching the corresponding normal event. No effect of schema violation occurred under conditions of low identification. As little is known about the neural correlates of schema violations, in the second study the brain activity during schema violations was explored by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants were instructed to identify with an actor and brain activity was measured while participants watched the actor performing a schema violation or the corresponding normal schema. Activity in the temporal parietal junction (TPJ), a brain region that is associated with violation of expectations, was higher in the schema-violation condition than in the normal schema condition. These findings enhance the theoretical understanding of the effects of schema violations and may provide important practical implications in various settings where creative thinking is needed.</p> <p>Creativity allows humankind to fly to the moon, create art, develop computers, and cure illnesses. One of the essential mental abilities underlying creative thinking is cognitive flexibility (Chi, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref1">6</reflink>]; Jausovec, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref2">15</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref3">16</reflink>]; Runco & Okuda, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref4">27</reflink>]; Thurston & Runco, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref5">32</reflink>]). Cognitive flexibility is the ability to break old cognitive patterns, overcome functional fixedness, and, thus, make novel (creative) associations between concepts (Guilford, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref6">13</reflink>]). Previous research has shown that cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by schema violations (i.e., by violating the sequence of a well-known activity), and it has been suggested that active engagement is needed for schema violations to facilitate creative thinking (Ritter et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref7">25</reflink>]). Can identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting a schema violation) enhance creative thinking?</p> <p>Previous research has shown that observing the actions of others can lead to automatic activation of motor representations in the observer (Brass, Bekkering, & Prinz, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref8">3</reflink>]; Dijksterhuis & Bargh [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref9">10</reflink>]; Sebanz, Knoblich, & Prinz, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref10">29</reflink>]). Moreover, neuroscientific findings have shown that the same brain areas are active when watching another person experience pain as when actively undergoing the experience oneself (see Decety, [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref11">9</reflink>]; Singer & Lamm, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref12">31</reflink>]). These so-called <emph>corepresentations</emph> have been shown to be especially strong under conditions of high identification (e.g., Avenanti, Sirigu, & Aglioti, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref13">1</reflink>]; Müller, Brass, et al., [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref14">20</reflink>]; Müller, Kühn, et al., [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref15">21</reflink>]).</p> <p>In previous research (Ritter et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref16">25</reflink>]), actively performing a schema violation was compared with vicariously watching a film clip in which an actor performed the exact same schema violation. Whereas in these studies identification with the actor was low, Experiment 1 investigated whether, under conditions of high identification, watching someone else perform a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) enhances cognitive flexibility. Participants watched a film clip showing an actor making a sandwich. However, the way the actor made the sandwich followed either the normal schema of preparing a sandwich or contained a schema violation. Moreover, half of the participants were instructed to identify with the actor. Cognitive flexibility was expected to be differently affected by a schema violation under conditions of high or low identification. Specifically, it was predicted that high identification with an active schema violation would enhance cognitive flexibility. Furthermore, as little is know about the neural correlates of schema violations, a second experiment was conducted to explore the brain activity during schema violations by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-2">EXPERIMENT 1</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0095961431-3">Method</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0095961431-4">Participants</hd> <p>Seventy-nine students (77 female, <emph>M</emph><subs><emph>Age</emph></subs> = 19.47, <emph>SD</emph><subs><emph>Age</emph></subs> = 1.63, ranging from 17 to 24, none had a specific connection to acting) from Radboud University Nijmegen participated in this study for course credit or money. Data from an additional 7 participants were not included in the analysis because of incomplete data (participants did not perform the creativity task).</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-5">Design and procedure</hd> <p>Participants were randomly assigned to one of the cells of a 2 (schema: schema violation vs. normal schema) × 2 (identification: high vs. low) design.</p> <p>All participants watched a film clip in which an actor performed an everyday activity, that is, the preparation of a sandwich with butter and chocolate chips (a popular breakfast in the Netherlands), which consists of a simple and well-known sequence of actions. In the schema-violation film clip, the usual order of actions was changed. The actor first put chocolate chips on a dish, buttered the bread, and then placed the bread buttered-side-down on the dish with the chocolate chips. In the schema-normal film clip, the sequence of actions was in accordance with how the activity is normally performed: First put a slice of bread on a dish, butter the bread and then place chocolate chips on top. Before watching the movie clip, all participants received an instruction (see Green & Brock, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref17">12</reflink>]). In the high identification conditions, participants were instructed to identify with the actor ("Immerse yourself in the story. You are now the actor. Imagine for each of the steps that it is <emph>you</emph> who is performing the action."). In the low-identification conditions, the instruction did not focus on identification with the actor, but encouraged individuals to evaluate the story for use in future studies ("Your response will help us to evaluate the story for possible use in future experiments. Focus on whether the performer is acting well.")</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-6">Measures</hd> <p>After the manipulation, participants completed a version of the Unusual Uses Task (Guilford, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref18">13</reflink>]), which is a widely used and well-validated measure of creativity, including cognitive flexibility (see Baas, De Dreu, & Nijstad, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref19">2</reflink>]; Carson, Peterson, & Higgins, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref20">5</reflink>]). Participants were given 2 minutes to generate and list as many ideas as they could, in response to the question 'What can you do with a paperclip?' Using Guilford's (1967) original coding scheme, two raters measured cognitive flexibility by counting the total number of different categories that a participant's ideas belonged to (e.g., <emph>ring, necklace, bracelet</emph> would lead to a score of one as they all belong to the category <emph>jewelry</emph>, whereas <emph>ring, wire, bookmark</emph> would lead to a score of three). The raters showed high interrater reliability (Cronbach's alpha = .97), therefore averaged scores were used for the analyses.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-7">Results</hd> <p>Cognitive flexibility was highly correlated with verbal fluency, that is, the total number of ideas generated (<emph>r =</emph> 0.91). To investigate the effect of high identification with an active schema violation on pure cognitive flexibility, verbal fluency was included as a covariate. A 2 (schema: schema violation vs. normal schema) × 2 (identification: high vs. low) ANCOVA revealed a significant main effect of identification on cognitive flexibility; participants cognitive flexibility was higher in the high identification condition than in the low identification condition, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref21">1</reflink>, 74) = 4.49, <emph>p</emph> = .037, η<sups>2</sups> = .06. The main effect of schema was not significant, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref22">1</reflink>, 74) = 1.63, <emph>p</emph> = 0.21, η<sups>2</sups> = 0.02. Furthermore, a significant interaction effect was obtained between schema and identification, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref23">1</reflink>, 74) = 11.89, <emph>p</emph> = .001, η<sups>2</sups> = 0.14 (Figure 1).</p> <p>Graph: FIGURE 1 Cognitive flexibility (covariate-adjusted) as a function of schema violation (yes vs. no) and identification (high vs. low). Error bars represent standard errors. *p < 0.05. **p < 0.01.</p> <p>Bonferroni-corrected post hoc comparisons revealed that, under conditions of high identification, participants' cognitive flexibility was significantly higher after watching a schema violation than after watching the corresponding normal schema, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref24">1</reflink>, 74) = 11.62, <emph>p</emph> < .01, η<sups>2</sups> = 0.14. However, when identification was low, no difference was found between the schema-violation and schema-normal conditions, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref25">1</reflink>, 74) = 2.02, <emph>p</emph> = 0.16, η<sups>2</sups> = 0.03. Thus, under conditions of high identification, watching an actor perform a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) can enhance cognitive flexibility.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-8">EXPERIMENT 2</hd> <p>What happens in the brain when an active schema violation is corepresented? To examine the neural correlates of schema violations, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was used. We proposed that schema violations break expectations and, thereby, activate the abstract process of overcoming mental fixedness, a process that is crucial for flexible and creative thinking (Guilford, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref26">13</reflink>]). A brain region that has been shown to be involved in expectation violation (Downar, Crawley, Mikulis, & Davis, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref27">11</reflink>]) and with encountering unexpected environmental stimuli (e.g., Corbetta, Patel, & Shulman, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref28">7</reflink>]; Indovina & Macaluso, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref29">14</reflink>]; Kincade, Abrams, Astafiev, Shulman, & Corbetta, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref30">17</reflink>]; Marois, Leung, & Gore, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref31">19</reflink>]; Natale, Marzi, & Macaluso, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref32">22</reflink>]; Shulman, Astafiev, McAvoy, d'Avossa, & Corbetta, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref33">30</reflink>]) is the temporal parietal junction (TPJ). If schema violations are, as proposed, grounded in breached expectations, TPJ activity should be higher for participants who watch a schema violation, as compared to participants who watch the corresponding normal event. Moreover, we expected to find a correlation between activity in the TPJ and increase in cognitive flexibility.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-9">Method</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0095961431-10">Participants</hd> <p>Twenty-one healthy volunteers participated on the basis of written informed consent. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital Ghent and was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The participants (16 female, <emph>M</emph><subs><emph>Age</emph></subs> = 21.33, <emph>SD</emph><subs><emph>Age</emph></subs> = 1.85, ranging from 19 to 25, none had a specific connection to acting) were all right-handed (handedness questionnaire; see Oldfield, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref34">23</reflink>]) and had no history of neurological, major medical, or psychiatric disorder.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-11">Procedure</hd> <p>Participants were placed in the scanner. Before BOLD signal measurement, participants answered the question 'What can you smell?', an open-ended task that, much like the Unusual Uses Task (Guilford, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref35">13</reflink>]), allows divergent thinking and specially flexibility. During 2 minutes, participants had to voice as many ideas as they could, and the measure of interest was a participant's cognitive flexibility score (see <emph>Behavioral creativity measure)</emph>. Hereafter, participants watched either the schema-violation film clip used in Experiment 1or the normal film clip used in Experiment 1. Thus, participants watched an actor perform an everyday activity, that is, the preparation of a sandwich with butter and chocolate chips. For one half of the participants the usual order of actions was changed (schema-violation condition), whereas for the other half of the participants the order was the expected one (schema-normal condition). In both conditions, participants were instructed to identify with the actor (see Green & Brock, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref36">12</reflink>]). While watching the movie, participants' brain activity was measured by means of fMRI. After fMRI data acquisition, participants remained in the scanner to complete another adapted version of the Unusual Uses Task (Guilford, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref37">13</reflink>]). This time, participants were given 2 minutes to generate and list as many ideas as they could, answering the question "What can you hear?", and the measure of interest was a participant's cognitive flexibility score.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-12">Behavioral creativity measure</hd> <p>Participants' cognitive flexibility was measured before and after the manipulation to receive a cognitive flexibility premeasure and a cognitive flexibility postmeasure. As in Experiment 1, cognitive flexibility was measured by using Guilford's ([<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref38">13</reflink>]) original coding scheme (interrater reliability Cronbach's alpha = .97 and.84, respectively).</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-13">Image acquisition</hd> <p>Images were collected with a 3T Magnetom Trio MRI scanner system (Siemens Medical Systems, Erlangen, Germany) using an eight-channel radiofrequency head coil. High-resolution anatomical images were acquired using a T1-weighted 3D MPRAGE sequence (TR = 2530 ms, TE = 2.58 ms, TI = 1100 ms, acquisition matrix = 256 × 256 × 176, sagittal FOV = 220 mm, flip angle = 7°, voxel size = 0.86 × 0.86 × 0.9 mm<sups>3</sups>). Whole-brain functional images were collected using a T2*-weighted EPI sequence sensitive to BOLD contrast (TR = 2000 ms, TE = 35 ms, imagematrix = 64 × 64, FOV = 224 mm, flip angle = 80°, slice thickness = 3.0 mm, distance factor = 17%, voxel size 3.5 × 3.5 × 3 mm3, 30 axial slices). 390 image volumes aligned to AC-PC were acquired per run.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-14">Processing of functional data</hd> <p>The fMRI data were analysed using SPM8 software (Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology, London, UK). The first four volumes of all EPI series were excluded from the analysis to allow the magnetisation to approach a dynamic equilibrium. Data processing started with slice time correction and realignment of the EPI datasets. A mean image for all EPI volumes was created, to which individual volumes were spatially realigned by means of rigid body transformations. The structural image was coregistered with the mean image of the EPI series. Then the structural image was normalized to the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) template, and the normalization parameters were applied to the EPI images to ensure an anatomically informed normalization. A commonly applied filter of 8 mm FWHM (full-width at half maximum) was used. Low-frequency drifts in the time domain were removed by modelling the time series for each voxel by a set of discrete cosine functions to which a cut-off of 128 s was applied. The statistical analyses were performed using the general linear model (GLM). The film presentation was modelled as a block. Movement regressors were also entered into the GLM. The film > baseline contrast images were then entered into an independent sample <emph>t</emph>-test at the second (between subject) level. The resulting statistical values were thresholded with a level of significance of <emph>p</emph> < 0.001 (<emph>z</emph> > 3.09, uncorrected) and a significant effect was reported when the volume of the cluster was greater than the Monte Carlo simulation determined minimum cluster size above which the probability of type-I error was <0.05 (AlphaSim; Ward, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref39">33</reflink>]). The resulting maps were overlaid onto a normalized T1 weighted MNI template (colin27) and the coordinates reported correspond to the MNI coordinate system. For the signal change, for each participant, the mean percent signal change was extracted by means of marsbar (http:\\marsbar.sourceforge.net\; Brett, Anton, Valabregue, & Poline, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref40">4</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-15">Results</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0095961431-16">Behavioral data</hd> <p>The cognitive flexibility measures (cognitive flexibility premeasure, cognitive flexibility postmeasure) were highly correlated with the corresponding verbal fluency measures, that is, the total number of ideas generated (<emph>r =</emph> 0.81, <emph>r</emph> = 0.86, respectively). To investigate the effect of high identification with an active schema violation on pure cognitive flexibility, the verbal fluency measures were included as covariates. A one-way repeated-measures ANCOVA with time (pre- and postmeasure of cognitive flexibility) as the within-subject factor, condition (schema: schema violation vs. normal schema) as the between-subject factor, and cognitive flexibility as the dependent variable demonstrated a significant interaction effect between schema and cognitive flexibility, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref41">1</reflink>, 17) = 10.22, <emph>p</emph> = .005, η<sups>2</sups> = .375. The simple effect of time on cognitive flexibility was significant in the schema-violation condition only, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref42">1</reflink>, 17) = 5.859, p = .027, η<sups>2</sups> = .256 (Figure 2).</p> <p>Graph: FIGURE 2 Cognitive flexibility (covariate-adjusted) as a function of time (pre- and post-measure) and schema violation (yes vs. no). Error bars represent standard errors. *p < 0.05.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-17">FMRI data</hd> <p>When contrasting brain activity in participants viewing the schema-violation film with participants viewing the normal schema film a cluster of significantly higher activity was found in the right TPJ (MNI peak coordinate: 46, −70, 14; Figure 3).</p> <p>Graph: FIGURE 3 Higher brain activity in right temporal parietal junction during schema violation as compared to normal schema.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-18">Correlation between TPJ activity and cognitive flexbility</hd> <p>To associate the observed TPJ activity of each single participant with their cognitive flexibility score the baseline-corrected percent signal changes from the significant cluster were extracted. As shown in Figure 4, there was no significant correlation between beta values in right TPJ and cognitive flexibility before scanning, <emph>r</emph>(<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref43">21</reflink>) = −0.04, <emph>p</emph> = 0.86. However, a significant positive correlation was found between right TPJ and cognitive flexibility after scanning, <emph>r</emph>(<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref44">21</reflink>) = 0.74, <emph>p</emph> < 0.001, and with the difference score between post and pre scanning cognitive flexibility, <emph>r</emph>(<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref45">21</reflink>) = 0.62, <emph>p</emph> < 0.005.</p> <p>Graph: FIGURE 4 Correlation between beta values in right temporal parietal junction and cognitive flexibility.</p> <hd id="AN0095961431-19">DISCUSSION</hd> <p>Previous findings have shown that cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by schema violations, and it has been suggested that active involvement is needed for schema violations to facilitate cognitive flexibility (Ritter et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref46">25</reflink>]). In our research, we investigated whether identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) can enhance cognitive flexibility. The results of the first study demonstrated that, under conditions of high identification, watching a schema violation can enhance cognitive flexibility.</p> <p>The finding that physical (i.e., bodily) involvement is not needed to enhance creative thinking is in line with previous research from Leung and colleagues ([<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref47">18</reflink>]). They explored whether metaphors for creativity, such as to <emph>think outside the box</emph>, enhances creativity. Their results indicated that creative performance is enhanced when people embody, that is, literally follow, metaphors for creativity. Moreover, corepresenting creative metaphors—through identifying with an avatar that the participants virtually walked in a 3D world—resulted in a similar effect as physically enacting the metaphors. These findings suggest that physically as well as psychologically engagement by means of corepresentations can enhance creative performance. However, whereas in the previous study participants virtually walked an avatar in a 3D world, in the current studies participants had to perform no activity at all. Under conditions of high identification, merely watching an actor perform a schema-violation-enhanced creative thinking.</p> <p>Although our research suggests that identification with an actor performing a schema violation can enhance cognitive flexibility, it remains unclear whether an increase in flexibility as measured by a divergent thinking task also translates into real-life creativity. Therefore, in future research it would be interesting to investigate the link between schema violations and everyday creativity, and to zoom in on the question whether this accounts for different domains of creativity. Several cognitive skills are needed to produce something that is both novel and useful, and likely these skills manifest differentially within various creative domains (e.g., visual art vs. scientific discovery).</p> <p>In the second study, the neural correlates of schema violations were assessed by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) research. Participants were instructed to identify with an actor and while the participants watched the actor performing a schema violation or the corresponding normal schema, brain activity was measured. Activity in the TPJ, a brain region that is associated with unexpected environmental stimuli (e.g., Corbetta et al., [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref48">7</reflink>]) and with violations of expectation (Posner, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref49">24</reflink>]), was higher for participants who watched a schema violation than for participants who watched the corresponding normal events. Moreover, a positive correlation was found between activity in the right TPJ and cognitive flexibility. Important, the TPJ is not only associated with expectation violations (for a review, see Corbetta & Shulman, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref50">8</reflink>]), but also with self-other distinction processes (Saxe & Kanwisher, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref51">28</reflink>]) and with identification with another person (Ruby & Decety, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref52">26</reflink>]). The instruction to identify with the actor may, thus, have increased TPJ activity. However, given that participants were instructed to identify with the actor in both conditions, identification cannot account for the difference in right TPJ activity that was found in this study. This difference can only be explained by the manipulation itself, that is, whether the participants watched a schema violation or the corresponding normal event. These findings may suggest that schema violations enhance cognitive flexibility as they break expectations and, thereby, activate the abstract process of overcoming mental fixedness (Guilford, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref53">13</reflink>]).</p> <p>Findings of these two studies enhance the theoretical understanding of schema violations and may, moreover, provide important practical implications. During the last years, various creativity enhancement techniques have been developed. Many of them are cost and time intensive. Moreover, they are entirely deliberate and intentional means to enhance creative thinking, that is, they have to be trained and explicitly communicated. Ironically, the instruction to be creative can put pressure on individuals and may, thereby, result in a decrease in creative performance. These means to enhance creative performance do not have to be practiced and, importantly, do not have to be explicitly communicated. Therefore, enhancing creative thinking by means of identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) is highly promising for application in various educational and organizational settings where creative thinking is needed.</p> <ref id="AN0095961431-20"> <title> REFERENCES </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref13" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Avenanti, A., Sirigu, A., & Aglioti, S. M. (2010). Racial bias reduces empathic sensorimotor resonance with other-race pain. 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  Data: The Creative Brain: Corepresenting Schema Violations Enhances TPJ Activity and Boosts Cognitive Flexibility
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  Data: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Creativity%22">Creativity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Experiments%22">Experiments</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Brain%22">Brain</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Creative+Thinking%22">Creative Thinking</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Correlation%22">Correlation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Schemata+%28Cognition%29%22">Schemata (Cognition)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Cognitive+Ability%22">Cognitive Ability</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Identification+%28Psychology%29%22">Identification (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Scores%22">Scores</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Diagnostic+Tests%22">Diagnostic Tests</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1080/10400419.2014.901061
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  Data: Cognitive flexibility is one of the essential mental abilities underlying creative thinking. Previous findings have shown that cognitive flexibility can be enhanced by schema violations, and it has been suggested that active involvement is needed for schema violations to facilitate cognitive flexibility. The possibility that identification with an actor performing a schema violation (i.e., corepresenting an active schema violation) can enhance cognitive flexibility was investigated in 2 studies. In the first study, under conditions of high or low identification, participants watched an actor preparing a sandwich. The way the actor made the sandwich followed either a schema violation or contained the normal schema of preparing a sandwich. When identification was high, watching a schema-violation-enhanced cognitive flexibility as compared to watching the corresponding normal event. No effect of schema violation occurred under conditions of low identification. As little is known about the neural correlates of schema violations, in the second study the brain activity during schema violations was explored by means of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Participants were instructed to identify with an actor and brain activity was measured while participants watched the actor performing a schema violation or the corresponding normal schema. Activity in the temporal parietal junction (TPJ), a brain region that is associated with violation of expectations, was higher in the schema-violation condition than in the normal schema condition. These findings enhance the theoretical understanding of the effects of schema violations and may provide important practical implications in various settings where creative thinking is needed.
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