Creativity on demand – Hacking into creative problem solving

Abstract

How can creative problem solving be enhanced? The paper identifies and examines modulatory approaches from the cognitive and neuroscientific literature that have been made to make creative problem solving better. We review neuromodulatory approaches of both global and local effects. Through a 2-process model of creative problem solving that involves both automatic and controlled processes, we demonstrate how these approaches could be used and what potential they may have for enhancing creative problem solving. We conclude that direct neuromodulation will be best used in unison with behavioral manipulations of cognition, and that better understanding of these manipulations should inform and guide research on direct neuromodulatory procedures.

Keywords

• Creative problem solving
• Cognitive modulation
• Neuromodulation
• Componential approach