At the outset of our project, we recognized theoretical inconsistencies that posed obstacles to interpreting the findings of previous research. Consequently, drawing from a review of literature across various traditions of psychology, we crafted a framework for creative metacognition that expands upon existing theories. We developed a systematic Creative Metacognition (CMC) framework, which comprises three key components: metacognitive control, metacognitive monitoring, and metacognitive knowledge. Upon publishing this model, the journal invited numerous scholars from fields connected to the psychology of creativity to contribute commentaries. This initiative sparked a lively scientific discourse regarding the significance of metacognitive processes in creativity and the potential for further refinement and development of our framework.
In accordance with the project's planned objectives and based on the newly proposed model, we examined the significance of metacognition in creativity. We discovered that all three proposed components of creative metacognition played independent roles in enhancing creative cognitive performance. Among these components, metacognitive control exhibited the strongest positive correlation with idea generation. Furthermore, creative metacognition was particularly relevant to creative thinking, albeit also showing some association with creative behavior. In our CMC framework, we delineate each of these metacognitive components at the task, performance, and response levels. In subsequent research focused on metacognitive control, we found that metacognitive control at all three levels independently predicted the ability to generate more creative ideas. These two studies provided the first empirical test of our model, enhancing our understanding of the structure of creative metacognition.
Additionally, we investigated one of the most well-known metacognitive phenomena, which is crucial for improving the measurement of metacognition—the Dunning-Kruger effect. According to this effect, less skilled individuals tend to overestimate their performance. We found that the results indeed depended on the statistical methods employed, and we hope to stimulate discussions about factors that can lead to inaccurate self-assessments, especially in the context of creative performance. This discovery prompted us to take the next steps, examining how self-assessment of creativity is influenced by factors beyond mere abilities. We explored the roles of previous experience, personality traits, and creative self-beliefs in this regard. This study contributes to our better understanding of biases in self-assessments of creativity.
During the course of the grant, in collaboration with other labs (Biologische Psychologie at the University of Graz; Sorbonne Université, Paris Brain Institute (ICM), and FrontLab, where I completed a secondment), we conducted two neuroscientific research studies regarding metacognition in creativity. These studies shed light on the brain mechanisms underlying the interplay of creative metacognitive monitoring skills and creative potential. In the first EEG investigation of creative metacognitive monitoring in the brain, we discovered a pattern of brain activation suggesting that less internal attention, reduced memory load, and increased sensory processing are associated with more effective and accurate monitoring of the creative process. In the second fMRI study, we aimed to investigate the brain regions involved in judging the relatedness of concepts that vary in conceptual distance between them and how such neural involvement relates to individual differences in creativity. We identified brain regions where activity increased with higher semantic relatedness. Furthermore, we found that individuals who exhibited higher creativity and provided higher ratings on average had overall lower activity in those regions, possibly reflecting higher neural efficiency.
We presented the results of our research at several scientific conferences: the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, the APA 2022, 2023 Convention; and the Marconi Institute for Creativity 2022, 2023. Furthermore, we were invited by the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation to organize an international online symposium dedicated to metacognition in creativity. In addition, we shared our research results with a broad audience by giving popular science lectures, including invitations from the Sonophilia Foundation (2021, 2022). As a result of these events, we published a chapter "A Matter of Confidence? Exploring the Science of Self-Beliefs in the Context of Creativity" in the popular science book "Transcending Horizons." We also provided insights into our work by being interviewed for a newspaper article titled "Der Kreativität Flügel verleihen" (Salzburger Nachrichten, 08.07.22 p.16).
