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Toward an evolutionary-predictive foundation for creativity Gabora, Liane; Kauffman, Stuart
Abstract
Dietrich and Haider (2014) justify their integrative framework for creativity founded on evolutionary theory and prediction research on the grounds that “theories and approaches guiding empirical research on creativity have not been supported by the neuroimaging evidence”. Although this justification is controversial, the general direction holds promise. This commentary clarifies points of disagreement and unresolved issues, and addresses misapplications of evolutionary theory that lead the authors to adopt a Darwinian (versus Lamarckian) approach. To say that creativity is Darwinian is not to say that it consists of variation plus selection—in the everyday sense of the term—as the authors imply; it is to say that evolution is occurring because selection is affecting the distribution of randomly generated heritable variation across generations. In creative thought the distribution of variants is not key, i.e., one is not inclined toward idea A because 60% of one’s candidate ideas are variants of A while only 40% are variants of B; one is inclined toward whichever seems best. The authors concede that creative variation is partly directed; however, the greater the extent to which variants are generated non-randomly, the greater the extent to which the distribution of variants can reflect not selection but the initial generation bias. Since each thought in a creative process can alter the selective criteria against which the next is evaluated, there is no demarcation into generations as assumed in a Darwinian model. We address the authors’ claim that reduced variability and individuality are more characteristic of Lamarckism than Darwinian evolution, and note that a Lamarckian approach to creativity has addressed the challenge of modeling the emergent features associated with insight.
Item Metadata
Title |
Toward an evolutionary-predictive foundation for creativity
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Creator | |
Publisher |
Springer Verlag
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Date Issued |
2016-04
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Description |
Dietrich and Haider (2014) justify their integrative framework for creativity founded on
evolutionary theory and prediction research on the grounds that “theories and approaches guiding
empirical research on creativity have not been supported by the neuroimaging evidence”.
Although this justification is controversial, the general direction holds promise. This
commentary clarifies points of disagreement and unresolved issues, and addresses misapplications
of evolutionary theory that lead the authors to adopt a Darwinian (versus
Lamarckian) approach. To say that creativity is Darwinian is not to say that it consists of
variation plus selection—in the everyday sense of the term—as the authors imply; it is to say that
evolution is occurring because selection is affecting the distribution of randomly generated
heritable variation across generations. In creative thought the distribution of variants is not key,
i.e., one is not inclined toward idea A because 60% of one’s candidate ideas are variants of A
while only 40% are variants of B; one is inclined toward whichever seems best. The authors
concede that creative variation is partly directed; however, the greater the extent to which
variants are generated non-randomly, the greater the extent to which the distribution of variants
can reflect not selection but the initial generation bias. Since each thought in a creative process
can alter the selective criteria against which the next is evaluated, there is no demarcation into
generations as assumed in a Darwinian model. We address the authors’ claim that reduced
variability and individuality are more characteristic of Lamarckism than Darwinian evolution,
and note that a Lamarckian approach to creativity has addressed the challenge of modeling the
emergent features associated with insight.
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Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2018-03-05
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0364142
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Citation |
Gabora, L. & Kauffman, S. (2016). Toward an evolutionary-predictive foundation for creativity. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,23(2), 632-639.
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Publisher DOI |
10.3758/s13423-015-0925-1
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Peer Review Status |
Reviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Faculty
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International