Redefining Of Metacognitive Processes And The Role Essay Example

idea to its manifestation. It is important to differentiate between the creative process and the resulting product. Many studies have explored the significance of appropriateness in creativity and have examined numerous examples of accomplished scientists, artists, musicians, and writers in an effort to pinpoint their distinguishing characteristics. While this approach contributes to the romanticized notion that creativity is a special gift of insight or intuition, it fails to provide a concrete understanding of how this insight operates and what cognitive mechanisms support intuition (Boden, 1990).

Despite being only a surface level analysis, research suggests that creativity stems from personal experiences and self-realization. The personality traits of creative individuals, such as independence, adaptability, and imagination, all seem to indicate a specific state of consciousness that produces creativity. The creative process model proposed by Poincare and Ribot identifies preparation and verification stages as conscious analytical work involving problem analysis and information gathering. However, these techniques alone are not sufficient for producing innovative solutions; they serve to facilitate the overall creative process.

According to Lubart (1994), the Incubation and Illumination stages are when progress is made unconsciously and potential solutions suddenly become consciously available. This phase is known as the "generation of ideas" stage, which is phenomenologically distinct from the Preparation and Verification stages. Amabile (1983) emphasized the significance of high intrinsic motivation, while Csikszentmihalyi (1988) highlighted concentrated attention, both of which are described by creative individuals across various cultures, domains, or contexts as the "flow" state, offering a sense of discovery and transcendence. This state also characterized by reduced self-consciousness, distorted time perception, and lower brain activity, yielding complete responsiveness from the environment and immense enjoyment.

According to

this theory, creativity is rooted in a different kind of neuropsychological activity than routine problem-solving, which is usually motivated by external factors such as rewards. The level of quality, novelty, and originality of a product may be affected by its adherence to specific domains and time constraints. Interestingly, individuals who exhibit non-conformative, individualistic, and egocentric behaviour are typically more creative. Additionally, Prentky (1989) suggested that the relationship between creativity and psychopathology may be due to balanced divergent and convergent thinking.

Creative individuals engage in a substantial number of ideas and utilize diverse perspectives, sacrificing some external rewards but not as much as those with schizophrenia. However, individuals with relevant psychopathologies may have difficulty employing both divergent and convergent thinking approaches to guide their creativity process. These individuals routinely generate either an inadequate amount of conventional ideas or an excessive quantity of unfocused original concepts, resulting in decreased productivity despite their heightened creativity. Dykes and McGhie (1976) proposed that high-creativity students and schizophrenics share common attentional (overinclusive) techniques, in which both groups absorb a wider range of information than the less-creative control group. Nevertheless, the broad focus of attention in schizophrenics seemed involuntary and unharnessed while creative individuals cognitively adapt to select just enough stimuli overload to prompt substantially better performance than both schizophrenics and the less-creative group. It is essential to acknowledge that these findings were associated with the contrast in voluntary regulation over input processing rather than intellectual impairment overall.

Prentky suggests that creativity is best achieved with a moderately high IQ combined with deviation from the norm in thought processes. While creative individuals tend to score above average on general intelligence, the correlations

between the two can vary between studies and are typically weak (Barron and Harrington, 1981). The "additional-components" hypothesis proposes that factors not measured by standard IQ tests, such as personality traits and intrinsic motivation, are necessary for creativity to occur (Barron, 1963). This aligns with the belief that certain forms of extrinsic motivation and convergent thinking can aid in the creative process by providing useful feedback or aiding in persistence through tedious tasks (Amabile, 1983). Creativity requires unique attention and motivation, often associated with personality traits like individualism, non-conformity, self-direction, and special modes of consciousness.

The involvement of metacognition in creativity appears to be significant, according to Metcalfe's (1994) proposal. Metcalfe emphasized the importance of a monitoring-control system that can determine whether incoming events are novel or familiar, as optimal functioning of human episodic memory relies on it. This metacognitive system is responsible for evaluating novelty or familiarity and adjusting attention accordingly prior to entry into episodic memory. It has the ability to facilitate composite memory traces where episodic associations are layered in a particular manner: lower cognitive energy/weight (but with higher strength signal) is given to the incoming association if it is more similar to the existing information in the trace, whereas higher cognitive energy/weight (with lower or zero strength signal) is assigned to novel events.

In the realm of episodic memory, a Metcalfe neural model called CHARM incorporates a pre-storage mechanism to measure novelty or familiarity similarly to a thermometer. This leads to strengthening memories for new experiences and has proven successful in managing various effects related to episodic memory like bi-directional associations and encoding specificity. This model also accounts for associative context effects

and misinformation effects on later memory in eyewitness testimony. The Cue Familiarity hypothesis provides an explanation for our inclination towards novelty and alertness to differences. Vigilant awareness of new information drives creativity. People rely on the novelty/familiarity filter to guide their attention, with a preference for new and unfamiliar stimuli while ignoring the old and commonplace. Novelty arouses curiosity, while monotony leads to restlessness and boredom. (class notes).

According to Metcalfe (1994), clinical studies indicate that individuals with damage to the frontal lobes - responsible for various forms of cognitive control - often exhibit deficits in attention and can be easily distracted. This is observed in Korsakoff patients who fail to release from proactive inhibition. These findings support the existence of metacognitive function, lending credence to the Cue Familiarity hypothesis as a possible explanation for these patients' difficulties. Metcalfe highlights the importance of feelings of novelty in stimulating desire for discovery; without these sensations, everything would seem the same, resulting in a flat experience.

Reconsidering the correlation between creativity and schizophrenia, we can view it on a spectrum in terms of an inability to detect either novelty or similarity. Creativity is a departure from the norm, trending towards difficulty in detecting similarity. Various research has emphasized impairments in frontal lobe function as being associated with this condition. Symptoms exhibited align with those of affective changes, impaired motivation, and poor insight. A closer examination of the relationship between Cue Familiarity hypothesis and schizophrenia patients may reveal additional insights into how novelty monitoring influences creativity. Furthermore, the Cue Familiarity hypothesis may provide some explanation for Incubation; when an event is presented after an extended delay, its similarity to a

previously encoded similar event is lessened due to intervening events lowering the proportional weighting of the initial event.

According to Metcalfe's 1994 study, signal decay may cause the two events to be viewed in different ways, causing the problem to be restructured. While the Cue Familiarity hypothesis has advantages, it fails to account for the specific conscious states during creativity or why creative people are inward-focused. If stimuli were only filtered based on novelty or familiarity, we would be able to attend to countless events in all areas and potentially recollect them as creative content.

Although it is expected that artists could generate original concepts in physics and mathematics while scientists could produce artwork, this is not commonly observed. The evaluation of novelty is merely a rapid decision tool that considers the sense of familiarity, without relying on the internal organization of incoming data, hence, its assessment for intricate behaviors such as creativity is only partial. Other metacognitive functions that foster creativity should exist. Wheeler, Stuss, and Tulving (1997) suggested that autobiographical memory relies on a particular type of consciousness called "autonoetic consciousness," characterized by conscious recollection of past experiences that enables individuals to contemplate their personal present and future. James (1950) contended that remembrance involves a direct feeling and imbues the object with an emotional warmth and intimacy that mere conception cannot achieve. According to James, the mere identification of a past event is insufficient to create a memory.

According to Wheeler, Stuss, and Tulving, the unique mental experience of episodic memory is conceptualized as autonoetic consciousness, which is characterized by self-knowing and distinct from noetic consciousness. The researchers suggest that individuals with damage to specific areas

of frontal lobes demonstrate deficits in autonoetic consciousness, as evidenced by clinical reports and experimental data. Despite exhibiting superior psychometric IQ and solid performance on executive function tests, these individuals may act goal-less and without regard for long-term consequences of their behavior.

According to Stuss (1991), a highly intelligent professional patient experienced very low daily life productivity after the removal of a tumor in the right prefrontal cortex, despite performing well on related neuropsychological tests. The patient also refused to acknowledge their disability and desired to return to work. During a role-play scenario as an employer, the patient agreed that their performance was poor and should qualify for disability pension. However, when considering the same situation from a personal perspective, the patient reverted to their previous state. Therefore, it appears that these patients are unable to objectively assess information that is emotionally linked to self-concern.

According to Wheeler, Stuss, and Tulving (1997), individuals who lack self-interest, self-importance, and the inclination to daydream or introspect can engage in shallow discussions about their situation. The capacity to reflect on the past, present, and future and experience mental imagery is often linked with this ability. Various studies have indicated that visual imagery aids in creative problem solving (Lubart referring to Ghiselin, 1985; Sheppard, 1978; Weber ; Perkins, 1992; Finke, 1990-1992). Is visual mental representations' usefulness in problem-solving solely because they are easy to adjust, depict multiple aspects of a problem, are quickly manipulated, and have less definite boundaries than verbal representations (John-Steiner, 1987), or is there a more profound explanation? "Imagination is what makes our sensory experience meaningful, enabling us to interpret and make sense of it..."

According to Thomas (1990),

having a new and unique perspective allows us to think beyond our current reality, reflect on past memories and potential future possibilities, and compare different options.

Autonoetic consciousness, which is the means by which mental time travel and personal experience are manifested, involves mental imagery. This connection between imagination and creativity implies a deeper investigation into the mechanisms that enable mental imagery. Recollection is characterized by richer association and personal veridicality, while familiarity is merely recognizing a stimulus. Understanding this distinction is crucial for differentiating creativity from routine problem-solving as autonoetic consciousness entails attention to subjective experiences, rather than objective thinking. Creativity may be guided by subjective feelings, such as intuition, inspiration, or insight, highlighting the potential for generating novel ideas through autonoetic consciousness.

When it comes to selecting the most fitting concept, making objective evaluations is crucial. Although artists and fiction writers may depend on personal experiences in a more obvious way than scientists, both groups possess a deep personal interest and passion for their work. Being creative involves having a unique perspective and often stems from the desire for self-fulfillment, which involves contemplating one's existence. The prefrontal cortex facilitates this process through autonoetic consciousness, enabling adaptive use of personal experiences to plan for the future, even when there is no awareness of one's past or future.

According to Wheeler, Stuss, and Tulving (1997), the brain has an overall level of consciousness where specific events and perceptions can become aware. This idea is similar to the Incubation and Illumination phenomena. In conclusion, there is enough reason to believe that creativity should be considered a separate module for metacognitive functions, such as detecting novelty and internalizing it in

a personalized manner, as well as other comparable filters.

Both an objective and subjective point of view are essential for creativity. The process of generating ideas heavily relies on subjective experiences, while eliminating unsuitable ones mostly involves heuristic retrieval techniques.

The role of appropriateness in driving creativity is not always explicit. Individuals filter events through their interests, skills, and emotions to find what is both meaningful and novel to them. However, there is no clear way to determine the appropriateness of a solution beforehand. Therefore, it is crucial to shift the focus from appropriateness to personality and consciousness.