Dopamine supports idea originality: The role of spontaneous eye blink rate on divergent thinking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Agnoli ◽  
Serena Mastria ◽  
Marco Zanon ◽  
GIOVANNI EMANUELE CORAZZA
Keyword(s):  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Dopamine Level ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Creative Behaviour ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
The Relationship

The neurotransmitter dopamine plays a crucial role in human creative behaviour. Specifically, striatal dopamine seems to be associated with specific dimensions of divergent thinking performance, especially with the categorical diversity (flexibility) of the ideas. In the experimental context, spontaneous Eye Blink Rate (sEBR) has been used as a proxy of striatal dopamine and it has been demonstrated an inverted U-shape relationship between sEBR and flexibility, such that a medium sEBR is able to predict higher flexibility levels. The present study aimed at carrying out further investigations about the relationship between sEBR and idea generation through divergent thinking, specifically focusing on the relationship between idea originality and dopamine level, since originality is a key element for creativity. We asked 80 participants, whose sEBR at rest was measured, to perform an Alternative Uses Task (AUT) measuring their divergent thinking performance. Results revealed that the relationship between sEBR and originality, as measured through subjective ratings of external raters, followed an inverted U-shape function with medium sEBR being associated with higher originality scores. Moreover, and most importantly, we demonstrated that sEBR predicted originality through the mediation of flexibility. Our results provide further insights on the possible role of dopamine on divergent thinking performance, demonstrating that an adequate dopamine level may facilitate the generation of original ideas through the exploration of diverse conceptual categories (higher flexibility).

Staring Down Death

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 212-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas E. Joiner ◽  
Melanie A. Hom ◽  
Megan L. Rogers ◽  
Carol Chu ◽  
Ian H. Stanley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Suicide Risk ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Specific Task ◽  
Careful Planning ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Eye Blinks ◽  
Potential Clinical Utility ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract. Background: Lowered eye blink rate may be a clinically useful indicator of acute, imminent, and severe suicide risk. Diminished eye blink rates are often seen among individuals engaged in heightened concentration on a specific task that requires careful planning and attention. Indeed, overcoming one’s biological instinct for survival through suicide necessitates premeditation and concentration; thus, a diminished eye blink rate may signal imminent suicidality. Aims: This article aims to spur research and clinical inquiry into the role of eye blinks as an indicator of acute suicide risk. Method: Literature relevant to the potential connection between eye blink rate and suicidality was reviewed and synthesized. Results: Anecdotal, cognitive, neurological, and conceptual support for the relationship between decreased blink rate and suicide risk is outlined. Conclusion: Given that eye blinks are a highly observable behavior, the potential clinical utility of using eye blink rate as a marker of suicide risk is immense. Research is warranted to explore the association between eye blink rate and acute suicide risk.

scholarly journals Spontaneous Eye Blink Rate during the Working Memory Delay Period Predicts Task Performance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jefferson Ortega ◽  
Chelsea Reichert Plaska ◽  
Bernard A Gomes ◽  
Timothy M Ellmore
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Task Performance ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Indirect Measure ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

Spontaneous eye blink rate (sEBR) has been found to be a non-invasive indirect measure of striatal dopamine activity. Dopamine (DA) neurons project to the prefrontal cortex (PFC) through the mesocortical dopamine pathway and their activity is implicated in a range of cognitive functions, including attention and working memory (WM). The goal of the present study was to understand how fluctuations in sEBR during different phases of a working memory task relate to task performance. Across two experiments, with recordings of sEBR inside and outside of a magnetic resonance imaging bore, we observed sEBR to be positively correlated with WM performance during the WM delay period. Additionally we investigated the non-linear relationship between sEBR and WM performance, and modeled a proposed Inverted-U-shape relationship between DA and WM performance. We also investigated blink duration, which is proposed to be related to sustained attention, and found blink duration to be significantly shorter during the encoding and probe periods of the task. Taken together, these results provide support towards sEBR as an important correlate of working memory task performance. The relationship of sEBR to DA activity and the influence of DA on the PFC during WM maintenance is discussed.

scholarly journals Work-related curiosity positively predicts worker innovation

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1184-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Celik ◽  
Martin Storme ◽  
Andrès Davila ◽  
Nils Myszkowski
Keyword(s):  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Job Requirements ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Individual Work ◽  
Job Title ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual work-related curiosity and worker innovation and to test the mediating role of worker divergent thinking. Design/methodology/approach In all, 480 participants, holding 188 different jobs, filled in a validated work-related curiosity scale and indicated their job title. Job requirements in terms of divergent thinking and innovation − derived from the Online Information Network (O*NET) database − were used as proxies for divergent thinking and innovation skills. Findings Results indicated that individual work-related curiosity was a positive predictor of worker innovation and that worker divergent thinking mediated this relationship. Research limitations/implications Individual work-related curiosity supports exploratory skills which support in turn innovation skills. Practical implications Managers could use individual work-related curiosity as a predictor of innovation skills when recruiting, training and guiding employees. Originality/value This study is the first to show an association between individual work-related curiosity and innovation skills across more than 150 different jobs.

Knowledge territorial behavior congruence and innovation process: the moderating role of team territorial climate

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenting Xu ◽  
Xianmiao Li
Keyword(s):  
Defensive Behavior ◽  
Idea Generation ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Territorial Behavior ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Creative Idea ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Building on the territoriality perspective and innovation process theory, to the purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of transmission and influence of knowledge territorial behavior congruence on innovation process, which provides theoretical implications for innovative teams to execute territoriality management and create a constructive knowledge sharing climate and platform for sustainable innovation of individuals and organizations. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected by the paired method from 311 creative R&D members. In addition, polynomial regressions and response surface method were adopted to test the hypotheses. Findings The more congruent the marking behavior and defensive behavior were, the higher the creative idea generation and idea implementation became. The congruence of “high marking high defensive behavior” was more conducive to triggering creative idea generation and promoting idea implementation. Compared with the incongruence of “low marking high defensive behavior,” the incongruence of “high marking low defensive behavior” was more conducive to stimulating creative idea generation. However, there was no significant difference in the incongruence effect of marking defensive behavior on idea implementation. In addition, creative idea generation mediated the relationship between knowledge territorial behavior congruence and idea implementation. Furthermore, team territorial climate moderated the relationship between knowledge territorial behavior congruence and creative idea generation. Originality/value The study highlights the theoretical research of territoriality and innovation process. By deconstructing the relationship between the territorial behavior congruence and the innovation process, this study establishes that the congruence and incongruence of the marking defensive behavior in knowledge territoriality exerts different effects on creative idea generation and idea implementation.

scholarly journals Tracking Real-Time Changes in Working Memory Updating and Gating with the Event-Based Eye-Blink Rate

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Rac-Lubashevsky ◽  
Heleen A. Slagter ◽  
Yoav Kessler
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Striatal Dopamine ◽  
Blink Rate ◽  
Eye Blink ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Working Memory Updating ◽  
Time Changes ◽  
Event Based ◽  
Gating Process

AbstractEffective working memory (WM) functioning depends on the gating process that regulates the balance between maintenance and updating of WM. The present study used the event-based eye-blink rate (ebEBR), which presumably reflects phasic striatal dopamine activity, to examine how the cognitive processes of gating and updating separately facilitate flexible updating of WM contents and the potential involvement of dopamine in these processes. Realtime changes in eye blinks were tracked during performance on the reference-back task, in which demands on these two processes were independently manipulated. In all three experiments, trials that required WM updating and trials that required gate switching were both associated with increased ebEBR. These results may support the prefrontal cortex basal ganglia WM model (PBWM) by linking updating and gating to striatal dopaminergic activity. In Experiment 3, the ebEBR was used to determine what triggers gate switching. We found that switching to an updating mode (gate opening) was more stimulus driven and retroactive than switching to a maintenance mode, which was more context driven. Together, these findings show that the ebEBR – an inexpensive, non-invasive, easy-to-use measure – can be used to track changes in WM demands during task performance and, hence, possibly striatal dopamine activity.

scholarly journals Self-Regulation in Creative Learning: Agentic Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-71
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Zielińska ◽  
Izabela Lebuda ◽  
Dorota M. Jankowska ◽  
Maciej Karwowski
Keyword(s):  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Creative Agency ◽  
Regulatory Strategies ◽  
Creative Solutions ◽  
Creative Learning ◽  
Regulation Strategies ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
School Tasks

Abstract Creativity is agentic, and so is learning. People create and learn new things most effectively when they are convinced that they can respond appropriately to the task (creative confidence) and value the activity at hand. This investigation explores the role of the relatively understudied aspect of creative agency: self-regulatory strategies. In a longitudinal study, we tested whether self-regulation strategies, previously found to be essential drivers of academic achievement and learning in general (rehearsal, elaboration, critical thinking, and metacognition), might also support creativity in learning. Specifically, we tested sequential mediation, where creative confidence and self-regulation longitudinally mediated the relationship between creative potential (divergent thinking) and effective application of creative skills to solve problems embedded in school subjects. Our findings confirm that self-regulatory strategies predict providing creative solutions to school tasks (a proxy of creative learning) and mediate the relationship between divergent thinking, creative confidence, and creative learning.

Investigating Spontaneous Flexibility in Concept Generation

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler A. Johnson ◽  
Benjamin W. Caldwell ◽  
Matthew G. Green
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Design ◽  
Divergent Thinking ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Strongly Correlated ◽  
Concept Generation ◽  
Effectiveness Measure ◽  
Engineering Environment ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Engineering Concept

Guilford’s Alternate Uses Test (ALTU) measures a person’s spontaneous flexibility, a propensity for generating many varied responses to a situation, by requiring them to list six possible uses for a given object. Shah’s metrics of ideation effectiveness measure the innovative qualities of engineering concepts with similar scales. The study presented in this paper explores the relationship between spontaneous flexibility and engineering concept generation through a research study. Fifty-two participants generated ideas for three items on a spontaneous flexibility test (SFT) and three problems on an engineering ideation test (EIT). The participants’ responses were analyzed for fluency and flexibility. Correlations between the SFT and EIT were identified in order to better understand the role of spontaneity and divergent thinking in an engineering environment. It was found that both fluency and flexibility of responses were strongly correlated between the two test types. It is hypothesized that the EIT complements the SFT in measuring spontaneous flexibility in engineering design.

scholarly journals SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS A MODERN PRINCIPLE OF PLANNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SECURE BUSINESS IN TRADE

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (46) ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Hanna Koptieva ◽  
Sergiy Kozub
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Social Responsibility ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
The Relationship

The increasing role of society as a factor in the development of a company actualizes the introduction of the corporate social responsibility concept, its boundaries and its impact on economic results. The implementation of corporate social responsibility activities and programs forms a positive image of the company as of a responsible employer, manufacturer and counterparty, which simultaneously strengthens the company's competitive position and increases its level of security. Nevertheless, the integration of environmental and social programs into the company's business processes requires investments and, respectively, the coordination of these projects with strategic business development initiatives to ensure a certain balance between desired goals and real opportunities. That is the reason for the relevance of researching the practice of planning of socially targeted events and determining the relationship between their implementation and the performance results of the company. The article considers the current practice of implementing the principles of corporate social responsibility in the activities of world trading companies in the context of ensuring their economic security. The author of the article investigated the level of implementation of corporate social responsibility tools in the practice of 19 world trade leaders in terms of their turnover. It is proved that trading companies with high rates of corporate sustainability implement social initiatives in accordance with the developed plans and strategies for their implementation. The author identifies priority areas for the implementation of social projects of trading companies, among which the most common are creation of decent working conditions, gender equality, implementation of educational initiatives to rationalize consumption and production in terms of human physiological needs and careful use of resources, of the fight against climate change and their consequences. The hypothesis regarding the dependence of business economic security on the activity of implementation of corporate social responsibility projects was also checked. Based on the correlation analysis, a direct relationship has been established between corporate sustainability indicators and the main performance results of trading companies, which determine their level of economic security.

scholarly journals IMPACT OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AND SELF-EFFICACY ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE MEDIATING ROLE OF LEARNING AND MODERATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

2015 ◽  
Vol 03 (02) ◽  
pp. 19-29
Author(s):  
Misbah Mehmood ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Culture ◽  
Achievement Motivation ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Performance Results ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of the study was to find out the impact of Achievement motivation, self efficacy on employee performance moderated by organizational culture, and mediated by learning. Data was collected from 150 employees. Results indicated that Achievement motivation and self-efficacy has positive and significant effect on employee performance. Results also indicated that learning has a partially mediation effect between achievement motivation, self- efficacy and employee performance .The organizational culture also moderated the relationship between achievement motivation, self-efficacy and learning. Hence, the combined effect of achievement motivation, self-efficacy and organizational culture enhanced the learning of employees, which in return increased the effectiveness of their performance.

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