Abstract
Recent accounts of creative-cognition propose that creativity requires the use of different modes of thought. One mode supports the generation of ideas while a second mode of thought is conducive to evaluating ideas (Gabora & Ranjan, 2013; Howard-Jones, 2002; Kaufman, 2011). It has been suggested that creative individuals may be characterized by being good at shifting between different modes of thinking (Howard-Jones, 2002; Kaufman, 2011; Vartanian, 2009). Modern definitions of creativity emphasize that for a product to be deemed ‘creative’, it must exhibit both novelty and utility (Cropley & Kaufman’s, 2011; Plucker, Beghetto & Dow, 2004). Shifting could be an integral facet of creative-cognition that enables one to produce a creative product possessing these attributes (Gabora & Ranjan, 2013). Prior research has suggested a link between shifting and creativity. However, it has framed shifting in a rather narrow way and examined the link using paradigms that are far removed from the theorized role of shifting in the creative process (Gabora & Ranjan, 2013). The present thesis used an experimental paradigm, a novel self-report measure of shifting and a ‘think-aloud’ protocol to examine multiple facets of shifting and the relationship of these facets to measures of creativity. It revealed that the relationship between shifting and creativity is more complex than previous research suggests, differing across contexts and different creative domains. Different facets of shifting appear to be related to different types of creativity, with metacognitive awareness of shifting distinct from competence shifting and affective processes appearing to play an important role in shifting in the domain of garden design. Based on these findings, it is proposed that future research should take into account the multifaceted nature of shifting. Doing so could significantly aid progress in understanding the nature of the relationship between creativity and shifting between different modes of thought.