Share:


The interplay of bilingualism, executive functions and creativity in problem solving among male university students

    Mark Leikin   Affiliation
    ; Esther Tovli   Affiliation
    ; Anna Woldo Affiliation

Abstract

The present study explores the interplay among bilingualism, executive functions and creativity in problem solving among adult male university students. In this context, the associations between two factors critical for understanding the topic, i.e. type of bilingualism (i.e. balanced versus non-balanced bilingualism) and type of creative thinking (i.e. convergent versus divergent thinking) are examined, as well. 28 Russian/Hebrew/English trilinguals (balanced Russian/Hebrew bilinguals), and 25 non-balanced Hebrew/English bilinguals participated in the study. All participants performed several standard tasks on executive functions (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, Eriksen flanker task, digit span test, Corsi block-tapping test) and two tests on creativity: Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Figural Form A) and Remote Associates Test (in appropriate languages). The findings showed that the Russian-speaking participants performed better on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, particularly in flexibility and fluency measures. On the Remote Associates Test, balanced bilinguals outperformed non-balanced bilinguals in the English version and exhibited the same results in the Hebrew version of the test. In this case, there were significant correlations between the Remote Associates Test results in all three languages in the Russian group. Thus, balanced bilingualism seems to be also characterized by a well-organized language system in which all of the individual’s languages are interconnected. This appears to be a significant factor in the performance of balanced bilinguals on the Remote Associates Test in the different languages. In addition, the findings seem to confirm the hypothesis that balanced bilingualism positively influences divergent thinking. The hypothesis that performance of bilinguals on creativity tasks is linked to distinctions in the development of their executive functions was not confirmed.

Article in English.


Sąveika tarp dvikalbystės, vykdomųjų funkcijų ir kūrybiškumo sprendžiant universiteto vyriškosios lyties studentų problemas

Santrauka

Šiame tyrime nagrinėjama sąveika tarp dvikalbystės, vykdomųjų funkcijų ir kūrybiškumo sprendžiant universiteto vyriškosios lyties studentų problemas. Šiame kontekste taip pat analizuojami du veiksniai, svarbūs siekiant suprasti šią temą, t. y. dvikalbystės rūšį (vienodai gerai įvaldyta versus nevienodai gerai įvaldyta dvikalbystė) ir kūrybinio mąstymo tipą (konvergentinis versus divergentinis mąstymas). Tyrime dalyvavo 28 asmenys, kalbantys trimis kalbomis – rusų, hebrajų ir anglų (asmenys, vienodai gerai kalbantys dviem kalbomis, t. y. rusų ir hebrajų) bei 25 asmenys, nevienodai gerai kalbantys hebrajų ir anglų kalbomis. Visi dalyviai atliko keletą standartinių užduočių, skirtų vykdomosioms funkcijoms (Viskonsino kortelių atrankos testas, Erikseno šoninių rodyklių užduotis, skaičių eilės pakartojimo testas, Corsio blokelių jungimo testas) bei du kūrybiškumo testus – Torrance’o kūrybinio mąstymo testą (paveikslas A) ir tolimų asociacijų testą (skirtą atitinkamoms kalboms). Rezultatai atskleidė, kad rusakalbiams dalyviams geriau sekėsi atlikti Torrence’o kūrybinio mąstymo testą, ypač lankstumo ir sklandumo atžvilgiais. Naudojant tolimų asociacijų testą vienodai gerai dviem kalbomis kalbantys asmenys sulaukė didesnės sėkmės nei nevienodai gerai dviem kalbomis kalbantys asmenys, atlikę anglišką testo versiją ir pademonstravę tokius pat rezultatus, spręsdami hebrajišką testo versiją. Šiuo atveju esama reikšmingų koreliacijų tarp tolimų asociacijų testo rezultatų visų trijų kalbų atžvilgiu rusakalbių grupėje. Vadinasi, atrodo, kad vienodai gerai įvaldytą dvikalbystę taip pat charakterizuoja tinkamai organizuota kalbų sistema, kurioje visos kalbos, kuriomis kalba asmuo, yra tarpusavyje susijusios. Regis, tai reikšmingas veiksnys vienodai gerai dviem kalbomis kalbantiems asmenims, atlikusiems tolimų asociacijų testą skirtingomis kalbomis. Be to, atrodo, kad rezultatai patvirtina hipotezę, jog vienodai gerai įvaldyta dvikalbystė daro teigiamą įtaką divergentiniam mąstymui. Nebuvo patvirtinta hipotezė, esą dviem kalbomis kalbančių asmenų, atliekančių kūrybines užduotis, sėkmė ar nesėkmė yra susijusi su skirtumais, plėtojant jų vykdomąsias funkcijas.

Reikšminiai žodžiai: dvikalbystė, pažinimas, konvergentinis mąstymas, kūrybiškumas, divergentinis mąstymas, vykdomosios funkcijos.

Keyword : bilingualism, cognition, convergent thinking, creativity, divergent thinking, executive functions

How to Cite
Leikin, M., Tovli, E., & Woldo, A. (2020). The interplay of bilingualism, executive functions and creativity in problem solving among male university students. Creativity Studies, 13(2), 308-324. https://doi.org/10.3846/cs.2020.10397
Published in Issue
May 4, 2020
Abstract Views
2192
PDF Downloads
1269
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Aberg, C. K., Doell, K. C., & Schwartz, S. (2017). The “Creative Right Brain” revisited: Individual creativity and associative priming in the right hemisphere relate to hemispheric asymmetries in reward brain function. Cerebral Cortex, 27, 4946–4959. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhw288

Adesope, O. O., Lavin, T., Thompson, T., & Ungerleider, Ch. (2010). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the cognitive correlates of bilingualism. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 207–245. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654310368803

Agnoli, S., Corazza, G. E., & Runco, M. A. (2016). Estimating creativity with a multiple-measurement approach within scientific and artistic domains. Creativity Research Journal, 28(2), 171–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2016.1162475

Andoni Duñabeitia, J., & Carreiras, M. (2015). The bilingual advantage: Acta est fabula? Cortex, 73, 371–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.06.009

Baas, M., Dreu, De C. K. W., & Nijstad, B. A. (Eds.). (2015). The cognitive, emotional and neural correlates of creativity. Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/978-2-88919-633-3

Baddeley, A. (2003). Working memory and language: An overview. Journal of Communication Disorders, 36(3), 189–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9924(03)00019-4

Bastian, von C. C., Souza, A. S., & Gade, M. (2016). No evidence for bilingual cognitive advantages: A test of four hypotheses. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145(2), 246–258. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000120

Berg, E. A. (1948). A simple objective technique for measuring flexibility in thinking. The Journal of General Psychology, 39(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221309.1948.9918159

Bialystok, E. (2009). Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728908003477

Bialystok, E. (2010). Bilingualism. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, 1(4), 559–572. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.43

Bialystok, E. (2011). Reshaping the mind: The benefits of bilingualism. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 65(4), 229–235. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025406

Bialystok, E., & Feng, X. (2011). Language proficiency and its implications for monolingual and bilingual children. In A. Y. Durgunoglu & C. Goldenberg (Eds.), Dual-language learners: The development and assessment of oral and written language (pp. 121–138). Guilford Press.

Bialystok, E., & Viswanathan, M. (2009). Components of executive control with advantages for bilingual children in two cultures. Cognition, 112(3), 494–500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.06.014

Birke Hansen, L., Macizo, P., Andoni Duñabeitia, J., Saldaña, D., Carreiras, M., Fuentes, L. J., & Bajo, M. T. (2016). Emergent bilingualism and working memory development in school aged children. Language Learning: A Journal of Research in Language Studies, 66(S2), 51–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12170

Carlson, S. M., & Meltzoff, A. N. (2008). Bilingual experience and executive functioning in young children. Developmental Science, 11(2), 282–298. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2008.00675.x

Chevallier, A. (2016). Strategic thinking in complex problem solving. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190463908.001.0001

Clark, Ph. M., & Mirels, H. L. (1970). Fluency as a pervasive element in the measurement of creativity. Journal of Educational Measurement, 7(2), 83–86. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3984.1970.tb00699.x

Cushen, P. J., & Wiley, J. (2011). Aha! Voila! Eureka! Bilingualism and insightful problem solving. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 458–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.02.007

Deák, G. O. (2003). The development of cognitive flexibility and language abilities. In Advances in child development and behavior, 31, 271–327. R. Kail (Ed.). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2407(03)31007-9

Engel de Abreu, P. M. J. (2011). Working memory in multilingual children: Is there a bilingual effect? Memory, 19(5), 529–537. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2011.590504

Engel de Abreu, P. M. J., Cruz-Santos, A., Tourinho, C. J., Martin, R., & Bialystok, E. (2012). Bilingualism enriches the poor: Enhanced cognitive control in low-income minority children. Psychological Science, 23(11), 1364–1371. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797612443836

Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3), 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886

Greve, K. W., Ingram, F., & Bianchini, K. J. (1998). Latent structure of the Wisconsin card sorting test in a clinical sample. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 13(7), 597–609. https://doi.org/10.1093/arclin/13.7.597

Greve, K. W., Stickle, T. R., Love, J. M., Bianchini, K. J., & Stanford, M. S. (2005). Latent structure of the Wisconsin card sorting test: A confirmatory factor analytic study. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 20(3), 355–364. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acn.2004.09.004

Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. Series: McGraw-Hill Series in Psychology. McGraw-Hill.

Heaton, R. K., Chelune, G. J., Talley, J. L., Kay, G. G., & Curtiss, G. (1993). Wisconsin card sorting test manual: Revised and expanded. Lutz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Hommel, B., Colzato, L. S., Fischer, R., & Christoffels, I. K. (2011). Bilingualism and creativity: Benefits in convergent thinking come with losses in divergent thinking. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00273

Ionescu, Th. (2012). Exploring the nature of cognitive flexibility. New Ideas in Psychology, 30(2), 190–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2011.11.001

Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A. (1992). A capacity theory of comprehension: Individual differences in working memory. Psychological Review, 99(1), 122–149. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.99.1.122

Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The Four C Model of creativity. Review of General Psychology, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013688

Kharkhurin, A. V. (2010). Bilingual verbal and nonverbal creative behavior. International Journal of Bilingualism, 14(2), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006910363060

Kharkhurin, A. V. (2011). The role of selective attention in bilingual creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 23(3), 239–254. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2011.595979

Kharkhurin, A. V. (2012). Multilingualism and creativity. Series: Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Vol. 88. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847697967

Kim, K. H. (2006). Can we trust creativity tests? A review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1801_2

Leikin, M. (2013). The effect of bilingualism on creativity: Developmental and educational perspectives. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17(4), 431–447. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006912438300

Leikin, M., & Tovli, E. (2014). Bilingualism and creativity in early childhood. Creativity Research Journal, 26(4), 411–417. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2014.961779

Leikin, R. (2013). Evaluating mathematical creativity: The interplay between multiplicity and insight 1. Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling, 55(4), 385–400.

Levin, I., & Nevo, B. (1978). A Hebrew remote associates test: A Hebrew version for assessment of creativity. Megamot, 1, 87–98.

Lie, Ch.-H., Specht, K., Marshall, J. C., & Fink, G. R. (2006). Using fMRI to decompose the neural processes underlying the Wisconsin card sorting test. Neuro-Image, 30(3), 1038–1049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.10.031

Luk, G., Sa, de E., & Bialystok, E. (2011). Is there a relation between onset age of bilingualism and enhancement of cognitive control? Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14(4), 588–595. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728911000010

Madrazo, A. R., & Bernardo, A. B. I. (2012). Are three languages better than two? Inhibitory control in trilinguals and bilinguals in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Psychology, 45(2), 225–246.

Marian, V., Blumenfeld, H. K., & Kaushanskaya, M. (2007). The Language Experience and Proficiency Questionnaire (LEAP-Q): Assessing language profiles in bilinguals and multilinguals. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50(4), 940–967. https://doi.org/10.1044/1092-4388(2007/067)

Mednick, S. A. (1962). The associative basis of the creative process. Psychological Review, 69(3), 220–232. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0048850

Mednick, S. A., & Mednick, M. T. (1967). Examiner’s manual: Remote associates test. Houghton Mifflin.

Milner, B. (1971). Interhemispheric differences in the localization of psychological processes in man. British Medical Bulletin, 27(3), 272–277. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bmb.a070866

Morales, J., Calvo, A., & Bialystok, E. (2013). Working memory development in monolingual and bilingual children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 114(2), 187–202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.09.002

Mumford, M. D. (2003). Where have we been, where are we going? Taking stock in creativity research. Creativity Research Journal, 15(2–3), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ152&3_01

Newell, A., & Simon, H. A. (1972). Human problem solving. Prentice-Hall.

Paap, K. R., & Greenberg, Z. I. (2013). There is no coherent evidence for a bilingual advantage in executive processing. Cognitive Psychology, 66(2), 232–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogpsych.2012.12.002

Poarch, G. J., & Hell, van J. G. (2012). Executive functions and inhibitory control in multilingual children: Evidence from second-language learners, bilinguals, and trilinguals. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 113(4), 535–551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2012.06.013

Razumnikova, O. M. (2007). Creativity related cortex activity in the remote associates task. Brain Research Bulletin, 73(1–3), 96–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2007.02.008

Rosselli, M., Ardila, A., Lalwani, L. N., & Vélez-Uribe, I. (2016). The effect of language proficiency on executive functions in balanced and unbalanced Spanish-English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(3), 489–503. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728915000309

Runco, M. A., & Acar, S. (2012). Divergent thinking as an indicator of creative potential. Creativity Research Journal, 24(1), 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2012.652929

Runco, M. A., Okuda, Sh. M., & Thurston, B. J. (1987). The psychometric properties of four systems for scoring divergent thinking tests. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 5(2), 149–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/073428298700500206

Saul, M., & Leikin, R. (2010). Intercultural aspects of creativity: Challenges and barriers. Mediterranean Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 9, 1–9.

Schwartz, M., Geva, E., Share, D. L., & Leikin, M. (2007). Learning to read in English as third language: The cross-linguistic transfer of phonological processing skills. Written Language and Literacy, 10(1), 25–52. https://doi.org/10.1075/wll.10.1.03sch

Shipstead, Z., Harrison, T. L., & Engle, R. W. (2016). Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence: Maintenance and disengagement. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11(6), 771–799. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616650647

Silvia, P. J. (2015). Intelligence and creativity are pretty similar after all. Educational Psychology Review, 27(4), 599–606. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9299-1

Simonton, D. K. (2008). Bilingualism and creativity. In J. Altarriba & R. R. Heredia (Eds.), An introduction to bilingualism: Principles and processes (pp. 147–166). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Sio, U. N., & Ormerod, Th. C. (2009). Does incubation enhance problem solving? A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 135(1), 94–120. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014212

Sorge, G. B., Toplak, M. E., & Bialystok, E. (2017). Interactions between levels of attention ability and levels of bilingualism in children’s executive functioning. Developmental Science, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1111/desc.12408

Soveri, A., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., & Laine, M. (2011). Is there a relationship between language switching and executive functions in bilingualism? Introducing a within-group analysis approach. Frontiers in Psychology, 2, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00183

Takeuchi, H., Taki, Y., Hashizume, H., Sassa, Y., Nagase, T., Nouchi, R., & Kawashima, R. (2011). Failing to deactivate: The association between brain activity during a working memory task and creativity. Neuro-Image, 55(2), 681–687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.052

Torrance, E. P. (1974). Torrance tests of creative thinking: Directions manual and scoring guide. Bensenville, IL: Scholastic Testing Service.

Tranter, L. J., & Koutstaal, W. (2008). Age and flexible thinking: An experimental demonstration of the beneficial effects of increased cognitively stimulating activity on fluid intelligence in healthy older adults. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition: A Journal on Normal and Dysfunctional Development, 15(2), 184–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/13825580701322163

VandenBos, G. R. (2015). APA dictionary of psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14646-000

Vartanian, O. (2009). Variable attention facilitates creative problem solving. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3(1), 57–59. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014781

Verreyt, N., Woumans, E., Vandelanotte, D., Szmalec, A., & Duyck, W. (2016). The influence of language-switching experience on the bilingual executive control advantage. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 19(1), 181–190. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728914000352

Wang, M., Hao, N., Ku, Y., Grabner, R. H., & Fink, A. (2017). Neural correlates of serial order effect in verbal divergent thinking. Neuropsychologia, 99, 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.03.001

Woumans, E., & Duyck, W. (2015). The bilingual advantage debate: Moving toward different methods for verifying its existence. Cortex, 73, 356–357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.07.012

Yow, W. Q., & Li, X. (2015). Balanced Bilingualism and early age of second language acquisition as the underlying mechanisms of a bilingual executive control advantage: Why variations in bilingual experiences matter. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00164

Zabelina, D. L., & Robinson, M. D. (2010). Creativity as flexible cognitive control. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 4(3), 136–143. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017379