Creative Cognition: A Collaborative Research Agenda

ABSTRACT Creative cognition research has flourished in recent decades, revealing how extraordinary creative outcomes emerge from ordinary cognitive processes. However, the field faces fragmentation that hinders consensus and integration. This research agenda, developed through a collaborative workshop of 50 European researchers at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands, identifies four critical challenges for advancing creative cognition research. Challenge 1 addresses theoretical concerns around defining core research terms like divergent thinking, emotions, and metacognition. Challenge 2 focuses on identifying different types and domains of knowledge that influence creative performance. Challenge 3 emphasizes measuring dynamic interactions between cognitive, affective, and metacognitive processes over time. Challenge 4 calls for incorporating environmental and interpersonal contexts, including collaboration, technology, and embodied cognition. These challenges highlight the need for collaborative approaches to develop standardized measures, synthesize existing findings, and foster methodological innovations. By working together as a research community, we can build more comprehensive theories and effective methods for understanding creativity's cognitive foundations while embracing rather than reducing its inherent complexity.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Journal of Creative Behavior
Published
2026-05-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.70097
Primary Topic
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Creative Cognition: A Collaborative Research Agenda

Christian Rominger, Claire E. Stevenson, Marta Czerwonka, Selina Weiss et al.
The Journal of Creative Behavior
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
article

Creative Cognition: A Collaborative Research Agenda

Christian Rominger, Claire E. Stevenson, Marta Czerwonka, Selina Weiss, Matthijs Baas, Laura Macchi, Артур Аммалайнен, Margaret Mangion, Marek Urban, Rakefet Ackerman, Moritz Reis, Thomas C. Ormerod, Izabela Lebuda, Janet Rafner, Baptiste Barbot, Sergio Agnoli, Laura Caravona, Giovanni Emanuele Corazza, Carola Salvi, Kirill G. Miroshnik, Kadi Tulver, Honghong Bai, Bernard A. Nijstad, Kamila Urban, Cecilia Segatta, Jakub Jędrusiak, Lorenzo Campidelli, M. Ollinger, Paulina Nawrocka, Simon Ceh, Caroline Di Bernardi Luft, Mathias Benedek, Linden J. Ball, Wendy Ross, Jan Rummel, Frédéric Vallée‐Tourangeau, Amory H. Danek, Radwa Khalil, Yoed N. Kenett, Yuval Hart
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Creative cognition research has flourished in recent decades, revealing how extraordinary creative outcomes emerge from ordinary cognitive processes. However, the field faces fragmentation that hinders consensus and integration. This research agenda, developed through a collaborative workshop of 50 European researchers at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands, identifies four critical challenges for advancing creative cognition research. Challenge 1 addresses theoretical concerns around defining core research terms like divergent thinking, emotions, and metacognition. Challenge 2 focuses on identifying different types and domains of knowledge that influence creative performance. Challenge 3 emphasizes measuring dynamic interactions between cognitive, affective, and metacognitive processes over time. Challenge 4 calls for incorporating environmental and interpersonal contexts, including collaboration, technology, and embodied cognition. These challenges highlight the need for collaborative approaches to develop standardized measures, synthesize existing findings, and foster methodological innovations. By working together as a research community, we can build more comprehensive theories and effective methods for understanding creativity's cognitive foundations while embracing rather than reducing its inherent complexity.

The Journal of Creative BehaviorVol. 60(2)
London Metropolitan University (GB), University of Trieste (IT), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), University of Hildesheim (DE), University of Graz (AT), University of Sussex (GB), University of Groningen (NL), Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL), University of Southern Denmark (DK), University of Lancashire (GB), Constructor University (DE), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), University of Malta (MT), Kingston University London (GB), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK), Charles University (CZ), University of Wrocław (PL), Heidelberg University (DE), University of Würzburg (DE), Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (DE), Parmenides Foundation (DE), Universität Greifswald (DE), Heidelberg University of Education (DE), Laboratori Guglielmo Marconi (Italy) (IT), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Sociology (CZ), University of Tartu (EE), Brunel University of London (GB), John Cabot University (IT), Technical University of Munich (DE), University of Milano-Bicocca (IT), Heidelberg University (US), University of Amsterdam (NL), University of Bologna (IT), UCLouvain (BE)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
DOISourceOpenAlex
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