Updating ability, together with openness, explains a substantial part of the shared variance between fluid intelligence and creativity.¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2014 · checked against its sources 2026-10-19 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Gf and creativity correlated at r = .45; adding updating, shifting and inhibition reduced the residual correlation to r = .34 (a 43% reduction of shared variance), and adding openness reduced it further to r = .29 (a trend). → Benedek Mathias 2014

Evidence¶

Benedek Mathias 2014¶

Benedek Mathias, Jauk Emanuel, Sommer Markus, Arendasy Martin, Neubauer Aljoscha C. (2014). Intelligence, creativity, and cognitive control: The common and differential involvement of executive functions in intelligence and creativity. Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2014.05.007

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Abstract-adjacent measurement model result in the same 230-participant SEM study; the latent Gf–creativity correlation was .45 (p < .001), later reduced by executive predictors as described in Section 3.3.

"The general latent correlation between Gf and creativity was .45 (p < .001)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Creativity — outcome: instruction changes it
• General Cognitive Ability — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Creativity, crystallized intelligence, fluid intelligence and executive functions are all correlated in children aged 8 to 13 — related
• Executive functions substantially account for the latent intelligence–creativity correlation, leaving a reduced but still positive residual of r = .34. — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Openness to experience predicts creativity but not fluid intelligence, and further reduces the residual intelligence–creativity correlation to a trend. — related
• Creativity (divergent thinking ability) is predicted by both updating and inhibition, but not by shifting ability. — related
• Updating ability strongly predicts fluid intelligence, while shifting and inhibition do not significantly predict it. — related
• Fluid intelligence strongly predicts the creative quality of produced metaphors (β = .45) — related
• In children, shifting is a more powerful predictor of creativity than fluid and crystallized intelligence — related
• Men scored higher than women on rated divergent thinking creativity in this sample, with no sex differences in fluid intelligence or the executive functions. — related
• Openness to experience predicts creative metaphor quality, and controlling for personality reduces Gc's creative-metaphor effect to zero — related
• Intelligence and creativity share more variance than the traditional assumption of distinct abilities holds — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)