Abstract
Sex-related differences in creativity-related hemispheric selective processes at the global and local levels were studied using hierarchically presented letters under the conditions of their identification and comparison. The results showed that, irrespective of the sex and the type of creative thinking, its originality was associated with the acceleration of right-hemispheric processes of information selection at the global level and deceleration of interhemispheric communication. Relationships between the originality of ideas and hemispheric attentional characteristics were stronger in men during the solution of verbal creative problems and in women during figurative original thinking. The originality of verbal activity in men was more closely associated with the success of selective processes in the left hemisphere; in women, with the selective functions of both hemispheres. Figurative thinking in men was less related to hemispheric characteristics of attention compared to women. An increase in figurative originality in women was accompanied by the acceleration of information selection in the right hemisphere and a higher efficiency of local attention and speeds of global processing in the left hemisphere.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Volf, N.V., Tarasova, I.V., and Razumnikova, O.M., Sex Differences in Changes of Coherence of Brain Cortex Biopotentials during Imagery Thinking: Relation to the Efficirncy of Activity, Zh. Vyssh. Nervn. Deyat. im. I.P. Pavlova, 2009, vol. 59, no. 4, p. 429.
Razumnikova, O.M., Vol’f, N.V., and Tarasova, I.V., Strategy and Results: Sex Differences in Electrographic Correlates of Verbal and Figural Creativity, Human Physiol., 2009, vol. 35, no. 3, p. 285.
Vol’f, N.V., Razumnikova, O.M., and Vasil’ev, O.V., Differences of Latent Inhibition in Men and Women during Use of Imagery-Spatial Masking Task, Zh. Vyssh. Nervn. Deyat. im. I.P. Pavlova, 2001, vol. 51, no. 5, p. 558.
Vol’f, N.V., Razumnikova, O.M., Bryzgalov, A.O., et al., Neurophysiological Bases of Sex Differences of Hemispheric Organization of Selective Attention and Verbal Memory, Byull. Sib. Otd. Ross. Akad. Med. Nauk, 2004, no. 2, p. 83.
Meyer-Levy, J. and Madeswaran, D., Exploring Differences in Males’ and Females’ Processing Strategy, J. Consumer Res., 1991, vol. 18, p. 63.
Razumnikova, O.M. and Volf, N.V., Gender Differences in Interhemispheric Interactions during Distributed and Directed Attention, NeuroSci. Behav. Physiol., 2007, vol. 37, no. 5, p. 429.
Razumnikova, O.M. and Vol’f, N.V., Information Processing Specialization during Interference between Global and Local Aspects of Visual Hierarchical Stimuli in Men and Women, Human Physiol., 2011, vol. 37, no. 2, p. 137.
Razumnikova, O.M., Myshlenie i funktsional’naya asimmetriya mozga (Thinking and Functional Asymmetry of the Brain), Novosibirsk: SO RAMN, 2004.
Jung-Beeman, M., Bowden, E.M., Haberman, J., et al., Neural Activity When People Solve Verbal Problems with Insight, PLoS. Biol., 2004, vol. 2, p. 500.
Howard-Jones, P.A., Blakemore, S.J., Samuel, E.A., et al., Semantic Divergence and Creative Story Generation: An fMRI Investigation, Brain Res. Cogn. Brain Res., 2005, vol. 25, no. 1, p. 240.
Mihov, K.M., Denzler, M., and Forster, J. Hemispheric Specialization and Creative Thinking: A Meta-Analytic Review of Lateralization of Creativity, Brain Cogn., 2010, vol. 72, p. 442.
Vol’f, N.V., Razumnikova, O.M., and Onishchenko, M.A., Relationship between Processes of Hemispheric Information Selection in the Modified Strup Task and the Efficiency of Creative Activity, Zh. Vyssh. Nervn. Deyat. im. I.P. Pavlova, 2007, vol. 57, no. 6, p. 780.
Vol’f, N.V., Razumnikova, O.M., Bryzgalov, A.O., et al., Neurophysiological Analysis of Mechanisms of Sex Dimorphism of Cognitive Strategy: Role of Selective Processes, Byull. Sib. Otd. Ross. Akad. Med. Nauk, 2010, vol. 30, no. 4, p. 6.
Navon, D., Forest Before Trees: The Precedence of Global Features in Visual Perception, Cogn. Psychol., 1977, vol. 9, p. 353.
Volberg, G. and Hübner, R., Hemispheric Differences for the Integration of Stimulus Levels and Their Contents: Evidence from Bilateral Presentations, Percept. Psychophys., 2006, vol. 68, p. 1274.
Kuhn, J.-T. and Holling, H., Exploring the Nature of Divergent Thinking: A Multilevel Analysis, Thinking Skills Creat., 2009, vol. 4, p. 116.
Passarotti, A.M., Banich, M.T., Sood, R.K., and Wang, J.M., A Generalized Role of Interhemispheric Interaction Under Attentionally Demanding Conditions: Evidence from the Auditory and Tactile Modality, Neuropsychologia, 2002, vol. 40, p. 1082.
Kimura, D., Sex, Sexual Orientation and Sex Hormones Influence Human Cognitive Function, Curr. Opin. Neurobiol., 1996, vol. 6, p. 259.
Vol’f, N.V., Polovye razlichiya funktsional’noi organizatsii protsessov polusharnoi obrabotki rechevoi informatsii (Sex Differences of Functional Organization of Processes of Hemispheric Processing of Verbal Information), Rostov-on-Don: TsVVR, 2000.
Kosslyn, S.M., Thompson, W.L., Sukel, K.E., and Alpert, N., Two Types of Image Generation: Evidence from PET, Cognit. Affective Behav. Neurosci., 2005, vol. 5, p. 41.
Vartanian, O., Martindale, C., and Kwiatkowski, J., Creative Potential, Attention, and Speed of Information Processing, Person. Ind. Differ., 2007, vol. 43, p. 1470.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Original Russian Text © O.M. Razumnikova, N.V. Volf, 2012, published in Fiziologiya Cheloveka, 2012, Vol. 38, No. 5, pp. 33–42.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Razumnikova, O.M., Volf, N.V. Sex differences in the relationship between creativity and hemispheric information selection at the global and local levels. Hum Physiol 38, 478–486 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119712040111
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119712040111