| Problem solving creatively is imperative in scientific discovery, technique invention, and daily work. While people often fall into a mental set in which it seems to be impossible to make any progress when searching for a solution to a complex or challenging problem. Is there a specific knowledge or experience conducive to creative problem solving? This question still remains poorly understood. In the present study three experiments demonstrated the effect of the arche-form, a special exemplar that is both far away from the problem in semantic relatedness and analogous to a key construct of the problem, on creative problem solving. Here, we systematically investigated the effect of the arche-form knowledge on creative problem solving concerning both behavioral and neural imaging studies.Behavioral study includes three experiments to demonstrate the effect of the structural, functional and motional arche-form on creative problem solving. In Experiment 1, participants solved creative problems with structure-based arche-form, nonarche-form, and no arche-form. Reaction time in the arche-form condition was shorter than that in nonarche-form or no arche-form condition, while completion rate in the arche-form condition was higher than that in nonarche-form or no arche-form condition. In Experiment 2, participants solved creative problems with function-based arche-form, nonarche-form, and no arche-form. The experimental results were replicated in both reaction time and completion rate. In experiment 3 participants solved creative problems with motion-based arche-form, nonarche-form, and no arche-form. Also, the experimental results were replicated in both reaction time and completion rate.Brian-imaging study employed real-life creative problem tasks and event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to investigate the neural correlates of creative problem solving with the arche-form. There were three types of experimental tasks:creative problem with arche-form, creative problem with nonarche-form and regular problems as baseline. The functional MRI data showed significant activation of Brodmann area (BA 10) in the left medial frontal gyrus, when participants performed creative problem solving tasks with the arche-forms relative to those tasks with nonarche-forms. Furthermore, the data showed significant activation of BA 10 in the left medial frontal gyrus and BA 47 in the left inferior frontal gyrus as well as several other regions, when participants performed creative problem solving tasks with the arche-forms relative to ordinary problem solving tasks. Our results suggest that the BA 10 at the left medial frontal gyrus is associated with original solutions generated by the formation of unusual semantic associations between the problem and the arche-form, and BA 47 and several other regions also contributes to the generation of original solutions. These findings might advance our understanding of neural mechanisms of creative problem solving inspired by enlightening information from specific knowledge.In conclusion, the three experiments in behavioral study using diverse modes of the arche-form suggested consistently that the arche-form facilitates creative problem solving. Importantly, the experiments’findings support the role of simple exemplar as a specific knowledge on creativity. To some extent it may advance current understanding of theories of creativity on knowledge and experience in creativity, and suggest a potent approach that can be applied to solve practical problems creatively. Moreover, the present functional MRI study has revealed the role of prefrontal cortex in creative problem solving with the arche-forms. In particular, BA 10 in the left medial frontal gyrus and BA 47 in the left inferior frontal gyrus are associated with creative solutions generated by the formation of unusual semantic associations. The fMRI findings advance our understanding of neural mechanisms of creative problem solving inspired by enlightening information from specific knowledge. |
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