The Interpersonal Neural Substrate Underlying Group Creativity

In the field of group creativity,previous studies mainly focused on the factors that can affect group creativity.We argue that,in order to reveal the effect of various factors on group creativity,we should consider not only the effect of these factors on group creative outcome,but also the effect of these factors on group creative process,especially the underlying interpersonal neural substrate.A total of 7 fNIRS-based studies were conducted to address the following questions:(1)How do different factors affect group creative performance?(2)How do different factors affect group creative process?(3)What does interpersonal brain synchronization(IBS)indicate in the context of group creativity? What's the relationship between the IBS and group creative performance and process?(4)How do different factors affect IBS during group creation?Firstly,in order to unveil the behavioural meaning of IBS in the context of group creation,Study 1 compared the behavioural performance and IBS increments between individuals with interaction and those without.The results showed that IBS may indicate the occurrence of interpersonal interaction during group creation.Secondly,Study 2 to Study 5 explored the effect of various structural factors(Study 2-gender,Study 3-knowledge,Study 4-openness,Study 5-perspectivetaking tendency)on group creative performance,process and IBS increments.Study 2 compared the performance among three types of groups(female-female,male-male,female-male dyad).The results showed that the creative performance was comparable among these three groups;the perspective-taking behaviour and IBS increments(at the right posterior parietal region)were higher in the female-female group than in the other groups;the IBS increments covaried with group creative performance.Study 3 compared the performance between the knowledge heterogeneity group and homogeneity group.The results showed that AUT fluency,persperctive-taking behaviour,IBS increments(at the right anterior parietal region)were higher in the homogeneity group than in the heterogeneity group,whereas the latter had higher collective flexibility than did the homogeneity group.Study 4 compared the performance between the high openness group and low openness group.The results demonstrated no significant results.Study 5 compared the performance between the high perspective-taking tendency group and low perspective-taking tendency group.The results showed that the high tendency group had higher AUT originality,perspective-taking behaviour and IBS increments(at the right temporal-parietal junction and middle temporal region)than did the low tendency group;the IBS increments at the right temporal-parietal junction covaried with perspective-taking behaviour.Finally,Study 6(evaluation)and Study 7(communication mode)explored the effect of various dynamic factors on group creative performance,process and IBS increments.Study 6 compared the performance among three types of groups(positive evaluation,no evaluation and negative evaluation group).The results showed that the negative group had the lowest creative performance,the no evaluation group had the highest collective flexibility and the positive evaluation group had the highest perspective-taking behaviour.The positive and negative groups showed higher IBS increments at the bilateral prefrontal regions.Study 7 compared the performance among three types of communication modes [natural(N),turn-taking(T),and electronic brainstorming communication mode(E)].The results showed that the T mode had higher AUT unique than did the E mode.The AUT unique,AUT fluency and perspective-taking behaviour increased faster in the T mode than in the other modes.Besides,the T mode showed higher perspective-taking behaviour,collective flexibility,and IBS increments(at the right angular gyrus)than did the other modes.Such IBS increments positively predicted perspective-taking behaviour.Based on findings from these 7 studies,we argue that both group structure and group dynamic factors affect group creativity by inducing various level of information exchange process(ex.Perspective-taking behaviour)between the group members.For instance,in Study 7,the turn-taking mode enhanced the information exchange process between the group members.The effective information exchange between group members can expose individuals into previously unconcerned ideas or perspectives,and thus contribute to the generation of creative ideas.As shown by the results,group creative performance was enhanced in the turn-taking mode.Moreover,the enhanced IBS increment may be the interpersonal neural substrates that underlie these effects.