Conceptual Convergence in Creativity: Incubation and Brain Disease State

Abstract

Fifty years have passed since Guilford presented his seminal presidential address to the American Psychological Association. Those years have been dominated by 2 parallel paradigms: the cognitive and the psychodynamically influenced. The differences between these 2 paradigms emerges both on a theoretical and methodological basis. Guilford made lasting contributions to the construction of links between the 2 paradigms. Three of these links are dealt with in this article: (a) the notion that certain people tend to lean more toward visual thinking, whereas others utilize more verbal thinking; (b) the necessity for more research on the phenomenon of incubation; and (c) the growing relevance of implicating brain structure and function constellations in, and their relevance to, categories of abilities.