Creativity, schizotypy, and laterality

Abstract

Introduction. Previous research has found associations between creativity (or semantic association), schizotypy, and laterality when each of the three pairings has been studied individually, leading to three relatively distinct bodies of literature. Methods. This study attempted to integrate previous research by providing measures of all three constructs in a within subjects correlational design. Participants were 30 undergraduate students who completed four measures of creativity, three schizotypy scales, and a lateralised lexical decision task. Signal detection theory (SDT) was used to analyse the laterality data. Results. Normal individuals with relatively lower SDT response criteria for stimuli presented to the left visual field/right hemisphere had higher schizotypy scores and higher performance on a verbal creativity test. Conclusions. These results extend previous findings by using SDT analyses to show for the first time that individuals scoring higher on certain schizotypy and creativity tests exhibited differences in response criteria to more readily accept right hemisphere responses, rather than exhibiting hemispheric differences in sensitivity (ability). The findings accord with theories proposing that higher schizotypy and creativity may partly arise from a lowering of criteria for evidence and/or from a shift to reliance on processing strategies that are more dependent on the right cerebral hemisphere.