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Characteristics of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and executive functioning difficulties have been found to correspond with poorer academic outcomes on the one hand and enhanced divergent thinking on the other hand. The current study was conducted to better understand the relationship between ADHD characteristics, executive functioning difficulties, divergent thinking, and academic outcomes by conceptually replicating and expanding on a previous study. Undergraduate engineering students ( N = 199) at a public university in the northeastern United States completed self-report measures of ADHD characteristics and daily executive functioning, as well as divergent thinking (figural and verbal) and intelligence quotient (IQ) tests. The results of a series of multiple regression models showed that (1) executive functioning difficulties negatively, and non-verbal IQ and figural divergent thinking positively, predicted engineering grade point average (GPA; obtained from the university registrar’s office), (2) GPA and verbal IQ positively predicted figural divergent thinking scores, and (3) verbal IQ positively predicted verbal divergent thinking scores. A series of multiple regression models testing the assertion that controlling for IQ would strengthen the relationship between divergent thinking and ADHD characteristics or executive functioning were not supported but did show associations between select components of characteristics and divergent thinking. Taken together, these results support previous conclusions that students with ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties may struggle academically yet exhibit select enhanced divergent thinking abilities.
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The Nuanced Relationship Between Creative Cognition and the Interaction Between Executive Functioning and Intelligence
Abstract The current study addresses gaps in our understanding of the relationship between creative cognition, intelligence (IQ), and executive functioning (EF). Undergraduate students completed an IQ test, verbal and figural divergent thinking (DT) tests, and a self‐assessment of EF, across four study sessions. Participant data (N = 199) were analyzed using linear regression and PROCESS moderation models. Results demonstrated that EF interacts with IQ to predict figural and verbal DT in distinct ways, with different patterns emerging from different methods of scoring DT. Using traditional DT scoring,Gf(but notGc) significantly moderated the relationship between EF and scores on both verbal and figural DT tasks. Low EF was associated with diminished DT scores for those with lowGfscores, unrelated for those with relatively higherGf, and enhanced scores for those with the highestGf. Using originality ratio scores, low EF was associated with diminished originality in verbal DT responses for those with low IQ (bothGfandGc), unrelated for those with relatively higher IQ, and enhanced originality for those with the highestGc(but notGf) scores. Thus, there are several nuances in the way that EF interacts with IQ to predict DT.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1653854
- PAR ID:
- 10449892
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Journal of Creative Behavior
- Volume:
- 55
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0022-0175
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 857-874
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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