The association between vividness and verbal and figural creativity

Abstract

Research on creativity in the technical field considers that one specific skill in the domain is spatial visualization, seeing with the eyes of the mind. One of the essential characteristics of visualization with high value in creativity is vividness. Studies that took into consideration the implication of vividness in creativity show contradictory results. The present article analyses the vividness of visual imagery (using the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire - VVIQ) in verbal creativity (measured with “Unusual uses” test for creative thinking) and figural creativity (measured with Creative Mental Synthesis Tasks consisting in the mental assemblage of geometric figures). The correlational analysis shows a significant and positive, although moderate, connection between vividness and originality in creative mental synthesis tasks. There were no correlations between vividness and other parameters of verbal and figural creativity. Results make us believe that the role played by vividness in creativity is not as important as claimed by empirical studies or historical evidence provided by individuals who reported on the use of mental imagery in creativity.

Keywords: Vividness, mental imagery, verbal creativity, figural creativity