9/17/2016

WhereCreativityComesFromScientificAmerican

COG NI TIO N

Where Creativity Comes From

Studies of humans and other animals indicate that inventiveness oen stems from factors other
than need
By Tim Vernimmen on September 16, 2016

Credit: ENDAI HUEDL Getty Images

7 Trackers

Creativityhasenabledhumanstoconquereverycornerofthisplanet.Indeedouryen
Ensighten
forinnovationisoneofthemostsalientcharacteristicsofourkind.Yetourspeciesis
GooglePublish
nottheonlyonegiventoinventiveness.Researchershavedocumentedthecapacityin
KruxDigital
agrowingnumberofothercreatures.Andsomeoftheirfindingsruncounterto
Optimizely
receivedwisdomabouttheoriginsofcreativityandhowtofosteritinhumanminds.
Parse.ly
PolarMobile
Webtrends

Theoldadageaboutinventiveness,ofcourse,isthatitstemsfromnecessity.Basedon
hisstudiesoforangutans,primatologistCarelvanSchaikoftheUniversityofZurich
hascometoaverydifferentview.Whenfoodisscarce,orangutansgointoenergy

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wherecreativitycomesfrom/?print=true

1/5

9/17/2016

WhereCreativityComesFromScientificAmerican

savingmode.Theyminimizemovementandfocusonunappealingfallbackfoods,
heobserved.Theirstrategyinthisscenarioisquitetheoppositeofinnovation,butit
makessense.Tryingsomethingnewcanberiskyyoucangetinjuredorpoisoned
anditrequiresaseriousinvestmentoftime,energyandattention,whiletheoutcome
isalwaysuncertain,vanSchaikexplains.

ResearchonhumansfacedwithscarcityechoesvanSchaiksorangutanfindings.In
2013,SciencepublishedastudybyeconomistSendhilMullainathanofHarvard
UniversityandpsychologistEldarShafirofPrincetonUniversitydescribinghow
remindingpeoplewithalowincomeoftheirfinancialtroublereducedtheircapacity
tothinklogicallyandsolveproblemsinnovelsituations.Asubsequentstudyfound
thatIndiansugarcanefarmersperformedmuchbetteronthesamecognitive
performancetestafterreceivingtheonceayearpaymentfortheirproduce,
temporarilyresolvingtheirmonetaryconcerns.(Farmerswhodidnottakethetest
previouslydidcomparablywellaftergettingpaid,soitisunlikelythatthe
improvementwassimplytheconsequenceofpriorexperiencewiththetest.)People
willdowhateverittakestosurvive,ofcourse,whichmayoccasionallyleadto
innovations.Butastheseandotherstudiessuggest,ifonesmindisconstantly
occupiedwithurgentproblems,suchasfindingfoodorshelterorpayingbills,there
willnotbemuchcapacitylefttocomeupwithlongtermsolutionstobetterones
livelihood.

Sowheredoescreativitycomefrom?Insightshavecomefromthesurprising
observationthatorangutanscanbeincrediblycreativeincaptivity.Iffoodis
7 Trackers
providedforandpredatorsareabsent,theysuddenlyhavealotoftimeontheir

hands,freefromsuchdistractions,vanSchaikexplains.Furthermore,intheirhighly
Ensighten

controlledenvironments,explorationrarelyhasunpleasantconsequences,andthere
GooglePublish
aremanyunusualobjectstoplayaroundwith.Undersuchcircumstances,orangutans
KruxDigital

appeartolosetheirusualfearoftheunknown.InastudypublishedintheAmerican
Optimizely

JournalofPrimatologyin2015,vanSchaikandhiscolleaguescomparedthe

Parse.ly

responseofwildandcaptiveorangutanstoanewlyintroducedobject,asmall

PolarMobile

platformintheshapeofanorangutannest.Whilecaptiveorangutansapproachedthe
Webtrends

newobjectalmostimmediately,mostwildorangutans,thoughhabituatedtothe
presenceofhumans,didn'tevengonearitduringseveralmonthsoftestingonlyone
eventuallydaredtotouchit.Suchfearofnoveltymayposeasignificantobstacleto

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wherecreativitycomesfrom/?print=true

2/5

9/17/2016

WhereCreativityComesFromScientificAmerican

creativity:ifananimalavoidsapproachinganynewobjects,innovationsbecome
ratherunlikely.Soifyouaskme,opportunityisthemotherofinvention,vanSchaik
remarks.

Similarly,studiesofavarietyofbirdspecies,aswellasspottedhyenas,haveshown
howindividualsthataremoreeagertoexplorenewthingstendtobethemost
innovativeones.Couldsuchcuriositybeadrivingforcebehindtheemergenceof
creativityinhumansaswell?Toanswerthatquestion,expertshavetypically
attemptedtostudyinnovativeproblemsolvinginchildren.Butsuchinvestigationhas
turnedouttobequitechallenging,notleastbecausekidsdonotseemtobevery
innovative.Inastudypublishedin2011,researchersoftheUniversityofBirmingham
taskedBritishchildrenofvariousageswithretrievingabucketofstickersthatsatout
ofreachatthebottomofaholeusingonlythestraightbutpliablepipecleanerthey
weregiven.Nineyearsearlier,in2002,acaptiveNewCaledoniancrownamedBetty
madeheadlineswhenshesolvedthesameproblem,bendingthestraightwireintoa
hooktofetchthebucket,whichinhercaseheldatemptingpayloadoffood.
(Scientistshavesinceobservedherspeciesmakinghooksandbendingsticksinthe
wild.)Butthechallengeflummoxedmost5yearoldsandabouthalfofall8year
olds.A2013studybypsychologistMarkNielsenoftheUniversityofQueensland
showedthatWesternchildrenwerenottheonlyonesstymiedbythetask:childrenof
SouthAfricanBushmenfinditjustashard.

Theyoungsterslacklusterperformanceonthehookandbucketchallengemaystem
inpartfromtheconditionsunderwhichtheexperimentswerecarriedout.Apilot
7 Trackers
studypublishedearlierthisyearinPhilosophicalTransactionsoftheRoyalSociety

B,wasconductedintheChildren'sMuseumofPittsburgh,whereactiveexploration
Ensighten

andmanipulationoftoolsisencouraged.The4to5yearoldsinthisexperimentdid
GooglePublish
significantlybetterthanchildrentestedinearlierstudies,whooccasionallyexpressed
KruxDigital

surprisethatbendingthewirewasallowedwhentheinvestigatorshowedthemthe
Optimizely

trick.Butwereallyneedalargersampletobemoreconfidentinourfindings,says
Parse.ly

educationalpsychologistKimberlySheridanofGeorgeMasonUniversity,wholedthe
experimenttogetherwithAbigailKonopaskyofthesameinstitution.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wherecreativitycomesfrom/?print=true

PolarMobile
Webtrends

3/5

9/17/2016

WhereCreativityComesFromScientificAmerican

AnewwrinkleintheinnovationstoryemergedonSeptember14,whenChristianRutz
oftheUniversityofSt.AndrewsinScotlandandhiscolleaguesreportedinNature
thatanotherspeciesofbirdtheHawaiiancrow,oralalalsomakesandusestools.
Althoughthisbirdisextinctinthewild,almostallofthecaptiveadultsandnearly
halfofthecaptivejuvenilesthescientiststestedusedsticksandotherobjectsto
retrievefoodfromhiddenlocales,oftenalteringthetoolmaterialstodoso.Thatso
manyofthebirdsinthisspeciesspontaneouslyusetools,alongwiththefactthatthe
youngstersdevelopitwithoutobservingtheirelders,suggeststoRutzthatthe
behaviormaybeafeatureofthespecies,ratherthanarecentinnovation.Still,tool
useinthesebirdsmighthaveoriginatedasacreativeinnovationintheevolutionary
past.Theincreasedforagingsuccessofbirdswithapenchantforusingtoolsmaythen
haveledtonaturalselectionactingtopromotethegeneticfactorsunderlyingthat
advantageoustendency.Inthatcase,thebirdsecologymayhaveplayedaroleinthat
first,creativesteptowardtooluseandmodification:withfewpredatorsor
competitorsonitsislandhome,theHawaiiancrowhadthefreedomtheopportunity
totrynewthings.

Attemptstofindoutwhichpersonalcharacteristicsmightexplaindifferencesamong
childrenintheirabilitytosolvethetaskhavesofarbeenlargelyinconclusive,says
JackieChappelloftheUniversityofBirmingham,whohasworkedwithbirds
(includingBetty)aswellaschildren.Onlyageandvocabularysizearepredictive.
Onepossibilityisthataboveacertainlevelofintelligence,variationininnovationis
mostlyduetoexternalfactors,anditisuselesstolookforchildinnovators.We'llsee.

7 Trackers
EvolutionarybiologistJoeHenrichoftheUniversityofBritishColumbia,who

recentlywroteabookontheroleofcultureinthesuccessofourspecies,expectsthat
Ensighten

willindeedturnouttobethecase.Ithinktheideathatinnovationdependson

GooglePublish
individualgeniusesismisguided.Historyshowsthatinventionsinvariablybuildon
KruxDigital

earlierfindingsthatarerecombinedandimprovedupon.Mostofthethingsweuse
Optimizely

everydayareinventionsthatnosinglehumanbeingcouldeverdesignwithinher
Parse.ly

lifetime,heobserves.Ratherthantheproductofindividualinnovators,these

PolarMobile

inventionscanbethoughtofastheproductofoursocieties.Innovationsrelyon
Webtrends

individualslearningfromothersinthatway,humansocietyfunctionslikea
collectivebrain.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wherecreativitycomesfrom/?print=true

4/5

9/17/2016

WhereCreativityComesFromScientificAmerican

Andtoanimportantextent,individualintelligencemeasuressuchasIQmaybea
productofthisexchangeofknowledgewithothermembersofsociety,addsHenrich's
collaborator,psychologistMichaelMuthukrishnaoftheLondonSchoolof
Economics.Inthisway,socialitymaybethemotherofinventionaswellas
intelligence:thesizeandinterconnectednessofsociety,enablingustoconnectand
sharemoreideas,hereflects.LikevanSchaik,HenrichandMuthukrishnabelieve
thatinnovationshouldbenefitfromdiminishing,ratherthanincreasing,costsof
failure.SaysMuthukrishna:Byreducingtherisk,asocialsafetynetmaystimulate
innovation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Tim Vernimmen

Scientic American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientic publications
(many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientic American maintains a strict policy of editorial
independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

7 Trackers
2 016 S CI E N TI F I CA ME RI CA N , A DI V I S I ON OF N A TU RE A ME RI CA , I N C.Ensighten
A LLRI GHTS RE S E RV E D.

GooglePublish
KruxDigital
Optimizely
Parse.ly
PolarMobile
Webtrends

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wherecreativitycomesfrom/?print=true

5/5