Creativity in biological research.
During the past century, several biologists have studied the mental processes involved in creativity. In recent years psychologists have approached the subject experimentally. In one such study (Carson, Peterson, and Higgins 2003), creativity has been shown to originate in the subconscious mind and to be transmitted to the conscious mind as a result of a decrease in latent inhibition, an ordinarily strong cognitive barrier between the conscious mind and the subconscious. In my scientific work I have found evidence for creativity in the design of experiments, in which the addition of apparently superfluous controls has led to important discoveries.
Department of Microbiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA. werner.maas@nyumc.org
Werner
W
Maas
D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D003405:Creativity; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012106:Research; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology