Dynamics of Creativity (Dr. Agnoli)

Research Strand:

Cognition and applied cognitive psychology (Psychology)

Associate Professor in General psychology (PSIC-01/A)

Q Building (San Giovanni Park)
Phone: + 39 040 558 8797
Email: sergio.agnoli@units.it

Biosketch

Sergio Agnoli is an Associate Professor and DoC Lab's Principal Investigator at the Life Sciences Department of the University of Trieste. He graduated at the University of Padova and earned his Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Ferrara. From 2012 to 2021 he joined the Marconi Institute for Creativity (MIC; Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi) as a researcher, where he currently holds the charge of Senior Scientist.

His research interests are centered on: cognitive, emotional, and neurophysiological substrates of creative thinking and creative achievement; theoretical definition of the creative thinking process; emotional development and emotional intelligence. His research has received national and international media coverage (e.g., La Repubblica, Airone, PsyPost, The Guardian, Pacific Standard). He participated and directed in several national and international grants, e.g., FP7 European project CReativity Enhancement through Advanced brain Mapping and stimulation and the Project PRIN In Da Vinci’s mind: Fundamental Correlates of Creativity for Artists and Scientists funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research.

He was awarded the Gabriele Di Stefano award (Italian Association of Psychology), and his research was featured with the cover of the journal NeuroImage (Elsevier, Vol. 207). He is one of the originators and organizers of the MIC Conference, the international conference devoted to the science of creative thinking, acting as Conference Co-Chair. Sergio Agnoli is Invited Full Member of the International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI), he was member of the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione Guglielmo Marconi, as well as he was elected member of the Organizing Committee of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC).

He serves as Associate Editor for the Journal of Creative Behavior (Wiley) and for Possibility Studies & Society (SAGE Publishing) and was Academic editor of PLoS ONE (for the “Creativity” topic). He is member of the Editorial Board of the Creativity Research Journal, Journal of Creative Behavior, Journal of Creativity and PeerJ.

At the University of Trieste, he acts as Aggregate Coordinator of the Doctoral program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, and as member of the Teaching Commission of the Master Degree in Psychology.

Info

Research

Dynamics of Creativity Laboratory
(DoC Lab)

How do people generate creative ideas? Why do people need to generate creative ideas? These are some of the questions addressed in the Dynamics of Creativity Laboratory (DoC Lab). The DoC Lab research activities are mainly focused on the understanding of the psychological mechanisms at the basis of the creative thinking process dynamics. Creative thinking is conceived in the DoC Lab as a complex system emerging from the interactive relationships between cognitive, emotional, personality and contextual factors.
The creative thinking process is explored through different research lines and methodological approaches aimed at understanding the creative dynamics from a multivariate point of view. The DoC Lab is based at the University of Trieste, but it is grounded on international and interdisciplinary collaborations.

DoC Lab Research Areas

Individual differences in the cognitive underpinnings of the creative thinking process

The study of creative cognition showed how creative thinking is a higher order ensemble of lower order cognitive abilities (attention, memory, cognitive control). Our lab explores how new, original ideas can emerge from the different expression and use of these lower order cognitive functions. The role of personality traits in the differential use of attentive and cognitive mechanism is especially investigated, with a particular emphasis on the Openness trait. Understanding differences in the expression and use of creative cognition may help in the understanding of the huge variability in the expression of creativity.

Investigation of Inspiration

The Lab is highly engaged in the understanding of the inspiration phenomenon and specifically in the study of the role of contextual stimuli, which apparently seem irrelevant for the creator, in inspiring the creative thinking process. Cognitive and psychophysiological approaches are used to investigate the phenomenon.

Neurophysiological and psychophysiological correlates of creative thinking

Using electroencephalography (EEG) the Lab explores the temporal dynamics of the cerebral activities sustaining creative ideation, taking into account individual differences in the expression of these brain dynamics. Brain activity can indeed help in the understanding of the cognitive and motivational underpinnings of the emergence of idea originality. New experimental paradigms are therefore designed to explore the temporal dynamics in the emergence of originality as well as new causative methods are used to understand the brain activities sustaining the process, such as neurofeedback and tDCS. Moreover, eyetracking is used by the Lab to track the attentional and emotional mechanisms at the basis of the generation of creative ideas.

Emotional determinants of creative thinking

The creative thinking process is highly rooted in motivational and emotional forces. We are particularly interested in studying of the interaction between the emotional components guiding the creative process and the cognitive underpinnings of creative thinking. The study of the role of trait emotional intelligence in particular is a main research topic of the Lab, with the aim at understanding how differences in the feeling, expression, and management of emotions can help in unravelling the complex process leading to the generation of creative ideas.

Theoretical definition of the creative thinking process

The empirical investigation is joined in the Lab with the theoretical analysis of the creative thinking process. Starting from the research data, we aim at producing new theoretical models to explain the dynamics characterizing the creative process, in the attempt to provide a unified understanding of the multivariate phenomena defining the creative thinking dynamics.

Associated Labs/Research Istitutes

Marconi Institute for Creativity (MIC)

Bologna, Italy

Giovanni Emanuele Corazza, Founder

Creative Cognition Lab

University of Graz, Austria

Mathias Benedek, Director

Cognitive Neuroscience of Creativity Laboratory (CNCL), Beaty Lab

Penn State University, US

Roger Beaty, Principal Investigator

Serendipity, Creativity and Innovation lab (SCI)

London Metropolitan University, UK

Wendy Ross, Lab Coordinator

Judgement and Decision Making Laboratory (JDMLab)

University of Padova, Italy

Enrico Rubaltelli, Lab Head

Georgetown Laboratory for Relational Cognition

Georgetown University, US

Adam Green, Lab Director

Neurodesign

Hasso Plattner Institut, Germany

Julia von Thienen, Senior Researcher

Psychology of Creativity and Innovation Research Unit

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy

Andrea Gaggioli, Research Unit Coordinator

People

Senior Lab Members

Kirill Miroshnik is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste. He graduated and obtained his Ph.D. at Saint Petersburg State University in Russia. His research interests encompass broad topics of creative potential, creative process, divergent thinking, intelligence, methodology of creativity research, and creative personality. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Creative Behavior and Journal of Intelligence.
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=gYgYlLgAAAAJ&hl=ru
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kirill-Miroshnik

Lorenzo Campidelli is a Phd student at the department of Life Sciences at the University of Trieste.

He graduated in Psychology, Neuroscience and Human Sciences, a Master’s program organised by the Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences of the University of Pavia (DBBS) in collaboration with the Department of Humanities and Life Sciences of the University School for Advanced Studies (IUSS) Pavia.

He collaborated with Brain and Care, a company that applies Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for therapeutic purpose.

His research interests focus on the cognitive processes, the development and individual differences of creative potential.

Cecilia Segatta is a PhD student in Neural and Cognitive Sciences (NeCS) at the Department of Life Sciences of the University of Trieste. She obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Sciences of Development and Education from the University of Padua in 2018, spending two semesters abroad as Erasmus student at the International University of Münster, Germany. Later, she obtained a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology at the University of Bergamo, and carried out a specialized internship at the University of Bergamo, focusing in research on aging, cognitive reserve and divergent thinking. To then, she obtained a position as research fellow at the University of Bergamo, where she focused on topics of social cognition and sensory deprivation. Current research interests focus on creativity, cognition, and neurophysiological correlates of creative thinking in science and art. Academic Member of Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC).

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dMsKrpMAAAAJ&hl=it&oi=ao

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cecilia_Segatta2

Junior Lab Members

Umberto Domanti

Leonardo Cerioni

Enrico Nappi

Associate Members

Radwa Khalil, Construct University, Bremen, Germany

Selcuk Acar, College of Education, University of North Texas

Alessandro Antonietti, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

Roger Beaty, Department of Psychology, Penn State University

Mathias Benedek, Psychology Department, University of Graz

Giovanni Emanuele Corazza, Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering, University of Bologna

Laura Franchin, Department of Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, University of Trento

Vlad Glăveanu, School of Psychology, Dublin City University

Adam Green, Georgetown University

Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Yale School of Medicine

Maciej Karwowski, Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw

Izabela Lebuda, Creative Cognition Lab, University of Graz; Psychology of Creativity Lab, University of Wroclaw

Todd Lubart, Universitè de Paris

Serena Mastria, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna

Roni Reiter-Palmon, University of Nebraska, Ohama

Wendy Ross, London Metropolitan University

Enrico Rubaltelli, Department of Developmental and Socialization Psychology, University of Padova

Mark Runco, Southern Oregon University

Manila Vannucci, Department of Neuroscience, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health, University of Florence

Julia Von Thienen, Hasso Plattner Institut

Associations/Projects

International Society for the Study of Creativity and Innovation (ISSCI)

Todd Lubart, President

Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity (SfNC)

Adam Green, President

American Psychological Association (APA), Div.10

Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, & the Arts

Roni Reiter-Palmon, President-Elect

Possibility Studies Network (PSN)

Vlad Glăveanu, President

Project MOTES - Measurement of Original Thinking in Elementary Students

University of North Texas, US

Publications

Full list of the publications of the Principal Investigator

Google Scholar
ORCID
Scopus
ResearchGate

Selected publications

1. Agnoli, S. (2024). IDHOL, a holistic model for the analysis of individual differences in the creative process. Creativity Research Journal. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2024.2325228
2. Agnoli, S., Mastria, S., Zanon, & Corazza, G. E. (2023). Dopamine supports idea originality: The role of spontaneous eye blink rate on divergent thinking. Psychological Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-022-01658-y
3. Mastria, S., Agnoli, S., Franchin, L., & Corazza, G. E. (2022). What inspires us? An experimental analysis of the semantic meaning of irrelevant information in creative ideation. Thinking & Reasoning.
  1. Doi: 10.1080/13546783.2022.2132289
4. Corazza, G.E., Agnoli, S., & Mastria, S. (2022). The Dynamic Creativity Framework: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations. European Psychologist. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000473
5. Mastria, S., Agnoli, S., Zanon, M., Acar, S., Runco, M., & Corazza, G. E. (2021). Clustering and switching in divergent thinking: Neurophysiological correlates underlying flexibility during idea generation. Neuropsychologia, 158, 107890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.107890
6. Agnoli, S., Zanon, M., Mastria, S., Avenanti, A., & Corazza, G. E. (2020). Predicting response originality through brain activity: an analysis of changes in EEG alpha power during the generation of alternative ideas. NeuroImage, 207, 116385. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116385
7. Agnoli, S., Franchin, L., Rubaltelli, E., & Corazza, G. E. (2019). The emotionally intelligent use of attention and affective arousal under creative frustration and creative success. Personality and Individual Differences, 142, 242-248. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2018.04.041
8. Agnoli, S., Zanon, M.*, Mastria, S., Avenanti, A., & Corazza, G. E. (2018). Enhancing creative cognition with a rapid right-parietal neurofeedback procedure. Neuropsychologia, 118, 99 - 106. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2018.02.015
9. Agnoli, S., Vannucci, M., Pelagatti, C. & Corazza, G.E. (2018). Exploring the Link Between Mind Wandering, Mindfulness, and Creativity: A Multidimensional Approach. Creativity Research Journal, 30(1), 41-53. doi: 10.1080/10400419.2018.1411423
10. Agnoli, S., Franchin, L., Rubaltelli, E., & Corazza, G. E. (2015). An eye-tracking analysis of irrelevance processing as moderator of Openness and creative performance. Creativity Research Journal, 27, 125-132. doi: 10.1080/10400419.2015.1030304

Notices

Positions are available for Master’s and Bachelor’s students interested in the topics studied in the lab.

If you are interested in joining the DoC Lab, please send a self-presentation letter and a CV to the following address: sergio.agnoli@units.it

Last update: 11-13-2024 - 23:30

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