New study reveals creativity is born in infants even before speech

New research conducted by the University of Birmingham in the UK, in collaboration with the Central European University (CEU) in Austria and Hungary, has revealed that creativity emerges in infants even before they can speak, suggesting that it plays a crucial role in the early stages of language acquisition. This is prepared by SSP.

Published in PNAS, the study aimed to explore the origins of human creativity and how individuals generate novel thoughts and ideas. The researchers focused on the process of combining familiar concepts to form unique structures, but little was previously known about the developmental timeline of these abilities.

Findings from the study demonstrated that babies as young as 12 months old were able to rapidly learn new words associated with small quantities. They exhibited the impressive capability to spontaneously integrate these newly acquired words with familiar ones to comprehend entire phrases.

Lead researcher, Dr Barbara Pomiechowska, who conducted the research during her postdoctoral fellowship at CEU and is currently an assistant professor at the University of Birmingham's School of Psychology, emphasized the significance of uncovering the emergence of creative thinking: "Human creativity has led to exceptional breakthroughs, from space travel to medical innovations. However, the precise timeframe and mechanism underlying our astonishing capacity to combine ideas and generate novel inventions remain elusive. Our study demonstrates the need to trace back to the early stages of language acquisition in order to shed light on this puzzle."

To probe this ability to combine concepts in real-time, the researchers worked with a group of 60 infants. They taught the babies two new words representing quantities: 'mize' meaning 'one' and 'padu' meaning 'two'. The infants were then tasked with combining these novel number words with different object names, such as identifying 'padu ducks' from a selection of images. By teaching infants words that represented quantities, the team was able to evaluate their capability to integrate concepts at a young age, rather than simply recalling word combinations based on prior knowledge.

Using eye-tracking technology to monitor the infants' gaze patterns, the researchers discovered that the babies successfully synthesized the two concepts to comprehend the questions posed to them.

Dr Agnes Kovacs from CEU's Department of Cognitive Science and CEU's Cognitive Development Center added insight into the potential benefits of this ability for infants: "For babies, the ability to combine different concepts likely aids in interpreting complex language input and facilitates learning about various aspects of the physical and social world. In adulthood, this ability bypasses previously explored ideas, broadening the mind to infinite possibilities."