Novelty Seeking Differences in Temporal Dynamics for Novelty and Appropriateness Processing of Creative Information: An ERP Investigation

Abstract

Novelty seeking has been found to affect creative performance, but its impact on the temporal dynamics of creative information processing remains unclear. Creative information is identified by two key indicators—novelty and appropriateness. To explore the effect of novelty seeking on the temporal processing of novelty and appropriateness, a revised alternative uses task (AUT) was conducted with 29 high novelty‐seeking (HNS) and 31 low novelty‐seeking (LNS) individuals. Event‐related potentials (ERPs) and spontaneous blink rate (EBR) were used to measure temporal dynamics and infer physiological mechanisms. (1) For novelty processing, HNS individuals performed quicker information processing (shorter N1/P2 latency) and had a greater capacity to recognize semantic distance (higher P600 peak amplitude). (2) For appropriate processing, HNS individuals also had a faster information processing rate (shorter N1/P2 latency). (3) HNS individuals had higher baseline EBR and showed enhancements in cognitive speed based on real‐time EBR. In contrast, the LNS group did not show the same improvement even with increased attention allocation. These findings expand the application of the Novelty Seeking Model (NGM) in creative information processing. Additionally, the results of EBR suggest that dopamine might be the critical physiological mechanism through which novelty‐seeking influences creative information processing.