关键词: 情境压力, 创新行为, 执行控制, 认知冲突, ERP

Abstract: Identifying novel associations between seemingly unrelated things is the core characteristic of creative discovery behavior, while monitoring and resolving cognitive conflicts are essential cognitive processes that facilitate this form of creativity. However, the human brain tends to operate according to the principle of least effort, which can result in some cognitive conflicts that induced by novel ideas not being fully resolved. Consequently, many opportunities for identifying creative and useful ideas may be overlooked. To enhance the likelihood of accurately identifying novel ideas, it is necessary to strengthen executive control in resolving cognitive conflicts. Given the situational adaptability in psychological and behavioral activities, participants may experience pressure to generate or discover novel ideas in situations where ordinary ideas are insufficient to solve problems, compared to the situations where ordinary ideas are suitable for problem-solving. This type of situational pressure may enhance executive control in conflict resolution and subsequently increase the probability of successfully identifying novel ideas. To test the feasibility of enhancing executive control in conflict resolution and improving the efficiency of identifying novel ideas, this study manipulated situational pressure in creative discovery. Following each daily life problem scenario, participants were presented with two or three products consecutively for them to discover and identify useful items. A commonly used product was introduced first, followed by a novel product. When the commonly used product is useful for solving the problem, participants likely experience no pressure to discover novel product. Conversely, when the commonly used product is not useful for solving the problem, participants will experience pressure to discover novel product. If two consecutive commonly used products are not sufficient to solve the problem, participants will experience high pressure to discover novel product. In addition to a no-pressure condition, Experiment 1 included a pressure condition, while Experiment 2 included a high-pressure condition. The datas in Experiment 1 showed that, novel but less useful products elicited smaller N400 and larger LSP amplitudes under pressure condition compared to no-pressure condition; in contrast, there is no differences in N400 and LSP amplitudes elicited by novel and highly useful products between the two conditions. The datas in Experiment 2 showed that, both novel and highly useful products, as well as novel but less useful products, elicited smaller N400 and larger LSP amplitudes under high-pressure condition than no-pressure condition. Furthermore, for correctly identified novel products, the positive correlation between N400 and LSP amplitudes was significantly greater under high-pressure condition than in no-pressure condition. These findings indicate that situational pressure enhances executive control during creative discovery behavior, particularly by improving the resolution of cognitive conflictsinduced by novel products and increasing the efficiency of distinguishing novel and useful products from novel but less useful products. This study demonstrates the impact of situational pressure on creative discovery, enriches the understanding of monitoring and resolving cognitive conflicts in creative discovery behavior, and reveals cognitive pathway for creative behavior training.

Key words: situational pressure, creative behavior, executive control, cognitive conflict, ERP