Developmental Dynamics of Children’s Creative Thinking Following Knowledge-Structure Interventions: Longitudinal Evidence from Semantic Network Analysis

The structure of semantic networks reflects how knowledge is organized in memory and shapes creative thinking by influencing how concepts are accessed and combined. However, most existing findings are cross-sectional, leaving it unclear how changes in knowledge structures shape corresponding changes in semantic networks and creative development over time. This longitudinal study tested whether optimizing children’s knowledge structures through thinking-based teaching fosters dynamic changes in semantic networks and creative thinking. A total of 108 Chinese elementary students participated (44 girls and 64 boys; M = 9.85 years, SD = 0.50) in the intervention and pre-post changes in creativity and semantic network measures were examined using paired-sample t-tests and regression analyses. Results indicated that students receiving the intervention showed significant gains in fluency, flexibility, and originality compared with controls (t = 2.48, p = .015), and a follow-up study confirmed longitudinal improvements in semantic network efficiency and creativity (t = 3.90, p < .001). Regression analyses indicated that baseline cognitive flexibility and originality jointly predicted gains in originality (F(2, 42) = 6.46, p = .0036, R2 = .235). Overall, findings provide longitudinal, intervention-based evidence that optimizing knowledge structures reorganizes semantic networks and supports improvements in creative thinking.