Set-shifting and task-switching make differential contributions to divergent thinking in adolescence

BACKGROUND: Cognitive flexibility, as the capacity to adaptively shift between mental sets, comprises multiple subprocesses, including set-shifting and task-switching, and goes through changes in capacity throughout development. Divergent thinking, a core aspect of human creativity, also goes through substantial development during adolescence, a period marked by rapid refinement of executive functions. Despite their developmental interdependence, the distinct contributions of cognitive flexibility subcomponents to divergent thinking during adolescence remain insufficiently understood. METHODS: We examined cognitive flexibility and divergent thinking in a large sample of adolescents (N = 344). Participants completed established cognitive flexibility measures (e.g., Wisconsin Card Sorting Task; Task-Set Switching), additional cognitive tasks (i.e., working memory, inhibitory control and abstract reasoning) and the Alternate Uses Task to assess fluency and originality in divergent thinking. RESULTS: Findings provide novel evidence that cognitive flexibility subprocesses differentially contribute to divergent thinking. Specifically, set-shifting, as indexed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Task performance, was a positive predictor of both fluency (i.e., number of ideas generated) and originality (i.e., creative quality of those ideas). In contrast, task-switching performance predicted lower originality, suggesting that rapid, cue-driven shifts may impede the deeper idea exploration required for producing novel responses. This dissociation suggest that cognitive flexibility is not a unitary construct; rather, its distinct components exert separable and, at times, opposing influences on divergent thinking. CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the importance of distinguishing cognitive flexibility subprocesses when understanding the cognitive mechanisms underlying creativity. The findings carry educational implications, suggesting that fostering strategic, self-guided flexibility, while tempering overly rapid shifting, may support adolescents' capacity to generate original solutions to complex problems.