Differential modulation of creative problem solving by monetary rewards: Electrophysiological evidence

Previous studies have suggested that facilitating creative problem solving via supraliminal monetary rewards is unsuccessful and controversial. In contrast, subliminal monetary rewards have been found to facilitate creative problem solving. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the effects of subliminal and supraliminal monetary rewards on creative problem solving remain unclear. The present study investigated the impact of monetary rewards on Chinese verbal compound remote-associated (CRA) problem solving using electrophysiological techniques and behavioral measures. The results showed that people solved more CRA problems when motivated by subliminal monetary rewards than supraliminal monetary rewards and solved CRA problems more often via insight solutions under low-reward conditions. The electrophysiological results showed that subliminal monetary rewards induced a more positive P200-600 amplitude than supraliminal monetary rewards. Supraliminal rewards induced a larger beta-band event-related desynchronization (beta-ERD) during the early problem-solving phase and alpha-band event-related synchronization (alpha-ERS) during the late problem-solving phase than subliminal rewards. Moreover, the brain-behavior correlations revealed a relationship between the P200-600 amplitude and behavior performance, indicating differential effects between subliminal rewards and supraliminal rewards on creative problem solving. These results extend prior research and indicate that compared with supraliminal rewards, subliminal rewards could facilitate creative problem solving and insight solutions by lowering attentional selectivity. In general, the present study provided the first strong evidence of the differential modulation of creative problem solving by subliminal and supraliminal monetary rewards from behavioral, neurophysiological and brain-behavior correlation dimensions.

Automated summary

The present study investigated the differential effects of subliminal and supraliminal monetary rewards on creative problem solving using electrophysiological techniques and behavioral measures. The results showed that subliminal rewards facilitated creative problem solving and increased insight solutions, while supraliminal rewards had the opposite effect. Electrophysiological findings indicated that subliminal rewards induced a more positive P200-600 amplitude, while supraliminal rewards induced larger beta-ERD and alpha-ERS. Furthermore, brain-behavior correlations revealed a relationship between P200-600 amplitude and behavior performance. These findings provide strong evidence for the differential modulation of creative problem solving by subliminal and supraliminal monetary rewards.