Maxi Becker

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Verified

Maxi verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Research Scholar at Duke University

Creative problem solving and memory are inherently intertwined: memory accesses existing knowledge while creativity enhances it. Recent studies show that insights often accompanying creative solutions enhance long-term memory. This insight memory advantage (IMA) is explained by the 'insight as prediction error (PE)' hypothesis which states that ins...

Recent research shows that videogame training enhances neuronal plasticity and cognitive improvements in healthy individuals. As patients with schizophrenia exhibit reduced neuronal plasticity linked to cognitive deficits and symptoms, we investigated whether videogame-related cognitive improvements and plasticity changes extend to this population....

We propose expanding the authors’ shared novelty-seeking basis for creativity and curiosity by emphasizing an underlying computational principle: Minimizing prediction errors (mismatch between predictions and incoming data). Curiosity is tied to the anticipation of minimizing prediction errors through future, novel information, whereas creative AHA...

Despite the need for innovative solutions to contemporary challenges, the neural mechanisms driving creative problem-solving still remain largely unknown. We focused on the powerful creative process of insight, wherein rapid knowledge reorganization and integration-termed representational change-yield solutions that evoke suddenness, positive emoti...

Most creativity measures are either complex or language-dependent, hindering cross-cultural creativity assessment. We have therefore developed and tested a simple, language-independent insight task based on pictures in the style of the widely used verbal remote associate task (RAT). We demonstrate that the language-independent RAT allows assessment...

This study examined the impact of naturalness and artificiality in indoor architecture on subjective evaluations, similarity judgments, and their neural responses. Thirty-six participants viewed 60 images of architectural interior scenes and performed a spatial arrangement task while undergoing functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). They als...

The AHA experience, a moment of deep understanding during insightful problem-solving involving feelings of certainty, pleasure, and surprise, has captivated psychologists for more than a century. Recently, a new theoretical framework has proposed a link between the AHA experience and prediction error (PE), a popular concept in decision-making and r...

The AHA experience, a moment of deep understanding during insightful problem solving involving feelings of certainty, pleasure and surprise, has captivated psychologists for over a century. Recently, a new theoretical framework has proposed a link between the AHA experience and prediction error (PE), a popular concept in decision-making and reinfor...

Creativity and memory are intertwined: memory accesses existing knowledge, while creativity enhances it. Recent evidence links memory enhancement with insight or "Aha!" moments, often accompanying creative solutions. Behavioral studies have shown that solutions with accompanied insight are better remembered later. While neuroscientific evidence reg...

This is an invited commentary on Ivancovsky, Baror & Bar's paper: "A Shared Novelty-Seeking Basis for Creativity and Curiosity" in Behavioral and Brain Sciences. Essentially, we propose expanding the authors' explanatory framework by linking the shared novelty-seeking basis for creativity and curiosity to an underlying computational principle: min...

During insightful problem solving, the solution appears unexpectedly and is accompanied by the feeling of an AHA!. Research suggests that this affective component of insight can have consequences beyond the solution itself by motivating future behavior, such as risky (high reward and high uncertainty) decision making. Here, we investigate the behav...

Solving problems with insight culminates in an “Aha! moment”: a feeling of confidence and pleasure. In daily life, insights are often followed by important decisions, such as deciding what to do with a new idea. Here, we investigated whether having an Aha! moment affects subsequent decision-making. Because Aha! moments tend to elicit positive affec...

Despite the need for innovative solutions to contemporary challenges, the neural mechanisms driving creative problem-solving still remain largely unknown. We focused on the powerful creative process of insight, wherein rapid knowledge reorganisation and integration—termed representational change—yield solutions that evoke suddenness, positive emoti...

Recent research revealed that videogame training boosts neuronal plasticity emerging in a range of cognitive improvements accompanied by structural and functional brain changes in healthy subjects. A reduction of neuronal plasticity has been suggested in patients with schizophrenia as a pathobiological model of cognitive deficits as well as positiv...

Recent research shows that videogame training enhances neuronal plasticity and cognitive improvements in healthy individuals. As patients with schizophrenia exhibit reduced neuronal plasticity linked to cognitive deficits and symptoms, we investigated whether videogame-related cognitive improvements and plasticity changes extend to this population....

Stimulants like methylphenidate, modafinil, and caffeine have repeatedly shown to enhance cognitive processes such as attention and memory. However, brain-functional mechanisms underlying such cognitive enhancing effects of stimulants are still poorly characterized. Here, we utilized behavioral and resting-state fMRI data from a double-blind random...

At the end of high school, teenagers must deal with the first life‐changing decision of determining what to do after graduation. For these decisions, adolescents need to be able to make good choices. However, most schools have not yet implemented decision trainings into their curricula. A new intervention called “KLUGentscheiden!” was developed to...

At the end of high school, teenagers have to deal with their first life-changing decisions when deciding what to do after having graduated from school. For these decisions, adolescents need to be able to make good decisions. However, most schools have not implemented decision trainings into their curricula yet. A new intervention called "KLUGentsch...

Solving problems with insight culminates in an “Aha! moment”: a feeling of surprise and pleasure. In daily life, insights are often followed by important decisions, such as deciding what to do with a new idea. Here, we investigated how the manner of solving a problem affects subsequent decision-making. Because insights tend to elicit a pleasurable...

In schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder cognitive deficits are a reliable characteristic predicting a poor functional outcome. It has been theorized that both the default mode network (DMN) and the salience network (SN) play a crucial role in cognitive processes and aberrant functional connectivity within these networks in psychotic patients...

In schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder cognitive deficits are a reliable characteristic predicting a poor functional outcome. It has been theorized that both the default mode network (DMN) and the salience network (SN) play a crucial role in cognitive processes and aberrant functional connectivity within these networks in psychotic patients...

Stimulants like methylphenidate, modafinil and caffeine have repeatedly shown to enhance cognitive processes such as attention and memory. However, brain-functional mechanisms underlying such cognitive enhancing effects of stimulants are still poorly characterized. Here, we utilized behavioral and resting-state fMRI data from a double-blind randomi...

Solving a problem requires relating the pieces of information available to each other and to the solution. We investigated how the strength of these relationships determines the likelihood of solving insight tasks based on remote associates. In these tasks, the solver is provided with several cues (e.g. drop, coat, summer) and has to find the solut...

This is one of two chapters on "A cognitive neuroscience perspective on insight as a memory process" to be published in the "Routledge International Handbook of Creative Cognition" by L. J. Ball & F. Valleé-Tourangeau (Eds.). In this chapter, we will describe cognitive and brain processes that lead to an insight. Inspired by cognitive theories, we...

This is one of two chapters on "A cognitive neuroscience perspective on insight as a memory process" to be published in the "Routledge International Handbook of Creative Cognition" by L. J. Ball & F. Valleé-Tourangeau (Eds.). While the previous chapter discussed the role of long-term memory for solving problems by insight [https://psyarxiv.com/zv4d...

Stimulants like methylphenidate, modafinil and caffeine have repeatedly shown to enhance cognitive processes such as attention and memory. However, brain-functional mechanisms underlying such cognitive enhancing effects of stimulants are still poorly characterized. Here, we utilized behavioral and resting-state fMRI data from a double-blind randomi...

The theoretical platform of environmental psychology assumes that restorativeness of the environment is strongly connected to its naturalness. Our aim was to examine, how exactly the naturalness of environment impacts restoration by investigating its mental representation. To this end, we conducted two studies. In the first experiment, we investiga...

Solving a problem requires relating the pieces of information available to each other and to the solution. We investigated how the strength of these relationships determines the likelihood of solving insight tasks based on remote associates. In these tasks, the solver is provided with several cues (e.g. drop, coat, summer) and has to find the solut...

Objectives The effects of nature on physical and mental health are an emerging topic in empirical research with increasing influence on practical health recommendations. Here we set out to investigate the association between spending time outdoors and brain structural plasticity in conjunctions with self-reported affect. Methods We established the...

Most creativity measures are either complex or language-dependent, hindering cross-cultural creativity assessment. We have therefore developed and tested a simple, language-independent insight task based on pictures in the style of the widely used verbal remote associate task (RAT). We demonstrate that the language-independent RAT allows assessment...

In this paper, we investigate insight problem solving by exploring the subjective AHA! experience as a function of restructuring of a problem. It has long been assumed that the AHA! experience is the direct consequence of restructuring. However, we will argue that (a) the AHA! experience does not always result from prior restructuring and that (b)...

In this article, we investigate insight problem solving by exploring the subjective AHA! experience as a function of restructuring of a problem. It has long been assumed that the AHA! experience is the direct consequence of restructuring. However, is this assumption justified?We will argue that a) the AHA! experience does not always result from pri...

Insight problem solving has been conceptualized as a dynamic search through a constrained search space where a non-obvious solution needs to be found. Multiple sources of task difficulty have been defined that can keep the problem solver from finding the right solution such as an overly large search space or knowledge constraints requiring a change...

In verbal creative problems like compound remote associates (CRAs), the solution is semantically distant and there is no predefined path to the solution. Therefore, people first search through the space of possible solutions before retrieving the correct semantic content by extending their search space. We assume that search and solution are both p...

In insight problem solving solutions with AHA! experience have been assumed to be the consequence of restructuring of a problem which usually takes place shortly before the solution. However, evidence from priming studies suggests that solutions with AHA! are not spontaneously generated during the solution process but already relate to prior sublim...

Adequate reliability of measurement is a precondition for investigating individual differences and age-related changes in brain structure. One approach to improve reliability is to identify and control for variables that are predictive of within-person variance. To this end, we applied both classical statistical methods and machine-learning-inspire...

Tyrosine is precursor for monoamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA), which is one of the key neurotransmitters in the frontostriatal network and of crucial relevance for mental disorders. Recent research reported that high dose tyrosine application resulted in increased brain DA synthesis, which is consistent with the observation of positiv...

In insight problem solving solutions with AHA! experience have been assumed to be the consequence of restructuring of a problem which usually takes place shortly before the solution. However, evidence from priming studies suggests that solutions with AHA! are not spontaneously generated during the solution process but already relate to prior sublim...

Recent evidence has repeatedly shown that 3D platform video game training leads to substantial brain structural plasticity in hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. However, a great disadvantage of using complex video game interventions is the difficulty to attribute the observed effects to specific game mechanics. In order to address this...

Tyrosine is precursor for monoamine neurotransmitters such as dopamine (DA), which is one of the key neurotransmitters in the frontostriatal network and of crucial relevance for mental disorders. Recent research reported that high dose tyrosine application resulted in increased brain DA synthesis,which is consistent with the observation of a positi...

While previous attempts to train self-control in humans have frequently failed, we set out to train response inhibition using computer-game elements. We trained older adults with newly developed game-based inhibition training on a tablet for two months and compared them to an active and passive control group. Behavioural effects reflected in shorte...

Insight problem solving has been conceptualized as a dynamic search through a constrained search space where a non-obvious solution needs to be found. Multiple sources of task difficulty have been defined that can keep the problem solver from finding the right solution such as an overly large search space or knowledge constraints requiring a change...

Background Most studies of brain structure and function, and their relationships to cognitive ability, have relied on inter-individual variability in magnetic resonance (MR) images. Intra-individual variability is often ignored or implicitly assumed to be equivalent to the former. Testing this assumption empirically by collecting enough data on sin...

Ambiguous images such as Rubin’s vase-face can be interpreted in at least two different ways. These interpretations are typically taken to be mutually exclusive, and ambiguous images have thus served as models of perceptual competition. Here, we present data that challenges this view. In an online survey, we found that a large proportion of people...

While previous attempts to train self-control in humans have frequently failed, we set out to train response inhibition using computer-game elements. We trained older adults with newly developed game-based inhibition training on a tablet for two months and compared them to an active and passive control group. Behavioural effects reflected in shorte...

The functional architecture of spontaneous BOLD fluctuations has been characterized in detail by numerous studies, demonstrating its potential relevance as a biomarker. However, the systematic investigation of its consistency is still in its infancy. Here, we analyze both the within- and between-subject variability as well as the test-retest reliab...

Simultaneous interpreting (SI) is a highly complex activity and requires the performance and coordination of multiple, simultaneous tasks: analysis and understanding of the discourse in a first language, reformulating linguistic material, storing of intermediate processing steps, and language production in a second language among others. It is, how...