Episodic and semantic memory contributions to imagination and creativity

The ability to generate novel creative ideas (divergent thinking) is closely linked with our ability to imagine novel future events (episodic simulation). Here, we employed an individual differences approach to examine whether divergent thinking and episodic simulation are differentially associated with episodic and semantic retrieval ability. In response to object word cues, participants generated meanings and definitions (semantic memory), remembered a past event (episodic memory), imagined a novel future event (episodic simulation), or generated novel uses (divergent thinking). Replicating previous findings, divergent thinking ability was predicted by the number of episodic details generated during episodic simulation. When directly comparing episodic and semantic memory, the strongest predictor of divergent thinking was semantic memory. In contrast, episodic simulation ability was predicted by both episodic and semantic memory. We interpret these findings as support for the semantic scaffold hypothesis of imagination, according to which semantic memory provides the necessary scaffold or framework for flexible expressions of cognition such as divergent thinking and episodic simulation. As episodic simulation, relative to divergent thinking, was associated with both episodic and semantic retrieval, these findings are taken to reflect common reliance on event construction processes recruited during both episodic remembering and imagining.