Objective: This study analyzes the psychological mechanisms underlying the development of creative thinking and examines the role of innovative learning environments in activating these mechanisms among elementary school students.
Methods: This study adopted a narrative-analytical review approach grounded in conceptual synthesis. Relevant studies on creativity, educational psychology, cognitive psychology, and educational innovation were examined through qualitative content analysis and conceptual comparison.
Results: Four themes were identified: intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, cognitive processes (curiosity, flexibility, and divergent thinking), and academic engagement. Innovative learning environments-characterized by choice, exploration, problem-solving, collaboration, and feedback- strengthen intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy; these, in turn, facilitate the activation of cognitive processes and divergent thinking. Academic engagement also functions as a mediating mechanism that enables the translation of motivational and cognitive capacities into creative participation and performance.
Conclusions: Creative thinking is the outcome of dynamic interaction among the learning environment and motivational, cognitive, and behavioral mechanisms. The proposed conceptual model has implications for designing creative, collaborative, and student-centered learning environments and for empirically testing these relationships in future research