The Creative Cognition Approach

by Smith, Steven M.; Ward, Thomas B.; Finke, Ronald A.

• ISBN13: 9780262512831
• ISBN10: 0262512831
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-01-09
• Publisher: Bradford Books

Summary

Mental processes are the essence of creative endeavor. The Creative Cognition Approach extends this particular view of creativity, first proposed and developed by the editors in their earlier book Creative Cognition, to the programs and theoretical views of some of the most prominent researchers in the areas of problem solving, concept formation, and thinking. Chapters cover a wide range of approaches and processes that play a role in creative cognition, from those that have their roots in associationism (the notion that creative ideas are produced incrementally), to the Gestalt point of view (particularly insight), to current computational approaches. Each chapter deals with central issues in cognition and creativity, and many consider new ways in which creativity can be studied under controlled conditions. The Creative Cognition Approach begins with a new look at an ancient subject, dreams. It then takes up intuition and insight from a contemporary cognitive perspective, and the importance of using prior knowledge in the incremental view of creative problem solving, which is contrasted with the importance of various forms of fixation and sudden insight. Studies are presented that provide new methods for distinguishing insight problem solving from analytic problem solving, and a general description of recall, problem solving, and creative thinking is provided along with relevant experimental evidence. Numerous laboratory studies of creative idea generation are described that reveal the conceptual structures that give rise to imaginative thinking. Visual representations are considered in the context of memory distortions, and in the use of diagrams in scientific discovery. Models that help clarify the relation between comprehension and creativity are discussed, and a novel integration of ideas (primary and secondary process thinking, conditioning, genetic algorithms, chaos theory, the thermodynamics of crystallography) are brought together in a connectionist framework. A multivariate investment approach is used to study creative performance, and criteria for assessing and enhancing creative realism are detailed. A Bradford Book

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction Cognitive Processes in Creative Contexts

Knowledge and Insight in Creative Cognition

Origins and Consequences of Novelty

Varieties of Creation

Individual versus Social Definitions of Creativity

Deliberate versus Nonintentional Creations

Goal-Defined Creativity

Subjective Sense of Novelty

Degrees of Novelty

Continuous versus Discontinuous Problem Solving

Dreams: Novelty and Consciousness

Activation, (Un)consciousness, and Creativity

The Challenge of Novelty

Notes

References

Intuitive Antecedents of Insight

Defining Intuition

Research Findings

Waterloo Gestalt Closure Task (WGES)

Dyads of Triads Task (DOT)

Accumulated Clues Task (ACT)

Partial Word Task (PWOT)

Individual Differences

Conclusion

Notes

References

Case Studies of Creative Thinking: Reproduction versus Restructuring in the Real World

Continuity, Discontinuity, and Restructuring

Case Studies in Reproductive Creativity

Creativity without Restructuring

Case Studies of Restructuring

Productive Thinking: On Going beyond Past Experience

Case Studies of Creativity: Conclusions

References

Productive Problem Solving

Obstacles to Solution

Functional Fixedness

Inappropriate Organization

Inadequate Monitoring

Fixation

How Solutions Occur

Effects of Hints

Changing Representations: Heuristics and Spreading Activation

Learning to Solve Insight Problems

References

The Ineffability of Insight

Theoretical Characterizations of Insight

Pre-Information Processing Approaches

Information Processing Views of Insight

Empirical Demonstrations of the Disruptive Effects of Language

A Comparison of Insight and Analytic Problem-Solving Protocols

Method/Coding Scheme

Statement Elements as Predictors of Success

Summary

Individual Differences and Insight

Method

Results and Discussion

Summary

Conclusions

Notes

References

Fixation, Incubation, and Insight in Memory and Creative Thinking

Patterns of Cognition

Searching within a Plan versus Restructuring

A Plan-Determined Road Map

Metacognitive Monitoring

Implicit Fixation

Destabilization

Restructuring as Changing Plans

Phenomena Explained

Fixation

Incubation and Contextual Fluctuation

Insight Experiences

Summary

Predictions

Conclusion

Notes

References

What's Old about New Ideas?

Structured Imagination in the Real World

Structured Imagination in the Laboratory

A Framework for Predictions and a Null Hypothesis

Mapping of Basic Properties

Correlated Attributes

Considering the Imaginer's Intent

Novelty Embedded within Structure

Using Broader Knowledge: Novelty and Appropriateness

Structured Imagination in Science Fiction and Speculative Science

Overcoming or Controlling the Structuring of New Ideas

The Path of Least Resistance

A Caveat

Relation to Traditional Creativity Topics

Fixation

Restructuring

Summary and Conclusions

References

Visual and Computational Approaches to Creative Cognition

Static Patterns Moving in the Mind

Dynamic Mental Representations

Experiment 1

Method

Results and Discussion

Experiment 2

Method

Results and Discussion

Experiment 3

Method

Results and Discussion

General Discussion

Summary

Implications for Aesthetics

Dynamic Representations as Medium for Creative Cognition

Future Research and Conclusion

Notes

References

Scientific Discovery and Creative Reasoning with Diagrams

Reasoning and Discovery with Diagrams

Conservation Laws as One-Dimensional Diagrams

The HUYGENS System

Operators

Regularity Spotters

Heuristics

Simulation of a Discovery

Benefits and Limitations

Beyond One-Dimensional Diagrammatic Law Induction

Conclusions

Notes

References

Making Machines Creative

Why Study Creativity?

What Do We Want to Know?

The Mechanics of Creativity

The Link between Creative and Routine Processing

An Unsatisfactory Theory: Bottom-up Inferencing

Starting at the Start: Routine Understanding

Creative Understanding

Summary of the Processes of Creativity

Where the Tough Problems Are

Implications for a Theory of Creativity

Notes

References

Creativity and Connectionism

Creative Ideas

The Creative Process

Theories of Creativity

Common Sense and Some Facts

Blind Variation and Selective Retention

Defocused Attention

Associative Hierarchies and Creativity

Primary Process Thinking and Creativity

Creativity and Arousal

Some Conclusions

Simulated Annealing and Creativity

Conclusions

References

General Issues in Creative Cognition

An Investment Approach to Creativity: Theory and Data

Six Resources for Creativity and Their Confluence

Study 1: Testing the Investment Resources for Creativity

Method

Results and Discussion

Aspects of Creative Performance

Person-Centered Resources and Creative Performance

Study 2: Cognitive Risk Taking and Creative Performance

Method

Results and Discussion

Conclusions

Notes

References

Creative Realism

Dimensions of Creative Realism

Conservative Realism

Creative Idealism

Conservative Idealism

Creative Realism

Examples of Creative Realism

Invention and Design

Scientific Theories

Art, Music, and Film

Everyday Thinking

The Need for Creative Realism

Assessing Creative Realism

Objective Criteria

Subjective Criteria

Psychological Criteria

Failures to Achieve Creative Realism

Overextensions of Imaginative Divergence

Absence of Imaginative Divergence

Overstructuring the Creative Process

Enhancing Creative Realism

Generating New Ideas with Creative Realism in Mind

Recognizing Failures of Creative Realism

Implications of Creative Realism

Creative Cognition and the Geneplore Model

Applications of Creative Realism

Creative Talent

Concluding Comments

References

Conclusion Paradoxes, Principles, and Prospects for the Future of Creative Cognition

Name Index

Subject Index

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