2 - Creativity Flashcards
creativity
= ideas or products that are novel (original, coming out of nowhere), surprising and useful
(violate expectations about what is normal)
-> the nature of ideas (how we think); it is generic, not art-specific but domain specific (linked to specific thing)
how to study creativity in psychology
using domain general approach; divergent thinking
ex. the brick test; find as many alternate tasks with it as possible (compare quantity and quality of those)
non-creative and creative doings …
… could be mediated by the same domain general process
2 types of creativity - basic distinction
- functional creativity: novelty for solving problems
- display creativity: novelty for its own sake; artification
functional creativity - extended
= developing novel solutions to existing problems
solve problem by trial and error learning (operant conditioning), links creativity to particular domain, makes it something specific
2 steps of creative work (functional creativity)
- problem finding/establishing
(some problems find you, and others you find) - find solution -> be creative
The problem solving cycle
- problem formulation
- proposal for a solution
- solution implementation (cyclic, before final one is done)
-> iterative creativity
Problem solving is …
… intrinsically creative
The vast majority of creativity is ..
… small incremental changes
(building on what was at here before, humans have hard time to adapt to fully new things)
[big changes happen as well, but very rarely]
-> functional creativity is about making something better than it has been before; staying in comfort zone of what is known to us -> a modification of an existing product
Geneplore model - two components
gene = generation
plore = exploration
-> every creativity model incorporates these two components
Generation (geneplore model)
shows the problem solving cycle (define -> formulate solution -> ideas -> test (which is exploration))
Exploration (geneplore model)
the process of selection; eliminate what does not work
(requires decision making, may be influenced by others)
-> creative work is driven by a core idea (remains in the process); it is neither random nor fully formed and requires exploration
Eureka Moment
creative idea comes in as flash, illumination; sudden moment brining the idea (no connection between how idea came and what it actually holds) -> divergent ideas
(creative ideas are mysterious and appear out of the blue; source cannot be traced)
analytical thinking
- idea can be traced; often a modification
- inspired by someone else’s work
- the work of improvement is a creative process
Phases of creative work
- conception (generation); narrowing ideas to core idea
- idea development (exploration); sketching, evolve core idea, experimentation, problem solving
- production (exploration); produce the work, go back to step 2 if needed
- completion
- exhibition; real world usage
Aesthetics definition
notion of appeal of something
creative/aesthetic cycle
production (creativity, produce ideas), give it to consumers and see their feedback, they perceive the products aesthetics, dependent on the feedback it’s a best seller or failure
(creators produce work to appeal to taget audience)
cultural evolution
having cultural variation but also selection; select certain things over others -> following a particular style (creativity is the source of the variance in cultural evolution models; the consumers use their aesthetics to select)
cumulative culture
- winners of cultural evolution; products that have been selected and transmitted
- focus on rare winners; majority of creative products become extinct
(can be used as baseline to define what is novel)
conformity bias -> anti-creative
our biggest motivation is to be like everyone else; to fit in - rather anti-creative
-> our native habit is not to be creative; to be creative means to be different (in order to step out you need to learn first though, so imitate others)
the paradox of becoming a creator
invest energy to get immersed into a field; knowing enough to be a specialist but not to
much to not be constrained - not fixing the mind to constrain creativity
(all creative work occurs within the context of stylistic movements in a domain; creativity in boundaries)
mechanisms of generation
- modification
- blending
(3. out of the blue insight)
modification vs blending
one type of source vs 2 types of sources
modification
- builds up on existing products (what is already there in culture/from others)
- based on analytical thinking (clear path - able to backtrack)
- an incremental change, such as a small improvement
- occurs firmly within stylistic boundaries
blending
fuse several ideas; domain general process -> associativity
-> creating a fusion of two domains (conceptual blending)
natural selection is a …
blend; mixes selection and nature processes
cultural evolution is a …
blend; culture and biological evolution
