9- What Processes does Creativity Involve? Flashcards
How are creativity and problem solving linked?
Problems may require creative solutions
How does creativity help problem solving?
Problems often have many possible solutions, and creativity allows us to explore more options
What are Wallas’s 4 stages?
- Preparation
- Incubation
- Illumination
- Verification
What happens in the preparation stage?
Consciously familiarise ourselves with the problem
What is the limitation of the preparation stage?
It rarely leads to a solution
What happens in the incubation stage?
Problems are ‘set aside’ and we don’t consciously work on them
What is the limitation of the illumination stage?
Even if a ‘great idea’ comes to mind, then it must be developed and verified
What happens in the verification state?
We consciously work to test and develop solutions
What must we do to solve a problem?
Define a problem
How do we define a problem?
We set foundations and acquire and gather information to know all the information
Why must you put in conscious effort in the preparation stage?
To comprehend what is required and what can be explored
What is the aim of the preparation stage?
To acquire and study as many facts about every component involved
Why is the preparation stage important for the incubation stage?
Stronger neural connections important for incubation- become stronger by studying facts more
What process is in the incubation stage?
Process of consciously taking your focus to a task related to the problem
What is required for the incubation stage?
Strong connections between facts and variables of the problem
What should the new task in the incubation stage not be?
Demanding or cognitively draining
What do you become aware of in the illumination stage?
One or many possible solutions to the problem
What may the possible solution we find in the illumination stage be instead of the correct solution?
The development of new ideas ready to be inputted into our mental frameworks
What is intimation?
Process that instigates and continues through the moment of illumination
How is intimation unlike insight?
Process of discovering a solution is longer than a flash- it begins as small, subtle feelings that must be hooked and fed
Why must we be careful with the development of new ideas?
Attempting to implement them too early can result in unsuccessful resolutions as the idea has not fully formed
What do we do in the verification stage?
Test the possible solution by taking the idea generated through illumination and applying it to the problem
How do we evaluate a solution?
Whether it satisfies all requirements and assess which components are salient
What does Wallas emphasise in creative problem solving?
The importance of subconscious and conscious process
What are Wallas’s suggestions for boosting creativity based on?
The behavioural approach
What is the fatigue reduction hypothesis?
Suggestion that incubation is a cognitive rest period
What is the conscious work hypothesis?
We hold the problem in our working memory during incubation
What is the forgetting hypothesis?
Incubation leads to overcoming false solutions
What is the unconscious work hypothesis?
Incubation means you are solving the problem subconsciously
What task did Baird et al use?
A verbal idea generation task- unusual uses task
What was the key finding of Baird et al’s research?
Taking the mind to a different cognitively demanding task boosts creativity
What is the semantic network?
An associative theory of creativity
What does the semantic network theory suggest?
Related concepts are linked in long-term semantic memory
What is the result of activating one concept in the semantic network?
It raises activation of connected concepts
