Thinking Flashcards
What are the two criteria necessary for something to be considered creative?
○ Unique or original: It should be different from what already exists.
○ Useful or valuable: It should serve a purpose or have some practical application.
How is creativity measured?
Creativity is assessed through the “Four Ps”:
- Processes – Types of thought processes, such as divergent thinking (e.g., brainstorming multiple solutions to a problem).
- Products – Creative works like inventions, songs, or designs (e.g., a smartphone app or a painting).
- Persons – Personality traits of creative individuals, such as openness to experience or risk-taking.
- Press – Environmental factors that influence creativity, like collaboration-friendly spaces or societal attitudes (e.g., a flexible workspace fostering innovation).
What are examples of cognitive processes associated with creativity?
● Divergent thinking.
● Reduced latent inhibition.
● Performance on tasks like the Remote Associates Test (RAT)
How can creativity be measured through its products?
● Counting creative works, publications, patents, etc.
● Obtaining expert or subjective ratings of creative products.
● Evaluating the impact of creative works (e.g., citations, performances).
● Using self-reports of accomplishments.
Which Big 5 personality trait is most associated with creativity?
Openness.
What are some other personality characteristics associated with creativity?
● Intelligence.
● Expertise (though naiveté can be helpful for divergent thinking).
What are some environmental factors (“press”) that can enhance creativity?
● Autonomous workplaces.
● Positive moods, especially high arousal.
● Norm violation (e.g., through experiences in virtual reality).
● Multicultural experiences (especially for those high in openness)
What is wisdom?
A virtue characterized by:
● Good judgment.
● Perspective taking.
● Curiosity.
● Love of learning.
● Creativity
How is wisdom measured?
● Self-report measures (though indirect assessments may be necessary due to modesty).
● Rating or describing specific events for wisdom-related qualities.
● Coding open responses to scenarios designed to elicit wise reasoning
Is wisdom associated with age?
There is no clear increase in wisdom with age, though it may be a strength of healthy aging
What other factors are associated with wisdom?
● Openness (Big 5 trait).
● Intelligence.
● Psychological well-being.
Can situational factors influence wisdom?
Reducing ego-centric perspective can enhance wise reasoning. This may occur in cultures with less individualism or through lab manipulations that shift focus from personal to other perspectives.
What is intelligence?
● The complexity/sophistication of an individual’s intellectual repertoire.
● The ability to solve problems and adapt to new situations
Describe the structure of intelligence.
Intelligence has a hierarchical structure. A general factor (‘g’) underlies more specific abilities (e.g., verbal, spatial, numerical)
What are some correlates of ‘g’ (general intelligence)?
● Educational achievement
● Work performance
● Income
● (Negatively) Criminal behavior
● Socioeconomic status (SES)
Is intelligence heritable?
Yes, IQ is substantially heritable (e.g., 50-75%). However, this does not mean that IQ is fixed.
People are not ‘blank slates’
What does the Flynn effect demonstrate?
IQ scores have been rising over time, suggesting environmental influences on intelligence
Besides intelligence, what other factors contribute to accomplishment?
● Interests
● Mastery/Drive (e.g., grit, persistence)
● Study skills (particularly for academic achievement)
What are some optimal study techniques?
● Most effective: Practice tests and distributed practice.
● Moderately effective: Interleaved learning and self-explanation/elaborative interrogation.
● Less effective: Highlighting, rereading, summarizing, imagery, keyword memory triggers.
What is affective forecasting?
Predicting one’s future emotions.
They are important because the forecasts help people make decisions. That is, we often make decisions that we think will maximize our (future) happiness, or plan activities based on how we think we will feel (e.g. avoiding a difficult conversation on a day we expect to be grouchy already).
Impact Bias
People’s tendency to overestimate the intensity or duration of how much events will change happiness
What are some reasons for the impact bias?
● Immune neglect: Underestimating our ability to cope with negative experiences (eg., adaptation, hedonic treadmill).
● Focusing illusion: Overemphasizing the impact of a specific event while neglecting other factors that will shape our emotional experience.
Give some examples of events for which people exhibit the impact bias.
● Pregnancy tests
● Tenure decisions
● Sports games
● Elections
● Exams
● Break-ups
Provide some examples of affective forecasting errors besides the impact bias.
● Overestimating the happiness we will experience from interacting with a stranger compared to a partner.
● Feeling less happy than expected when talking to a stranger on the bus, taxi, or subway.
● Overestimating the impact of having a return policy on a purchase.
● Feeling happier walking near a river than in tunnels.
