week 10- theories and approaches Flashcards
what is the 4C model of creativity proposed by Kaufman and Beghetto (2009)? describe each and provide an example
→ Mini C: creative insight that is meaningful and new (ex. coming up with a guitar good that you love)
→ Little C: everyday creativity recognized as such by other people (ex. coming up with a new recipe that your friends enjoy)
→ Pro C: creative for a living but not famous or “great” (ex. musical instrument maker)
→ Big C: legacy years after death (ex. biggie and amy winehouse)
what are the 5 facets of the cognitive approach concerning creativity?
- convergent/divergent thinking
- associate theory
- analogic thinking
- geneplore model
- wallas’ stage model
what is convergent vs. divergent thinking
Convergent: thinking that works towards finding a solution to a
specific problem that usually has a correct solution
Divergent: thinking that is open-minded; involves exploring many possible solutions
what is the associate theory?
creativity involves ability to make connections between
remote concepts
what is analogic thinking?
a problem-solving strategy in which similarities are noted
between two or more situations
what is the geneplore model?
proposes that the creative process cycling between two phases:
1. generative phase- unfinished ideas
2. explorative phase- interpreting and implementing generated ideas
what is Wallas’ stage model?
creative process involves passing through 4 different stages:
1. Preparation- focusing on the problem and gathering knowledge
2. Incubation- mind keeps thinking about the problem even if the person is doing other tasks
3. Insight- “aha” moment where the solution appears
4. Verification- creative idea is tested, expanded, and implemented
what are 3 proposed possibilities as to why incubation might promote insight in wallas’ stage model?
- release from mental set
- spread of activation
- memory consolidation
what does mental set mean?
its a heuristic, becoming stuck in a specific problem solving strategy
explain Luchins’ water jug problem and its findings
participants are presented with three jugs of different capacities and asked to measure out a specific volume of water (10 problems). There were two conditions: mental set and non mental set. Researchers found that the mental set group did all 10 problems in order, while the non mental set group did only the last two. The non mental set group solved the problems using a shorter solution than the mental set group
how is the associate theory typically modeled?
as nodes in a network (see docs). more creative ideas involve more distant nodes, which takes more time
explain Meyer and Schvaneveldt’s study on word pairs and the associate theory
they presented participants with word pairs, participants were asked to identify as fast as possible whether both of the words were actual words. Findings: there were slower reaction times for more distantly related words, which shows that maybe the luxury of an incubation period allows for spreading activation to
distant nodes
how does memory consolidation work?
-new memories are fragile and must be consolidated if they are to become permanent
-consolidation involves strengthening new memories by “replaying” them in our head (especially during sleep) and editing out the unimportant stuff
-this may lead to insight
what is the flow state
most people are creative when in a state of flow
what are the 3 ways we can measure the flow state
- questionnaire (ex. flow state scale)
- experience sampling
- brain activity
what brain structure is associated with the flow state and what does in involve
the deactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (which is involved in self censoring and inhibition). So, this deactivation is us silencing our inner critic
what did Limb and Braun (2008) find when studying jazz pianists who improvise
less activity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
when is the default mode network most active and when is the prefrontal cortex most active? what can this be interpreted as?
DMN- during rest and mindwandering
PFC- executive control
-DMN involved in idea generation, while PFC involved in idea evaluation
explain Ellamil et al. (2012) study on the default mode network and executive control
showed participants book descriptors, then asked participants to either come up with book cover designs or evaluating ideas. Researchers found that the default mode network was more active during idea generation while the executive control network was more active for idea evaluation
what are the 3 well known standardized tests for creativity and what do they test?
- Remote associations test- tests associate theory and convergent thinking
- Torrence Tests of Creative Thinking- tests divergent thinking
- Alternate Uses Test- tests divergent thinking
what does the remote associations test involve? give an example to answer
can you think of one word that is associated with all 3 words?
opera / hand / dish
answer: soap
what does the torrance test involve?
people are given simple shapes and told to use them or combine them to make a picture. evaluators judge how creative the picture is
what does the alternate uses test involve?
gives you random objects and you have to come u with as many alternate uses for it as you can (ex. if you were given a coffee cup, it could also be a small soup bowl or a plant pot)
does coffee make us more creative? explain Zabelina and Silvia (2020) study
they had students consume a caffeine pill or placebo and then complete the RAT and TTCT
-they found that caffeine had an effect on the RAT but not the TTCT. this remained eve when controlling for caffeine expectancy, working memory, and mood
what is an explanation as to why caffeine might make us more creative?
caffeine focuses attention, which is needed for convergent tasks but not divergent tasks, as minds need to wander for this type of thinking
what is the stereotype about creative people and intelligence? who majorly supported this idea and how
that they are “geniuses” (debated in literature)
-torrance thought there was a threshold effect if their IQ was at 120
