Creativity- Lecture 10

Question 1

What is creativity?

Answer 1

Difficult to define-
subjective
culturally bound

Question 2

Sternberg (1999)

Answer 2

Creativity involves element of:

• Novelty
• Surprise
• Success

Question 3

3 levels of Creativity ( P’s )

Answer 3

Product
Process
Person

Question 4

Understanding creativity (importance)
-Implications

Answer 4

Impact for education and training

Development of computer programs showing creativity

Question 5

Guilford (1950)

Answer 5

Divergent- operation tasks
Many answers are possible
Want many answers produced
Devised several creativity tests with divergent operations:
-production of semantic units
-alternative relations
 -production of systems
BUT- tests only weakly relate to other ratings of creativity

Question 6

Mednick (1962)

Remote Associate Test

Answer 6

• trio of terms is proposed, and the common remote associate is required
• evidence that it correlates with creativity
• high correlation with verbal intelligence and with g

Question 7

Jamison (1993)

Answer 7

Mad Genius Hypothesis
Very creative individuals tend to be diagnosed as manic-depressive or schizophrenic
Ability to build unusual associations between concepts

Question 8

Simonton (1999)

Answer 8

major creators with:

• Schizophrenia-(Newton etc.)
• Bipolar disorder-(Van Gogh etc.)

Question 9

Post (1994)

Answer 9

Severe psychopathology (DSM III):
Politicians        17%
Scientists        18%
Thinkers		26%
Composers	31%
Artists		38%
Writers 		46%

Question 10

Jamison (1989)

Answer 10

Interviews with 47 English writers and artists
>38% received treatment for mental disorders
>30% severe and durable mood swings
>most described presence of highly productive episodes that correspond with manic phases of BPD

Question 11

Direction of Causality

Answer 11

Not sure if:
Psychopathology> Creativity
Creativity> Psychopathology
Possible that there is a common factor:
Common Factor > Creativity & Psychopathology
E.g. stress, psychoticism

Question 12

Wallas (1926)

4 Stages of Creativity

Answer 12

/ >Preparation
1st 3 >Incubation
\ >Illumination
>Verification

1st 3 based on Poincare (1913)
-There is an emphasis on unconscious processing
»support from reports of creative scientists&artists

Question 13

Newell & Simon (1972)

Answer 13

Problem Space approach
(problem solving seen as a search through a ‘problem space’)
>creativity is a type of problem solving
Problems >displayed as a set of states
Begin at start state and have a goal state
Create new states in solving problem
Tracking problem solving by describing the different stages and states in the process

Question 14

Simon (1966)

problem space explanation of incubation

Answer 14

Problem solving involves
>Control info
(information about sub-goals)
>Factual info(properties of the problem)

During incubation control info decays>making factual info less context sensitive
>Increases likelihood of finding solution

Question 15

Experimental studies of Creativity

Qin and Simon (1990|)

Answer 15

Replicated Keplers discovery of 3rd Law of Planetary motion
>Undergraduate students received the same data as Kepler
>The context was changed
»>almost 1/3 students found equation in 1 hour or less
CREATIVITY not always novel or remarkable- moving through space
(heuristics)

Question 16

Experimental studies of Creativity

Langley ey al (1987)

Answer 16

Pro mathematicians and physicists
>Same data as Max Planck to develop theory of blackbody radiation
»>Almost all ptps found solution within 3 mins
CREATIVITY not always novel or remarkable- moving through space
(heuristics)

Question 17

Experimental studies of Creativity

Dunbar (1993)

Answer 17

> laboratory simulation of Monod and Jacob’s discovery of genetic control
students and even school children were able to replicate the discoveries
CREATIVITY not always novel or remarkable- moving through space
(heuristics)

Question 18

A.I. & Creativity

Possible?

Answer 18

If Newell and Simon’s problem space approach is correct, programs using search should show creativity

Question 19

A.I. vs Computational modelling

Answer 19

> Artificial Intelligence: uses computer to produce intelligent or creative behaviour, not necessarily in the same way as humans

> Computational modelling: uses computers to develop theories of human behaviour
sometimes overlap

Question 20

A.I. and Visual arts

AARON (Cohen, 1981)

Answer 20

Simple mathematical and artificial-intelligence techniques produce amazing outputs

Draws pictures following rules and constraints
>Highly aesthetic results
>Limited in its style, but creative inside it
>Can be used as tool to explore a conceptual space

Question 21

Scientific doscovery of AI and Creativity

Answer 21

The Logic Theorist (Newell, Shaw & Simon, 1958

Question 22

Kulkarni & Simon (1988)

Answer 22

KEKADA
Detailed simulation of a scientific discovery
Makes theoretical inferences
Assesses the acceptability of its theoretical knowledge
Models experimental tests

Problem space solving»>gradual process guided by problem-solving heuristics similar to those used in other intelligent human attempts

Question 23

Knowledge and Creativity

Answer 23

Creativity= Novel Sternberg (1999) then it must be unrelated to knowledge

Question 24

Knowledge and Creativity
Frensch and Sternberg (1989)

Weisberg (1999)

Answer 24

Knowledge is necessary for creativity, but too much of it can be harmful

However, knowledge and experience seem to help creativity
e.g. Mozart (15 yrs experience), The Beatles (beein in music ind. 10 yrs)

Question 25

Creativity and quantity of Output

Answer 25

Creating successful creative products may be trial and error, and be a product of making many variations until final is achieved Distributions are not normal- J shaped

Question 26

Campbell,(1960); Simonton, (1999)

Answer 26

Generate many and then let the field select creative piece | 'Blind variation and selective retention'

Question 27

Price's (1963) Law

Answer 27

1/2 of all scientific contributions are made by the square root of the total number of scientific contributors e.g. with 10,000 scientists in a given discipline, just 100 of them will account for 50% of all publications ALSO APPLIES TO ART

Question 28

Strategies for creativity

Answer 28

``` Creators tend to show typical strategies, consciously or unconsciously -Problem finding >variations of solution >change direction >Redefine problems -Set breaking set >Tendency to think in negations, contraries and opposites -Brainstorming and curiosity >Readiness to play with one’s knowledge -Analogical thinking ```

Question 29

Values applied across a variety of domains in relation to solving creative problems

Answer 29

>Tendency to search for originality as such >Strong tendency toward autonomy and independence >Taste for challenging the boundaries >Taste for consistency, parsimony and generality, in sciences >High tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty Strong intrinsic motivation

Question 30

Langley (2004) | Herbert Simon’s Heuristics

Answer 30

``` >Be audacious >Study important problems >Ignore discipline boundaries >Use a secret weapon >Balance theory and data >Satisfice -Anything worth doing is worth doing badly >Persevere ```

Question 31

McGuire (1997) | 49 Creative Heuristics in Psychology

Answer 31

McGuire identified 49 Creative Heuristics used to form psychological hypotheses e.g. >Recognising and accounting for the oddity of occurrances >Introspective self-analysis