Download - 42629 lecture 4 pt2
The Crea(ve Brain-‐ Morten de Fine Friis-‐Olivarius -‐
The concept of crea(vity
• Defini4ons– Something ‘original’ and ‘useful’
– “the forming of associa4ve elements into new combina4ons which either meets specific requirements or are in some way useful. The more mutually remote the elements of the new combina4on, the more crea4ve the process or solu4on” Mednick (1962)
Einstein’s Theory of Rela4vity
E = mc2
• Einstein did not invent the concepts of energy, mass, or speed of light. Rather, he combined these old ideas in an original and useful way
The ‘process vs. product criterion issue’
• Trait Crea4vity• Trait Crea4vity– The crea4ve ability or poten4al ability of the individual
– A latent trait underlying crea4ve behavior and believed to be normally distributed in the popula4on. A necessary but not sufficient condi4on for crea4ve produc4vity
• Achievement Crea4vity– The social success of the product of this ability
– Dependent on interac4ons between the crea4ve ability and internal as well as external factors. Distributed in the popula4on roughly following price’s law (√A)
Associa4ve Gradient Theory(Mednick, 1962; Baer, 1993; Mar4ndale, 1995; Eysneck, 1997)
• Less crea4ve individuals– A s4mulus ac4vates many closely associated or ‘sterotypical’
representa4ons and only few remotely associated representa4ons
• Highly crea4ve individuals– Comparable access to both closely and remotely associated concepts.
Conven4onal responses are not overly dominant
Mednick – the associa4ve model
• Mednick (1962):– It is in these remote associa4ons that crea4ve solu4ons occur
– The greater the number of associa4on an individual has to the requisite elements of a given problem, the greater the probability of reaching a crea4ve solu4on
Lateral inhibi4on
• ???
Cogni4ve Inhibi4on and memory retrieval mechanisms
• Searching the associa4ve network causes inhibi4on of ‘irrelevant’ or ‘inappropriate’ associa4ons
• Although brilliant -‐ not a perfect system– Fixa4on effects
• Tip-‐of-‐The-‐Tongue phenomenon– a kind of “flashlight effect” that can be ar4ficially induced
• Blocking in memory retrieval -‐ Response compe44on– The unwanted response blocks the tarket respons
• Also known as:– retrieval-‐induced forgebng– mental fixa4on / design fixa4on
Implicit Memory Blocking
Dominant Response (Blocker: ANALOGY)
A _ L _ _ G Y
Non-‐dominant Response (Target: ???????)
Implicit Memory Blocking Target ALLERGY ! BAGGAGE CATALOG CHARITY COUNTRY CULPRIT ! DIGNITY ! FAILURE ! HISTORY ! TANGENT ! TRAGEDY VOLTAGE
Blocker! Fragment ANALOGY! !A _ L _ _ G YBRIGADE ! ! B _ G _ A _ ECOTTAGE !! C _ T A _ _ GCHARTER !! C H A R _ T _CLUSTER !! C _ U _ T R _CRUMPET ! C U _ P _ _ TDENSITY ! ! D _ _ N I T YFIXTURE ! ! F _ I _ U R EHOLSTER !! H _ S T _ R _TONIGHT ! ! T _ N G _ _ TTRILOGY ! ! T R _ G _ _ YVOYAGER ! V O _ _ A G E
From Smith & Tindell (1997)
Implicit Memory Blocks
• Blocks can be caused by implicit memory of inappropriate responses
• Problem solving studies using implicit memory blocks show an involuntary retrieval of incorrect blockers, and an inability to escape or avoid the blocking effect
e.g. Smith & Blankenship (1991); Smith & Tindell (1997)
Eight-‐Coin Problem • Eight-‐Coin Problem (Chronicle, MacGregor, & Ormerod, 2004)
• Moving only two coins make an arrangement which ensures that every coin touches exactly three other coins
Nine-‐Dot Problem• Using just four straight lines connect all of the dots without taking your pen
off the page
Robert Weisberg
Temple University