CHAPTER 1

CREATIVE THINKING

What is Creative Thinking?

• Creation of a new & unique idea.

• Thinking out of the box.– Breaking down & restructuring our knowledge in

producing & advancements in new technology, medicine, management, transportation & every element of human life.

• Is a DIVERGENT PROCESS.– Begins at a single question/point.– The search is expanding into many different

direction, generating a wide variety of new ideas.

“True Nature” of Creativity:

• Generation of new ideas.• Seeing & pursuing a larger vision.• Positive attitude of the mind that seeks

something news.• Using knowledge & skills to achieve value in

news ways.

• Causing something unique to come out into being

• Recombining the old to create something different & new

• Freedom to engage in unconventional thinking to produce ideas.

THEORIES OF CREATIVE THINKING:

THREE PERSPECTIVES

1. SUPERNATURAL PERSPECTIVE

• Is a traditional view of creative thinking.

• People are born with creativity & are not made it through training.

2. RATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• Natural consequences resulting from the application of universal principles.

• All activities of our world complement one another.

3. DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

• Creative thinking develops as an individual grows to maturity.

• E.g. a child can be mature as they growth to become a teenagers and adult, they be able to think creatively & critically.

Characteristic of CREATIVE THINKER

1. Positive Thinking– Avoid stress, depression & sadness

2. Positive Attitude– Willing to learn new things to improve level of

knowledge & educational.– Become optimistic about the future & willing to

accept responsibilities.

THREE MAJOR VIEWS OF CREATIVE THINKING

1. The Creative Person

• Include:– Imagination– Curiosity– Openness– Objectivity– Flexibility– Fluency– Sensitiveness to sensory stimulation

– Humour – Confidence in one’s ideas– Intellectual playfulness– Indifference towards conformity– Willingness to try new things & ideas– Synthesising skills & ability to work intensively for

long period of time

2. The Creative Product

• Judged by the levels of creative thinking, which range from basic to complex.

• They include:1. Expressive creative thinking – illustrated in

brainstorming.

2. Productive creative thinking – judged by the number of products.

3. Inventive creative thinking – couples efficiency & originality with available materials & ideas.

4. Innovative creative thinking – which rear-ranges the field as does cubism in visual art.

LEHMAN PEAK PERIODS OF THE CREATIVE PRODUCTS

• Examine the relationship between age & creative product.

• He recorded the biographical background of the work of several thousand individuals & studied the ages at which the subjects of his study made their best contributions.

• As a result, we are able to identified that “creative peak” of the adult life span is in the 30s.

• Dennis (carried out another similar study):• Examine the relationship between age &

creative products of creative people including:– Artists, scholars & scientist.

• We can identify that by using “longer age” subjects, the creative peak for adults is from the 40s to the 60s.

3. The Creative Process

• AKA the “heart” of creative thinking.

• Involve ability to produce original ideas to a unique & quality production.

• All people have it but in different degress.

a. Dewey’s model problem solving

• Five logical steps:

1.A difficulty is felt2.The difficulty is located & defined3.Possible solutions are considered4.Consequences of these solutions are accepted

• According to Dewey, the complexity of the process depends upon such factors:

1.The maturity2.Ability3.Experience of the person4.Environment

b. Wallach’s model problem solving • Four stages include:

1.Preparation2.Incubation3.Illumination4.Verification

1. Preparation

• A problem is detected & relevant data are identified

2. Incubation• Leave problem into the unconscious mind /

alone.

• Try to think hard & mulling over the problem is counterproductive.

• Avoid to think about the problem itself.

• Try to do something that make you feel relax & enjoy yourself.

3. Illumination

• The new solution is emerged suddenly & it been tested whether it is an applicable solution to the problem.

4. Verification

• Important stage.

• The ability to recognise whether a solution fits to the problem or not.

c. Osborn’s model problem solving

• Three steps:

1.Fact-finding2.Idea-finding3.Solution-finding

d. Guilford’s model problem solving

• Five types of mental operation of the structure of intellect:

1.Cognition – (discovery, recognition)

2.Memory - (retention of what is recognised)

3. Convergent thinking – the thinking the result in the right/wrong answer to a question that can only have one answer.

4. Divergent thinking – the thinking in different directions / searching for a variety of ansers to questions that may have many right answers.

5. Evaluation – the process of reaching decisions about the accuracy, goodness / suitability of the information.

THEORIES OF CREATIVE PROCESS

FOUR STAGES

1. SATURATION

• Divided into 2 stages:

• 1) Pooling elements– Gathering information related to the problem.– Contains:• Routine elements (ideas that readily come to mind)• Novel elements (new of fresh ideas)• Altered elements (the elements have been altered in

some way)

• 2) searching for a combination in the creative process– Various potential elements from the pool will

linked together.– They are set aside as cluster.– Cluster of elements will try to search for the best

combination.– Involve grouping, struggling, stretching which may

not comfortable.

2. INCUBATION

• Leave the problem alone.

• Think other thing that will make you relax & happy

3. INSPIRATION

• When incubation is due to the process of unconscious mind.

• Problem can be settled more easily without any interruption.

4. VERIFICATION

• Valid the process in order to ensure it is applicable solution/not.

• If comes to failure, the creative process need to return to the first step.

FOUR CHARACTERISTIC OF CREATIVE THINKING

1. ORIGINALITY

• Uniqueness of any given response.

• Shown by an unusual, unique / rare response.

• E.g. Design a dream computer of the future.

2. ELABORATION

• Ability to clarify on a particular subject.

• The bridge the individual must access in order to communicate this “creative” idea to outside of himself.

• Shown by the number of additions & details that can be made to some simple stimulus to make it more complex.

• The additions can be in the form of decoration, colour, shading / design.

• E.g. design of hand phone covers with different kinds of colours.

3. FLUENCY

• Ability to produce an abundance of ideas.

• The more plentiful the ideas, the greater the possibility there is to generate a significant one.

• E.g. Fashion designer – try to come out / produce as much as you can in giving ideas & creativity.

4. FLEXIBILITY

• Ability to shift his mental set when the circumstances require it.

• Ability to overcome mental blocks, to adjust the approach to a problem.

• E.g. able to work under pressure & be able to control your emotions.

ENHANCING CREATIVE THINKING IN STUDENTS

FOUR STEPS

1. REMOVE THE CREATIVE THINKING BLOCKAGES IN STUDENTS

• Teachers:

• Identify the factors that blocks the creativity of their students.

• E.g: fear of failure, overemphasis on evaluation & external motivation.

• Finds a way to remove these blockages.

• Help students to identify their creative blocks & factors to remove it.

• E.g: let students identify their own weakness & try to overcome it.

• Unblocking creative expression is the primary & first step in enhancing creative thinking in students.

2. MAKE THEM AWARE OF THE NATURE OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS

• Teachers:

• Assist students to be aware of the nature of the creative process by introducing and explaining in detail the stages of creative thinking theories & models.

• To make them understand, realize & believe that they also can be creative.

• E.g: must be able to guide their students to ensure they are in the right track & they can reveal their imaginative in a good & creative way.

3. INTRODUCE & PRACTICE CREATIVE THINKING STRATEGIES

• Teachers:

• Explain & introduce how creative thinking strategies work.

• E.g: brainstorming, mind mapping, practice skills through observation, lateral thinking & other effective strategies.

• Students are able to apply and practice it as well.

4. CREATE A CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT

• Provided with a space in order to express their creative thinking.

• To articulate new ideas & design for e.g. provide them with art rooms & others that relevant.

REMOVING BLOCKAGES TO CREATIVE THINKING

1. FEARS OF FAILURE

• People cannot accept failure due to the punishment & criticism in front of people after making errors.

Ways to overcome:

– able to convince ourselves that making mistakes is normal & it is a process of successful learning.

– Provide with an open & critic-free negatively influences.

2. LACK OF CONFIDENCE

• Unhappy & at sometimes depressed in life.

• Tend to avoid taking risks because they are afraid of failure.

Ways to overcome:

• Find ways to get a hold of their life so that they can feel good about the way their life is going.

• Should try & figure out the things that make them feel better in life.

• E.g: use work/being with friends as a confidence builder

3. THINKING FIXITY

• Two types

1.Conceptual fixity– One is unable to imagine the concept after being

revealed by a variety of other ways.

– E.g: effect of coloring books to the child. Lost creativity after being exposed to coloring books.

2. Functional fixity– When one is unable to imagine thinking in other

than usual ways.

– E.g: When shown a box with tools, and getting the assignment: “solve problem A with help of what you see here”, the people did not see the box that contained the tools as a tool to be used for the solving of A. They saw the box only as a container of the tools.

4. LACK OF BREATHING SPACE FOR INCUBATION

• Some people were over-think the problem will find themselves unable to find a way to solve the problem by just thinking for a long period of time.

• Ways to overcome:

• Give some breathing space in the middle of the creative process before producing a great new idea.

5. INTRINSIC & EXTRINSIC MOTIVATIONS

• Two types:

1.Intrinsic Motivation– Motivation that comes from inside an individual

rather than from any external or outside rewards, such as money or grades.

• The motivation comes from the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on a task.

• E.g: An intrinsically motivated person will work on a math equation, because it is enjoyable.

2. Extrinsic Motivation– Motivation that comes from outside an

individual. The motivating factors are external, or outside, rewards such as money or grades.

– E.g: the person work on the task because there is some reward involved, such as a prize, a payment, or in the case of students, a grade.

Ways to overcome:

1. Structure the work environment so that competition, external rewards, external evaluation & other constraints are de-emphasized.

2. Teach the ways to cognitively distance ourselves from the extrinsic constraints placed on us without ignoring those constraints completely so that these factors do not overwhelm our enjoyment of work.

3. Try to think & talk about fun & enjoy experience in our life so that they are able to help us to find ways to explore more enjoyable activities & to make the less enjoyable more interesting.

6. LOW TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY

• Unable to remain open-minded when facing ambiguous & chaotic situations.

Ways to overcome:

1. We should been introduced with unusual situation in increasingly challenging steps & should be helped to cope with the disharmonies & fears these experiences produce.