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Block 2 Unit 4 Creativity and Problem Solving

1) Define the process of creativity.

Creativity is a thought process that results in ideas or products that are novel, unusual, and useful. It involves producing something new and relevant to the situation. Creative thinking is often associated with divergent thinking, which emphasises fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration of ideas.

2) What are the various stages of creativity?

The stages of creativity, as suggested by Graham Wallas (1926), are:

• Preparation: Gathering information about the problem and attempting initial solutions. This involves recalling past experiences and exploring different avenues.
• Incubation: Allowing the problem to sink into the unconscious without intentional effort. During this stage, the individual should relax and reflect, which might lead to a modification of the problem itself.
• Illumination/Insight: A sudden understanding of the solution.
• Verification: Testing, trying, and checking the solution, with possible modifications to the ideas developed in the previous stages.

3) How is creativity related to intelligence?

Creativity and intelligence are sometimes seen as independent. Some believe that creativity is a mental operation accessible to everyone, and dependent on domain-specific knowledge and practice. While there is a minimum level of intelligence required for creativity, often cited as an IQ of 120, beyond this level, the relationship between intelligence and creativity is not clear or very weak.

4) Give an account of aspects of creative thinking.

Aspects of creative thinking include:

• Fluency: The total number of relevant responses or ideas.
• Originality: The rarity of ideas, scored based on their statistical infrequency.
• Elaboration: The number of added ideas.
• Flexibility: The number of categories of relevant responses. Note: this was later removed from Torrance's scale because of high correlation with fluency.
• Abstractness of Titles: The degree to which a title moves beyond concrete labeling, reflecting abstract thought.
• Resistance to Premature Closure: The degree of psychological openness to new information.

5) Give an account of measurement of creativity. 

Creativity is often measured through tests of divergent thinking. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), includes both verbal and figural items. The TTCT measures aspects of creativity such as fluency, originality, elaboration, abstractness of titles and resistance to premature closure.

6) Define the term problem solving.

Problem-solving is the thought process of removing obstacles in the way of achieving a goal. It is involved in taking decisions and solving simple, routine problems.

7) Describe the terms related to problem solving.

Key terms related to problem-solving include:

• Original or initial state: The starting point of a problem.
• Goal state: The desired end state or outcome of the problem.
• Obstacles: Hindrances that prevent immediate achievement of the goal.
• Person/operator: The individual attempting to solve the problem.

8) Explain the various types of problems.

Problems can be categorized as:

• Well-defined problems: The problem and the information required for its solution are clear, such as a mathematical equation or jigsaw puzzle.
• Ill-defined problems: The nature of the problem is unclear, and the information needed for a solution is not obvious, such as finding a cure for cancer.

9) Give an account of the strategies used in problem solving.

Problem-solving strategies include:

• Algorithms: Step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solution if followed correctly.
• Heuristics: General problem-solving strategies that do not guarantee a solution but can be helpful. Examples include:
  • Means-end analysis: Breaking a problem into sub-problems.
• Generate and Test: Testing possible solutions until the right one is found.
• Metacognition: Self-monitoring of progress toward the goal.

10) Define the process of creativity and describe how different psychologists differ in understanding creativity.

Creativity is a goal-directed thinking process that is unusual, novel, and useful. It involves the production of uncommon and original ideas relevant to a situation. Some psychologists view creativity as distinct from intelligence, a complex mix of motivation, personality, environment, chance and products. Others like Guilford view it as involving divergent thinking with fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration.

11) Explain how Investment and Confluence Theory approach creativity and present an account of aspects of creative thinking.

The Investment theory suggests that creativity requires a confluence of six distinct resources: intellectual abilities, knowledge, styles of thinking, personality, motivation, and environment. Aspects of creative thinking include fluency, flexibility, originality, elaboration, abstraction and resistance to premature closure.

12) Briefly discuss the stages of creativity.

The stages of creativity are preparation, incubation, illumination (or insight), and verification:

• Preparation involves gathering information and attempting initial solutions.
• Incubation allows the problem to be processed unconsciously. 
• Illumination/Insight is the moment of sudden understanding.
• Verification involves testing and refining the solution.

13) Describe how creativity is related to intelligence and explain the threshold hypothesis in this regard.

Creativity and intelligence are sometimes considered independent. The threshold hypothesis suggests that a minimum level of intelligence is necessary for creativity, often set at an IQ of 120, but beyond that threshold, the relationship is weak or unclear.

14) Give an account of measurement of creativity.

Creativity is often measured through tests of divergent thinking. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is a widely used test which measures fluency, originality, elaboration, abstractness of titles, and resistance to premature closure through both verbal and figural items.

15) Define the problem-solving behaviour and describe the terms related to problem solving.

Problem-solving behaviour is the process of removing obstacles in the way to reach a goal. Terms related to problem solving include: * Initial state: The starting point of the problem. * Goal state: The desired outcome. * Obstacles: Things that block the path to the goal. * Operator: The person trying to solve the problem.

16) Explain the various types of problems and present an account of the strategies used in problem solving.

Problems can be either well-defined (with a clear problem and solution) or ill-defined (with unclear problems and solutions). 

Strategies for problem-solving include:

• Algorithms: Specific procedures for solving a type of problem.
• Heuristics: General problem-solving strategies such as means-end analysis.
• Metacognition: Self monitoring of progress towards the goal.

17) Describe the factors affecting problem solving.

Factors affecting problem solving include:

1. Mental set/Einstellung: The tendency to approach a problem with a routine method.
2. Functional fixedness: The inability to see a new use for an object.
3. Incomplete or incorrect representations of the problem.
4. Lack of domain specific knowledge or expertise..
5. Emotional blocks like fear of failure or making mistakes.
6. Perceptual blocks which affect how a person perceives the problem.
7. Cultural blocks resulting from conditioning to accept what is expected or ‘normal’.
8. Intellectual blocks which affect what can be done to solve a problem.
9. Environmental blocks related to the problem solving environment.
10. Expressive blocks which relate to the ability to communicate ideas.
11. Cognitive barriers.
12. Learning styles.
13. Gender.
14. Lack of transfer of structure between problems.
15. The problem space not being adequately searched or represented.