CreativityGagan Deep Kaur

Dept. of HSSIIT Bombay

Creativity

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Creative Process

Creativity

Creative Being

Creative Process – Wallace (1926)

Preparation

Incubation

Illumination

Revision/Verification

Divergent Thinking

Out-

of-th

e-box

creativity

Lateral thinking

Bra

insto

rmin

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What Wikipedia says….

Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. … [it] typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing manner….. [J. P. Guilford, 1950]

Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach….[Edward De Bono,

1970]

Thinking outside the box … is to think differently, unconventionally or from a new perspective…. {John Adair, 1969}

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members…. [A. F. Osborne, 1953]

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new …. that has some kind of value. [….. ]

Tests of Creativity

Psychometric Approaches

◦Guilford Tests

◦Torrance Tests

Guilford Tests (1950s)

Unusual Uses Task

Suggesting Plot titles

Suggesting Consequences

Word Fluency

Making objects …

Ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem…

Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (1960s…)

Imaginative Stories Task

Situations Task

Creative Design Task

Improvements Task

Picture Construction Task...

ideas, ideas, ideas…..

Creativity Quotient

Fluency – Number of ideas

Flexibility – Kinds of ideas

Originality – How novel is the idea

Elaboration – How detailed is the idea

Merits of Psychometric Approaches

De-mystification of Creativity [Theology, Plato – Romanticists like Keats, Wordsworth etc.]

Development of Techniques to Nurture Creativity

[Guilford, Torrance]

Novel-combinations as chief ingredient of creative process

Computers as tools…

Replication of creative process

Generation of multiple solutions

Idea should be Novel & Useful, Original, resulting from intense motivation and be towards clarifying some vague problem

Newell, Shaw And Simon [1963]

Artificial Creativity

AM (Automated Mathematician) Douglas Lenat, 1977

Bacon Pat Langley, 1977

Cybernetic Artists…

Cybernetic Poet AARON

I think I'll crash.Just for myself with Godpeace on a curious soundfor myself in my heart?And life is weepingFrom a bleeding heartof boughs bendingsuch paths of them,of boughs bendingsuch paths of breezeknows we've been there

You broke my soulthe juice of eternity,the spirit of my lips.

Harold Cohen, 1973-Ray Kurzweil, 1985-

Mechanism of AARON

Generates drawings by using 2 kinds of knowledge - declarative (external world) & procedural (representation-building process)

Starts from foreground to background

Can revise its drawings

Are we there then?

Is Creativity all about novel-combination of existing elements?

Specialized-domains vs Everyday creativity

Is creativity skill only ?

Creativity is …?

Skill ?

Inherent ability ?

A cognitive process ?

Inborn or Socially Originated/Encouraged?

What does it mean to be creative?

Creative Process

Creativity

Creative Being

What Wikipedia says….

Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. … [it] typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing manner…..

Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach….

Thinking outside the box … is to think differently, unconventionally or from a new perspective….

Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members….

Creativity refers to the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new …. that has some kind of value.

None of These

Talent SpontaneityIntelligenceOriginality Novelty

Creativity as defined by….

Necessary & Sufficient Conditions ??

Talent -> Creativity ?

Talent as Inborn

Creativity as learned, socially promoted

Talent necessary but not sufficient for creativity

Spontaneity -> Creativity ?

Fluency, Flexibility – quantifiable measurement of creativity

Is on-the-spot bizarre behavior creativity?

Intelligence –> Creativity ?

IQ = CQ ??

No correlation between intelligence and creativity

Originality -> Creativity (?)

Margaret Boden P-Creative H-Creative

Simultaneous Creation by more than one persons

Originality -> Creativity (?)

Simultaneous Creativity

Discovery of Planet Neptune (1846) by J. C. Adams & U. L. Verrier

Law of Conservation of Energy (1842-43) by J.R.V Mayer & J.P. Joule

Oxygen (1773-74) by C. W. Scheele and Joseph Priestley

Evolution by Natural Selection (1858) by C. Darwin & Alfred Wallace

Anesthesia (1842) by C. W. Long and Thomas Morton

Telephone (1876) by G. Bell and E. Gray (still disputed)

Novelty -> Creativity (?)

Radical vs Simple novelty

Usefulness in novelty

Creative Process

Creativity

Creative Being

Creativity & Society

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)

Creativity & Society

Bach (1685-1750)

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Creativity & Society

“Abjure, Curse And Detest” - Galileo facing Inquisition in Papal Court, 1615

E pur si muove

Vindication at last!

“The error of the theologians of the time… was to think that our understanding of the physical world's structure … by the literal sense of Sacred Scripture… “ Pope John Paul II, 4 November, 1992 [Wikipedia]

Creative Process

Creative Being

Creativity

Creativity is (?)…

To make something happen Product, idea, solution….

In newer ways P/H-creative

Ways - that are useful

Consensus on ‘Creativity’ ?

Stages of Creative Process

Creativity as a skill (also) that can be Nurtured !

Tests of Creativity – Debatable! ◦Unfounded Assumptions◦Unfounded Inferences !

Can an Autistic child be Creative ? Further studies required !

Creativity

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References

In the order of discipline:-

Psychology

Wallace G. [1926]. The Art of Thought, Hardcourt Brace, NY, USA Guilford J. P. [1967]. The Nature of Human Intelligence, McGraw Hill, USA Torrance E. P [1974]. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Scholastic Testing

Service Inc. USA. Retrieved from http://creativeprocess.iwarp.com/rich_text_4.html

Management Sciences

Allan G. [2006]. Intelligence Tests And Immigration to United States 1900-1940

Amabile T. [1998]. How to Kill Creativity. Harvard Business Review. 76[5]. 18-24

References

Artificial Intelligence

Ritchie G.D & Hanna F. K. [1984]. AM: A Case Study in AI Methodology. Artificial Intelligence. 23. 249-268

Langley P. W. [1977]. BACON: A Production System That Discovers Empirical Laws. Proceedings of IJCAI. P. 344

Newell A, Shaw J G, Simon H [1963]. The Process of Creative Thinking. In Gruber et al (Eds.) Contemporary Approaches to Creative Thinking. Atherton. NY, USA. Pp. 63-119.

Veale T., Gervas P, Pease A. [2006]. Understanding Creativity: A Computational Perspective. Retrieved from http://afflatus.ucd.ie/Papers/UnderstandingCreativity_2006.pdf

References

Philosophy

Boden M. [2004]. The Creative Mind: Myths And Mechanisms. Routledge. UK

Novitz D. [1999]. Creativity And Constraint. Australasian Journal of Philosophy. 77[1]. 67-82

Misc

Vernon P. E [1970]. Creativity: Selected Readings. Penguin Books. USA

Image Sources Given in Footnotes