Creativity

CREATIVITY

1. CREATIVITY Creativity may be defined as “the quality of being able to produce original work or ideas in any field”. It is the cognitive activity that results in new, novel, and unusual way of viewing or solving a problem. Robert Sternberg has proposed to apply the name Creatology to scientific studies of creativity.

2. Four concepts Flexibility refers to the concept that a creative person approaches a given problem from many different angles. All of their ideas are not based off of the same theme. The concept of Fluency refers to the need or ability to generate a large number of ideas to select a solution from. Originality refers to the novelty, uniqueness, or newness of the idea. Clarity refers to the idea that a creative idea is not vague. It is specific enough that others can understand the idea, talk about it, elaborate on it, and explore it further.

3. Originality and clarity are descriptive of creative outcomes . flexibility and fluency are characteristic of a creative process.

4. THREE COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY

5. Expertise is the foundation of all creative work. The potential of creativity is enhanced when individuals have abilities, knowledge, proficiencies, and similar expertise in the field of endeavor. Creative thinking skills encompasses personality characteristics associated with creativity, the ability to use analogies as well as talent to see the familiar in a different light. Development of creative ideas involves intelligence, self-confidence, risk taking, ambiguity and perseverance in the face of frustration. Motivation is the desire to work on something because it’s interesting, involving, exciting, satisfying, or personally challenging. This motivational component is what turns creativity potential into actual creative ideas.

6. DIMENSIONS OF CREATIVITY Intellectual leadership- Creative thinkers are able to create new and promising theories or exciting trends which inspire others to follow up; in essence starting a movement, school of thought or trend. Sensitivity to problems -Being able to identify problems that challenge others and open up a new field of thought is a mark of creative thinking. Originality -Creative thinkers are able to find ideas or solutions that no one else has been able to come up with. Patents are (supposedly) given out to original ideas. Ingenuity -Ingenious solutions are able to solve problems in a neat and surprising way or which also reflect a new perspective at looking at the problem.

7. Unusualness -Creative thinkers are able to see the remote associations between ideas. When word association tests are given, people in highly creative literary fields like poets give a higher proportion of unique responses. Usefulness -Solutions or ideas that are also practical are also considered more creative as the creator is able to meet the constraints of the problem while at the same time producing unusual and original solutions. Appropriateness - Non sequitur ideas can be highly original and unusual, but are not as creative as ideas which are also appropriate to the situation. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy is within the genre of fantasy writing, but has also shown itself to be both convincing and imaginative.

8. STAGES OF CREATIVITY Preparation- Spending long periods of time immersed in the problem, gathering knowledge relevant to it, and working on it. Incubation-An interval during which the person involved stops working actively on the problem and turns to other matters. Incubation periods may provide people with an opportunity to recover from the fatigue generated by the intense preparation phase. Illumination or Insight-At such times, individual’s report that they suddenly see, perhaps only in partially developed form, the first glimmer of a solution they have been seeking for months or even years. Verification-Considerable refinement must often follow. The idea must be worked out, translated into testable form, and then actually tested. Only when mounting evidence indicates that it does work, is the creative solution carried to its final conclusion. Graham Wallace

9. Having conflicting goals and objectives. Competition in the present environment can hamper motives for creative output. Concerns with job advancement or opportunities as opposed to job stability or security mat affect motives to be creative at work. A too hectic environment that does not provide quiet time for reflection and introspection. A sterile environment that does not feed the senses. FACTORS AFFECTING CREATIVITY

10. Rigid rules and barriers that prevent us from gathering information and or from connecting with others. Fear of self-expression and of the judgment of others as well as lack of confidence can severely limit ones creativity. Negative thinking and self-criticism are also limiting factors of an individual’s creativity. Stress is a distraction, which drains energy, which could otherwise be used creatively.

11. Organic causes like Dementia, frontal lobe syndrome or stroke may result in multiple cognitive deficits including memory loss, impairment in abstract thinking and difficulty coping with new tasks. Emotional depression-when we are depressed, our minds are filled with self-deprecating thoughts, sometimes to the level of obsession. When we are overwhelmed with negative self talk, poor concentration and hopelessness, our brain has neither the time nor the resources to devote to new and innovative ideas.

12. MEASURMENT OF CREATIVITY Creativity tests, mostly devised during the past 30 years, are aimed at assessing the qualities and abilities that constitute creativity. These tests evaluate mental abilities in ways that are different from and even diametrically opposed to conventional intelligence tests. Most creativity tests in use today are based on the theory or creativity evolved by J.P Guilford in the 1950s. Early tests designed to assess an individual’s aptitude for divergent thinking the Torrance (1962) and Meeker (1969) tests.

13. One of the most common tests used to assess creativity in a child or an adult is the Torrance Tests of Creative thinking . The TTCT test is a series of figural exercises (thinking with pictures) and verbal activities (thinking with words) that students do to showcase their creative abilities. The most extensive work on divergent thinking was done under Guilford’s direction at the University of Southern California by the Aptitudes Research Project (ARP).

14. The ARP tests are divided into verbal and figural categories. Those that measure verbal ability include : Word fluency: writing words containing a given letter . Ideational fluency: naming things that belongs to a given class (i.e. fluids that will burn ) Associational fluency: writing synonyms for a specified word.

15. Expressional fluency: writing four word sentences in which each word begins with a specified letter . Alternate uses: listing as many uses as possible for a given object Plot titles: writing titles for short story plots . Consequences : listing consequences for a hypothetical event (“what if no one needed to sleep ?”). Possible jobs: list all jobs that might be symbolized by a given emblem.

16. The figural ARP tests, which measure spatial aptitude, include the following : Making objects: drawing specified objects using only a given set of shapes, such as a circle, square etc. Sketches : elaborating on a given figure to produce sketches or recognizable items Match problems: removing a specified number of matchsticks from a diagram to produce a specified number of geometric shapes.

17. Decorations : using as many different designs as possible to outline drawings of common objects . Divergent thinking tests are generally evaluated based on the number and variety of answers provided; the originality of the answers; and the amount of detail they contain (a characteristics referred to as elaboration).

18. S ome creativity tests evaluate attitudes, behavior, creative perception, or creative activity. The Eby Gifted Behavior Index reflects the growing view of creativity as specific to different domains. It is divided into six talent fields: verbal, social or leadership, visual or spatial, math or science, problem-solving, mechanical or technical, and musical. The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal is a more analytical assessment of giftedness based on five components of critical thinking: inference, deduction, interpretation, awareness of assumptions, and evaluation of arguments .

19. TECHNIQUES TO ENHANCE CREATIVITY • Develop a broad and rich knowledge base, as the preparatory phase • Foster independence • Encourage curiosity and the use of analogies • Enhance positive affect • Set aside a special thinking time or thinking place

20. • Get involved with children’s activities; some toys as well as just talking and asking questions, contribute to creative thought and practice . • There are many types of games that involve intellectual thought and creative solution; investigate miniatures, board games, card games, computer games and simulations, and so forth . • Try and use daily distractions to practice being creative. Learn to incorporate the imagination into every activity, to use your creative talents to improve your daily life.

21. • Parents and teachers should not repress creativity through constantly placing a premium on grades and quick answers. It may be the child who is more reserved and thoughtful who will turn out to be clever and creative genius someday . • Business corporations have found that the creativeness of their employees are promoted when the structure of their organization is less hierarchical and more democratic and free flowing.

22. CONVERGENT THINKING Convergence is commonly defined as “the ability to use logical and evaluative thinking to critique and narrow ideas to ones best suited for given situations, or set criteria ”. It is focused on finding the single, best, correct answer to a standard problem in the shortest time.

23. It emphasizes the personal characteristics of speed, accuracy, logic, and focuses on accumulating information, recognizing the familiar, reapplying set techniques, and preserving the already known . The credit for coining the term “convergent thinking” goes to Joy Paul Guilford. He came up with the term as an opposite term to “divergent thinking ”. According to Guilford, the tendency to narrow all conventional options to a single solution is called convergent thinking. Examples: Standard IQ tests measure convergent thinking. Logic thought flow, pattern recognition, the capacity to solve problems and testing knowledge can all be evaluated and graded in these tests. Variety of tests, such as multiple choice tests, quizzes, spelling tests and similar other tests require convergent thinking, because only one answer can be 100% correct.

24. DIVERGENT THINKING Divergence can be defined by the ability to “generate many, or more complex or complicated, ideas from one idea or from simple ideas or triggers ”. In short we can say, thinking that produces many ideas or alternatives; a major element in original or creative thought.

25. It usually happens in a free-flowing, spontaneous manner, where multiple creative ideas are engendered and evaluated. Once the stage of divergent thinking is complete, information and ideas are structured and organized using convergent thinking. Brainstorming and free writing are two process that involve divergent thinking. According to Guilford, the ability to think of multiple solutions by moving outside conventional ideas, lay at the core of creativity which he called divergent thinking.

26. Guilford identified three components of divergent thinking : Fluency (the ability to quickly find multiple solutions to a problem ); Flexibility (being able to simultaneously consider a variety or alternatives ); Originality (referring to ideas that differ from those of other people).

27. Divergent thinking is one of the stereotypes of creativity as a whole. In order to become “creative”, emphasis is placed on a person developing and adopting a more divergent process and developing personal characteristics such as openness, tolerance for ambiguity , and willingness to take risks . The additional characteristics of curiosity, courage of ones convictions, openness, flexibility , and nonconformity are also seen as being fundamental to creativity.

28. Divergent thinking has been detected in people with personality characteristics such as these- curiosity, nonconformity, persistence and readiness to take risks . Examples: Bubble mapping, creative artwork, maintaining a journal, subject mapping, devoting some time to mediation and thinking, and building lists of questions are all examples of activities that trigger divergent thinking . Divergent thinking wouldn’t be applicable in multiple choice tests or standardized tests, which require a single absolute answer.

29. DECISION MAKING The concept of decision making involves defining the problem, finding, comparing and choosing a course of action. It is a process or activity of choosing an appropriate course of action from several alternative courses. Decision making is a purposeful activity because it is directed towards the achievement of a goal and objectives. The term “decision making” has been defined as a process of judging various available options and narrowing down choices to a situation one. Decision making is a conscious and human process involving both individual and social phenomena based on factual and value premises which concludes with a choice of one behavioral activity from among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving towards a desired state of affairs.”

30. There are various models of decision making they are as follows :- 1 . RATIONAL DECISION MAKING MODEL A decision making model that describes how individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome . The process of rational decision-making comprises a number of steps, such as those given by Simon (1977 ): Intelligence : finding occasions for making a decision;

31. Design : inventing, developing and analyzing possible courses of action ; Choice : selecting a particular course of action from those available; and Review : assessing past choices.

32. Rational decision making process The optimizing decision maker is rational. There are six steps in the rational decision making model . The model begins by defining problem. Once a decision maker have define the problem, he or she needs to identify the decision criteria that will be important in solving the problem . In this step decision maker determine what is relevant in making the decision. This step brings the decision makers interest, values and personal preferences into the process .

33. In the third step the decision maker weight the previously identified criteria in order to give them correct priority in the decision . The forth step requires the decision maker to generate possible alternatives that could succeed in resolving the problem. Once the alternatives have been generated the decision maker must critically analyze and evaluate each one . The next step is rating each alternative on each criteria . The final step in this model requires computing the optimal decisions. This is done by evaluating each alternative with highest total score.

34. Assumptions of this model Problem clarity Known options Clear preference Constant preference No time or cost constraints Maximum proof

35. 2. BOUNDED RATIONALITY A process of making decision by constructing simplified models that extract the essentials features from problems without capturing all their complexity . The limited information processing capacity of human being makes it impossible to assimilate and understand all the information necessary to optimize.

36. 3 . NATURALISTIC DECISION MAKING Naturalistic decision-making is concerned with investigating and understanding decision making in its natural context. The empirical foundation of naturalistic decision-making differentiates it from other descriptive models, such as the organizational procedures, garbage can or political views. A recent contribution to the field of naturalistic decision making is that of Klein’s (1998) Recognition-Primed Decision (RPD) model. Klein observed and/or analyzed over 600 decisions made by people in life-or-death situations, such as firemen, nurses and soldiers.

37. According to Klein, one of the key factors leading to good decisions is experience. The RPD model supports the idea that experience will increase the person’s ability to recognize a situation.

38. INTUITION It is the ability to acquire knowledge without proof, evidence or conscious reasoning or without understanding how the knowledge was acquired . Intuition decision making It is an unconscious process created out of distilled experience. People likely to use intuitive decision making in eight conditions, such as : When a high level of uncertainty exists When there is little precedent to draw on

39. When variables are less scientifically predictable When facts are limited When facts don’t clearly point the way When analytical data are of little use When there are several plausible alternative solutions from which to choose When there is limited and there is pressure to come up with right decision

40. ERRORS IN DECISION MAKING Over confidence bias : It makes us think we know more than we actually do . Anchoring bias : It is the tendency to fixate in initial information as a starting point . Conformation bias : It represents a specific case of selective perception . Availability bias : It is the tendency for people to base their judgment on information that is readily available to them.

41. Representative bias : It is tend to assess the likelihood of an occurrence by trying to match it with a pre-existing category. Randomness bias : It is a cognitive type refusal to accept that things sometimes just happen that are outside the control of the people and organizations involved . Hindsight bias: It is the tendency for us to believe falsely that we’d have accurately predicted the outcome of an event, after the outcome is actually known . Escalation of commitment error : It refers to staying with a decision stream represents a serious of decisions.

42. 7 STEPS TO EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING Decision making is the process of making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions. 1 : Identify the decision 2 : Gather relevant information 3 : Identify the alternatives 4 : Weigh the evidence

43. 5 : Choose among alternatives 6 : Take action 7 : Review your decision & its consequences

44. IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF DECISION MAKING IN HUMAN LIFE Decision making helps to find solution to any problem in a work place. Decision making helps to identify the best course of action in each given situation and there by promotes efficiency.

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