Слайд 1Chapter 8
Cognition, Language, and Creativity
Слайд 2What Is Thinking?
Cognition: mentally processing internal representations (mental expressions) of
a problem or situation; thinking
Image: picture-like mental representation
Concept: idea representing
a category of objects or events
Language: words or symbols, and rules for combining them
Слайд 3Mental Imagery
Synesthesia: ability to create images crossing normal sensory barriers
Mental
images are not flat like photographs
We can mentally rotate them
Stored
image: image retrieved from memory
Created image: image that has been assembled or invented rather than remembered
Kinesthetic image: image created from muscular sensations
Слайд 4Concept Formation
Concept formation: process of classifying information into meaningful
categories
Positive instance: object or event that belongs to the concept
class
Negative instance: object or event that does not belong to the concept class
Conceptual rule: guideline for deciding whether objects or events belong to a concept class
Слайд 5Types of Concepts
Conjunctive concept: class of objects that are defined
by the presence of two or more features (e.g., rabbit
is white AND furry)
Relational concept: based on how an object relates to something else or how its features relate to one another
Disjunctive concept: objects that have at least one of several possible features; either-or concept (strike in baseball)
Слайд 6Prototypes
Prototype: ideal model used as a prime example of a
concept
Слайд 7Faulty Concepts
Social stereotype: oversimplified concept of a group of people
All-or-nothing
thinking (one-dimensional thought): classifying things as absolutely right or wrong,
good or bad, fair or unfair, black or white, honest or dishonest
Thinking this way prevents us from appreciating the subtleties of most life problems
Слайд 8Connotative Meaning
Denotative meaning: exact dictionary definition of a word or
concept; its objective meaning
Connotative meaning: emotional or personal meaning of
a concept
Semantic differential: measure of connotative meaning obtained by rating words or concepts on several dimensions
Слайд 9Language
Semantics: study of meanings in language and words
Linguistic relativity hypothesis:
idea that the words we use not only reflect our
thoughts but can shape them as well
Bilingualism: ability to speak two languages
Two-way bilingual education: method to foster development of additive bilingualism
Слайд 10Structure of Language
Phonemes: basic speech sounds of a language
Morphemes: speech
sounds collected into meaningful units, like syllables or words
Grammar: set
of rules for making sounds into words and words into sentences
Syntax: rules for word order in sentences
Transformation rules: rules that allow us to change a declarative sentence into other voices (passive, active) or forms
Слайд 11Gestural Languages
American Sign Language (ASL): language used by deaf and
hearing-impaired people
Слайд 12Animal Language
While animals communicate, they may not do so via
language
Chimp language
Viki: learned to say 4 “words”
Washoe: learned 240 ASL
signs; arranged some in short sentences
Sarah: learned 130 plastic symbols; learned proper “word” order
Kanzi: learned 250 lexigrams; arranged some sentences
Слайд 13Mechanical Problem-Solving
Mechanical solution: achieved by trial and error or by
a fixed procedure
Algorithm (rote): learned set of rules that always
leads to a correct solution of a problem
Слайд 14Solutions by Understanding
Understanding: deeper comprehension of a problem; required for
problems that cannot be solved mechanically
General solution: states the requirements
for success but not in enough detail for further action
Functional solution: a workable solution
Слайд 15Heuristics
Heuristics: strategy for identifying and evaluating problem solutions
Random search strategy:
all possibilities are tried, more or less randomly
Слайд 16Insight
Insight: sudden mental reorganization of a problem that makes the
solution obvious
Selective encoding: selecting information that is relevant to a
problem while ignoring distractions
Selective combination: connecting seemingly unrelated bits of useful information
Selective comparison: comparing new problems with old information or with problems already solved
Слайд 17Fixations
Fixation: tendency to repeat wrong solutions or to become blind
to alternatives
Functional fixedness: inability to see new uses (functions) for
familiar objects or for things that were used in a particular way
Слайд 18Barriers to Problem-Solving
Emotional barriers: inhibition and fear of making a
fool of oneself or of making a mistake
Cultural barriers: belief
that fantasy is a waste and feelings and humor have no place in problem-solving
Learned barriers: taboos; staying with conventional uses
Perceptual barriers: habits leading to a failure to identify important elements of a problem
Слайд 19Experts and Novices
Experts are better problem-solvers than novices because they
have
more acquired strategies
have more specific organized knowledge
are better at intuitively
recognizing patterns
are better at automatic processing: fast, fairly effortless thinking based on experience
Слайд 20Creative Thinking
Inductive thought: going from specific facts or observations to
general principles
Deductive thought: going from general principles to specific situations
Logical
thought: going from given information to new conclusions based on explicit rules
Illogical thought: thought that is intuitive, associative, or personal
Слайд 21How to “Rate” Creative Thoughts
Fluency: total number of suggestions
you can make
Flexibility: number of times you shift from one
class of possible uses to another
Originality: how novel or unusual your solutions are
Слайд 22Thinking Styles
Convergent thinking: lines of thought converge on an answer;
conventional thinking
Divergent thinking: many possibilities are developed from one
starting point
Daydreams (vivid waking fantasies) involve divergent thinking
Problem finding: actively seeking problems to solve
Слайд 23Tests of Creativity
Unusual Uses Test: find as many uses for
an object as possible
Consequences Test: list all the consequences
that would follow if a basic change were made in the world
Anagrams Test: make as many new words as possible from the letters in a given word
Слайд 24Stages of Creative Thought
Orientation: defining the problem
Preparation: gaining as
much information as possible
Incubation: the problem, while not appearing to
be actively worked on, is still “cooking” in the background
Illumination: the “a-ha” experience; rapid insight into the solution
Verification: testing and critically evaluating the solution
Слайд 25Creative Personality
Creative people
do not necessarily have higher IQs
usually have a
greater than average range of knowledge and interests
are open to
experience
enjoy creativity as an end in itself
value their independence and prefer complexity at work
Слайд 26Intuition
Intuition: quick, impulsive thought that does not make use of
clear reasoning or formal logic
Representativeness heuristic: giving a choice greater
weight if it seems to be representative of what we already know
Base rate: underlying probability of an event
Framing: the way a problem is stated or the way it is structured
Слайд 27Enhancing Creativity
Break mental sets and challenge assumptions
Define problems broadly
Restate problems
in different ways
Seek varied input
Look for analogies
Take sensible risks
Allow time
for incubation
Delay evaluation
Слайд 28Brainstorming
Brainstorming: creativity technique in which producing and evaluating ideas are
kept separate
Cross-stimulation effect: as ideas are freely generated, one participant’s
ideas trigger ideas from others
Слайд 29Rules for Successful Brainstorming
Absolutely do NOT criticize ideas until later
in the session
Modify or combine ideas freely
Try to generate lots
of ideas
Let your imagination run amok!
Record ideas as they occur
Elaborate or improve on the most promising ideas
Слайд 30Living More Creatively
Find something that surprises you every day
Try to
surprise at least one person every day
If something sparks your
interest, follow it
Make a commitment to doing things well
Seek challenges
Take time for thinking and relaxing
Start doing more of what you really enjoy, less of what you dislike
Look at problems from many viewpoints
