Lesson 8: Thought and Creativity


Attention

Rube Goldberg Contest at Purdue University

Inspired by cartoonist Rube Goldberg, college students nationwide compete to design a machine that uses the most complex process to complete a simple task - put a stamp on an envelope, screw in a light bulb, make a cup of coffee - in 20 or more steps.

The competition is sponsored by the Purdue University campus chapter of Theta Tau, a professional engineering fraternity.

Website

Flame from lamp (A) catches on curtain (B) and fire department sends stream of water (C) through window. Dwarf (D) thinks it is raining and reaches for umbrella (E), pulling string (F) and lifting end of platform (G). Iron ball (H) falls and pulls string (I), causing hammer (J) to hit plate of glass (K). Crash of glass wakes up pup (L) and mother dog (M) rocks him to sleep in cradle (N), causing attached wooden hand (O) to move up and down along your back.

Check out this example of a REAL machine built at Purdue University

Click HERE to view this video on YouTube


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Provide examples of schemas that they possess that have developed from simple to complex
  • Participate in an activity involving divergent creative thinking

Teaching

This module approaches how we form concepts, solve problems, think creatively, and make decisions. Some pretty major stuff!

Concepts

One of the leading researchers in cognition is Jean Piaget...we learn a lot about him in Developmental Psychology. He referred to "concepts" as "schemas". They are simply the ideas and definitions we have about things.

As we develop we learn the names and properties of things and we develop these "schemas". These schemas are modified as we experience more in the world through the processes of "assimilation" (the construction of new schemas) and "accommodation" (the modification or elaboration of existing schemas).

For example: Some of you may be into plants and flowers, but likely all of you know what a flower is. For most of you the "schema" of flower may be fairly simple but those who are "into" them, the schema would be very complex. Basically, the definition of an EXPERT is one who has a highly defined schema for something!


Solving Problems

Psychology sets out to study how we solve problems by defining how we go about doing that...there are two general categories of ways in which we solve problems:

  • Algorithms
    • Fixed methodological ways in which we solve problem
    • Slower
    • Predictable
    • Example: We are trying to find a person in hide-and-seek and we methodically search one room and then the next one and then the next one...
  • Heuristics
    • Creative ways in which we solve problems
    • Faster
    • Less predictable, but prone to error
    • Example: We may deduce, in our hide-and-seek game, where a person is likely to hide based on what we know about them

Although the process leading to the development of psychological research is highly heuristic, most research is algorithmic. By adopting fixed methods for research we limit the number of errors we make. For example, we may intuitively know why relationships "break up" based on our experiences and we may "heuristically" come to conclusions, but these may be in error...we research why relationships "break up" my methodically reviewing all the different reasons, surveys, etc. etc. etc.

This is why when we sometimes read psychological literature we wonder..."Who cares" or "How am I supposed to USE this information?"...the point is that when we go to apply psychological information we need to use Heuristics approaches to accommodate for the individual differences in the situation.

The Wikipedia link for Heuristics has a nice list of well-known and lesser known approaches to problem solving.

Creativity

"Creative Thinking" is a combination of flexibility in thinking and reorganization of understanding to produce innovative ideas and new or novel solutions.

  • Convergent Thinking
    • means beginning with a problem and coming up with a single correct solution (best used when approaching a crisis or a situation in which a decision must be made quickly)
  • Divergent Thinking
    • means beginning with a problem and coming up with many different solutions (brainstorming, creative, great for coming up with innovative ways of solving a problem)

Language and Thought

One of the more interesting ideas is the exploration of how language impacts thought.

For example: If I'm in a classroom and I say "OK, all of you guys need to come with me to the library right now so we can see how to search for articles." I then leave the room and the entire class would follow me to the library.

However, if I said "OK, all of you ladies need to come with me to the library right now so we can see how to search for articles." only the women would follow me.

The question is: "Does the fact that women include themselves among the "guys" in the first statement suggest anything about how they think about gender? Is this part of a patriarchal system? Is there anything "wrong" with this?

Researches look at the use of words to identify ways in which they may impact our thinking....Linguistic Relativity is the concept that differences among language result in differences in how people think about and perceive the world.


Sir Ken Robinson is considered a world authority on Creativity. Below is a video clip from the TED Conference (a conference that occurs every year and invites the brightest minds to discuss issues and ideas)


Click HERE to view this video on the TED website

Sir Ken Robinson's Website
Sir Ken Robinson's book The Element: How Finding your Passion Changes Everything


Assessment

Lesson 8 Discussion

In this discussion I would like you to come up with an example of a schema that you feel you are fairly expert at. For example, let's say you have been raising horses for years and you have ridden in many competitions. You have a relatively "expert" level of understanding of the schema of "horse".

In your post describe how you remember going from a relatively simple understanding of your schema (ex: When you were young what did you understand about horses?) to a relatively complex level of understanding (ex: What do you know now about horses?)

Support one another's efforts to identify what you are an expert at. As you make your way through your career you start in college and then move into the workplace gradually building up enough experience and knowledge to become an expert...I think it takes about 10 years of doing something to be an expert at it.

Lesson 8 Quiz

This is going to be a rather interesting assessment. I'm going to have you engage in a creative activity of approaching a particular topic of your choice from three different vantage points. You will select your topic from the list provided below (this will be the first question in the quiz) and then you will relate something GOOD, BAD, and INTERESTING about the topic.

For some of these topics it is going to be hard to come up with some of these answer! But that is where the creativity comes in.

Here is an example:

Topic: Murder

GOOD: Novelists and screenwriters create dramatic stories and crime thrillers
BAD: Families suffer fear, pain and loss
INTERESTING: Murderers could be said to be "good for the environment" because they reduce population numbers!

Kind of difficult isn't it...but it is creative!

And please...don't do this alone...get your family involved!

Here are the questions you will encounter in the quiz:

  1. Select a topic from the following list (select only one):
    • Disease
    • Illiteracy and Poor Education
    • Global Warming
    • The Slow Economy
    • The War in Afghanistan
    • Poverty
    • ObamaCare
    • Factories are Closing
  2. Write something GOOD about this topic.
  3. Write something BAD about this topic.
  4. Write something INTERESTING about this topic.
  5. Reflect upon which part of this exercise was difficult, but creative.