Wednesday Concepts, categorization, and creativity

Terminology Category = a set of objects Concept A defined category (pink cat is a...) A relation between an agent and its environment Meaning Attributes Prototypes The way we think about the category

Categorization Decision about: Category membership Is bat a bird? Is penguin a bird? Category boundaries What is the difference between „game” and „play”

What concepts are for? Organization of knowledge Semantic networks Semantic hierarchy Direction of thinking Conceptual versus visual thinking Thinking as covert speech

Creative categorization (1) Opening the boundaries „fuzzy” sets „fuzzy" concepts Marriage Good, old-fashioned marriage „Open” marriage Gay or lesbian marriage...

Creative categorization (2) Changing the semantic field Inclusion of „new” elements memory Exclusion of „old” elements Well-educated person

Creative categorization (3) Object redefinition A china cup is... A container Something precious Something valuable Something fragile A currency Something lighter than elephant Something heavier than butterfly...

Creative categorization (4) Conceptual synthesis Computer dog Natural selection Selection + natural (=self-made) Cognitive science Cognition (philosophy, psychology) + science

Creative categorization (5) Contextual change A concept is moved to the semantic or situational context that used to be unusual for it „falsification of miracles” „ethnic cleansing”

Creative categorization (6) Conceptual revolution Paradigmatic change Quantum mechanics Pop culture underwear as an „official” clothing

Paradoxes Can you give me an example of Cold sun Warm ice True lie George Orwell: Ministry of Truth Ministry of Love

Metaphors „Teaching is like throwing false pearls before genuine pigs” Combination of concepts New meaning, added value Improves understanding of the problem Easy to remember Enhances analogical transfer

Overinclusion „Holes” in category boundaries No definite boundary between fiction and nonfiction, e.g., Woody Allen’s „Zelig” „Alien” elements within the category Statistics, mathematics, and psychology

Overinclusion Overinclusion and schizophrenia and schizotypy Bipolar disease Creative persons show tendency to overinclusion (Eysenck, Claridge)

Trzebiński (1981) Conceptual cores Close to prototypes Necessary for category identity Conceptual cores differ in plasticity We can take advantage of plasticity when making categorical decisions Plasticity of conceptual cores may be modified

Modification of conceptual cores Tell me about a danger that is relaxing Describe a kindergarten that is similar to the army Describe an army that is similar to the kindergarten What should be done in order to make a book look like a newspaper... or a TV set

Trzebiński’s results Pretest Training in core modification Posttest The training improved Fluency Flexibility Originality (n Guilford’s tasks}

Finke i Ward (1992) Fixedness in conceptual thinking Fixedness in divergent problems Most studies on fixedness used convergent problems Functional fixedness Mental inertia

Two ropes problem

Finke, Ward i Schumacher „Imagine a creature that could live on another planet and draw it” Experimental group was shown 3 examples of such creature for 1 minute Four legs A tail Two antennas on the head Control group did not see anything

Results Group EGroup C Antennas17% 5% Tails37%15% 4 legs19%14% Conclusion: one minute is enough to develop mental fixedness

„Strange animals” as a test and the criterion for creativity Scoring Even number of legs or hands? If feather, then no fur? If fur, then no beak? If scales, then no fur?... These are examples of schematic thinking

Cognitive linguistics: meaning is the way we think about objects „Green is a color about which we think as a color of grass” Bachelor Male, adult, unmarried Anna Wierzbicka: „bachelor is a person who we think could marry”

Consequences for creativity The way we think about the problem at hand The way we think about conditions of future solutions The way we think about obstacles to our problem solving The way we think about our problem solving competences