Description
This week, in our course materials, we are challenged to consider aspects of intelligence and creativity. Creativity, we learn, is an important skill applied in solving novel problems and creating unique goods, products, services, or ideas.
Elizabeth Kirk (2016) explores the role of gesturing in encouraging creative thought in young children. The study conducted revealed gesturing increased the number of novel ideas generated by children. This gives us much to consider as we look at what drives our creativity!
- Considering the course materials for the week, think about the situations in which your creativity is at its highest. In what format is your creativity best expressed?
- If you were asked to define and develop a measure appropriate for your ideal display of creativity, how would the definitions and instruments of measures be described?
References
Kirk, E. (2016, December 14). Gesturing can boost children’s creative thinking. Retrieved from http://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/…
https://apus.brightspace.com/shared/elf/psyc303/le…
Minimum 300 words answer
Classmate #1:
- Considering the course materials for the week, think about the situations in which your creativity is at its highest. In what format is your creativity best expressed?
I can think of one situation in which my creativity is the highest: at the summer camp I work at. For most of the year, I can say that my creativity is rather stifled or not there at all. Between school, work, and the millions of other things I do, I do not have time to play or express myself in the way I would like to. However, come June, I check out from the rest of the world and allow my child-side and creative-side. An example that comes to mind is painting. During the year, I never paint. At camp, I paint about twice a week. I paint decorations for my cabin, decorations for evening programs, or decorations for camp-wide events. Most nights at camp, I am in our Art Center painting something for campers. The reason I believe this format allows for me to be more creative in that it is expected, whereas most of the other areas of my life I am expected to learn and repeat information back or to simply do what is I am told.
- If you were asked to define and develop a measure appropriate for your ideal display of creativity, how would the definitions and instruments of measures be described?
My definition for creativity would be “the expression of imaginative thought”. The instruments I would use would test various ways in which imaginative thought could be tested. One instrument would be in giving participants a writing prompt and asking them to write a short story based on that. Another instrument would be describing, not showing, an object to participants and asking them to draw and/or paint it. Both tests would measure how imaginative a person’s thoughts.
Classmate #2:
Hello Class,
I believe in the old adage, “work smarter not harder.” This is why creativity is important when we are looking at it from a problem-solving standpoint. If a problem needs solving and none of the old standby solutions are working then one needs to get creative. I think a good place to start would be Rhodes four pillars (4Ps) of creativity: person, process, press, and product. If I were asked to define and develop a measure appropriate for my ideal display of creativity then I would start with the 4Ps.
Creativity is not easily defined because of it can be all things to all people. For the sake of argument creativity will be defined as associating components of a problem and discovering an unforeseen bond. The 4Ps are considered the dominant factors of creativity. First, there is always persons or a person at the center of a creative undertakings (Person). Secondly, the person or persons utilize cognitive processes like thinking, perception, and motivation to bring about new ideas for solutions (Process). Next, the environmental influences can affect the person’s mental processes in relation to solving the problem (Press). Lastly, the end result is the solution that was accomplished by the creativity of the persons or person that used cognitive processes and memory to solve an unconventional problem. The problem actually being solved in a new and innovative way would be my measurement.
Standardization which is the administering, scoring, and interpreting of given test, is not necessary in this instance. I think creativity is in the eyes of the beholder. One group can interpret creativity differently as another. For instance, there is a divide in the Western and Eastern cultures concepts of creativity. The concept of creativity being viewed as something created from human product like paintings or poetry is cultural acceptance in Western culture. Eastern culture views creativity as personal truth and self-growth. Creativity is in the eye of the beholder.
Classmate #3:
I want to start by addressing the study of children using gesturing. I think creativity and language are linked because we require language to describe the creative idea. In fact, we require language to even come up with the idea because most of my thoughts, if not all thinking, requires language. I may still have feelings, like the feelings of “butterflies” in the stomach when anxious, but without language how would I describe the feeling at all? With the children, I do not think that because they used their hands more it created more novel ideas. I think the use of gesturing makes up for the lack of a more advanced vocabulary in children. They do not have full command of all the words available to describe novel ideas, gesturing encourages the process of description of thoughts.
As for when creativity is best expressed, I think it is in times of necessity and sometimes a form of laziness. I started with the idea of laziness after observing another team leader in Iraq. This team leader came up with a creative way to use the wench on the trucks to raise and lower a device that extended from the front of the trucks. In tight driving situations, we would normally have to get out of the trucks, remove pins to raise the front arm, then re-secure after making it out of the driving spot. His creativity meant we could control the arm from inside the truck, with the press of a button. When I asked him how he came up with the idea, he said, “I was tired of getting in and out of the truck.”
Macgyver is the name that comes to my mind when I think of a very creative mind and I think is the term used to describe when a person utilizes objects and the environment to create witty ways out of a difficult situation. His resourcefulness was usually bred out of necessity as he came up with ways to solve life or death situations. I am not as creative when everything is going as planned or smoothly. But the second I am obstructed from a goal and the traditional ways fail, I become creative to explore ways to reach my goals.
The invention of the shovel was likely because digging with our hands is difficult. The invention of the excavator was necessary to dig holes that the shovel cannot handle. The invention of many machines and tools that humans use are to make our lives easier and create greater access to resources. Where this drive comes from is still debated, but even more perplexing to me is where creative ideas come from at all. When a creative idea “pops” into your head, where did it come from? Is the idea generated of and by your consciousness? Or does the creative idea appear or emerge into your consciousness?
Minimum 200 words answer to each
