ART_Psyche-Study-examONE.docx

Instructor: Julene Mays​ 23/FA HPD-3623 R​ Fall 2023 Study Guide: Art and the Psyche - Creativity What is Creativity? Creativity is the ability to produce or develop original work, theories, techniques, or thoughts. It involves originality, imagination, and expressiveness. Creative thinking leads t...

Instructor: Julene Mays​ 23/FA HPD-3623 R​ Fall 2023 Study Guide: Art and the Psyche - Creativity What is Creativity? Creativity is the ability to produce or develop original work, theories, techniques, or thoughts. It involves originality, imagination, and expressiveness. Creative thinking leads to new inventions or solutions to problems. Why Study Creativity? 1.     Creativity predicts a longer life. Creativity draws on various neural networks within the brain, which can contribute to better health outcomes. Creating art can reduce negative emotions, stress, and anxiety, leading to improved medical outcomes. 2.     Creativity helps solve problems. Creative thinking allows for a non-linear, imaginative approach to problem-solving. Creative people are better able to adapt to uncertainty and think outside the box. 3.     Creativity develops confidence. Being creative involves ups and downs and a higher risk of failure. Embracing vulnerability and taking risks fosters personal growth and resilience. Misconceptions about Creativity A study revealed persistent biases in public conception of creativity, such as attributing creative achievements to spontaneity and chance rather than persistence and expertise. Common myths include the belief that brainstorming in groups generates more ideas than individuals working alone, that children are more creative than adults, and that creative ideas are naturally good. Disagreements arise around the notion that people have a fixed amount of creativity and cannot change it, and the perception that creativity tends to be a solitary activity. Modern Psychological Approaches to Understanding Creativity Divergent Thinking: Generating multiple solutions or ideas from a single starting point. Convergent Thinking: Seeking the best possible solution from multiple starting points. Creativity can be measured to some extent but is a complex and multifaceted trait. Various assessments and tests have been developed to evaluate aspects of creativity, such as divergent thinking, originality, and fluency. Different Perspectives on Creativity The Big 'C' Creativity: Groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting creative achievements. Pro-C Creativity: Creative achievements in professional contexts. Mini-'C' Creativity: Creative accomplishments within specific domains or contexts. Little 'c' Creativity: Everyday or routine forms of creativity exhibited in daily life. Assessment Tools for Creativity The Creative Personality Scale (CPS): Measures various creative traits and characteristics. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT): Measures various aspects of creative thinking and problem-solving. The Inventory of Creative Activities and Achievements (ICAA): Assesses an individual's engagement in creative activities and accomplishments. The Remote Associates Test (RAT): Measures the ability to make associations and identify links between words. The Brain's Role in Creativity Lateralization of Function: Certain cognitive functions are specialized in one hemisphere of the brain. Left Hemisphere Functions: Language processing, logical and analytical thinking, and sequential processing. Right Hemisphere Functions: Spatial abilities, creativity and imagination, and emotion processing. Brain Plasticity: The brain's ability to adapt, change, and reorganize itself throughout a person's life in response to learning, experience, or environmental factors. Understanding Creativity Through Perspectives and Operations ·       The Four "Ps" of Creativity Perspectives: Person: Individual characteristics and traits that influence creativity. Product: Tangible or observable outcomes of the creative process. Process: Steps and strategies involved in generating creative ideas and solutions. Press: Environmental and contextual factors that influence creativity. ·       Structure of Intellect Theory: Operations: Mental processes or cognitive abilities used to manipulate information. Cognition, Memory, Divergent Production, Convergent Production, Evaluation. Content: Specific material or information upon which cognitive operations are applied. Visual, Auditory, Symbolic, Semantic, Behavioral. Products: Outcomes or expressions of cognitive operations. Units, Classes, Relations, Systems, Transformations, Implications. Default Mode Network (DMN)  Default Mode Network (DMN): A network of brain regions active during mind-wandering, self-reflection, and spontaneous thoughts. Self-Referential Thinking, Mind-Wandering, Social Cognition, Autobiographical Memory, Theory of Mind, Creativity. ·       The Brain and Creativity: Different perspectives and operations contribute to the creative process, and the brain's Default Mode Network plays a role in creative thinking. Sigmund Freud Psychoanalytic Criticism A twentieth-century school of thought.Consider literature and art analogous to dreams.Like dreams and folklore, literature and art uses images and symbols to make unconscious psychological conflicts and feelings manifest.Early art, mythology and folklore contained these images unconsciously. In the post-Freud years, artists and writers chose to include images which would recall the unconscious. Sexual Imagery Phallic Symbols Feminine Symbols Any image recalling the male reproductive organs.Some emphasize the generative or creative power. Others emphasize the penetrating, invasive or destructive power Feminine SymbolsAny image recalling the female reproductive organs.Some emphasize the warm, nurturing maternal side of women.Other depict the Freudian idea of the nightmarish, monstrous feminine. Dream Imagery and Interpretation Freud believed that dreams operated on two levels. The “manifest content” was the imagery of the dream which the dreamer could sometimes remember.The “latent content” was the hidden significance of the dream, which could be interpreted through the dream’s symbolic language.Freud believed that all dreams were significant and revealed something about the unconscious. Unconscious Desires and Fears are Symbolically Represented Id impulses--which the conscious mind perceives only dimly as hunger, thirst, sexual desire--are often symbolically represented.Fears which cannot be held in the conscious mind--such as the fear of castration, or loss of the parents--can be represented symbolically. The Phallic Symbol Achievement of Man The phallic image is rooted in architectural history. Most weapons of war have a phallic nature and the ability to destroy are closely linked. The Phallic Symbol Nightmarish Visions Castration complex & phallic anxiety.In Freudian dream analysis, ‘walking into a room’ is thought to represent sexual intercourse The Feminine Symbol Nurturing Woman/The Angry Castrating Woman These images recall the warm, maternal aspect of woman, and the safety and security of hearth and home. Flowers and other plants often represent the feminine, as in the work of Georgia O’Keefe. The recognition that boys and girls have biological differences, and the beginnings of the castration complex, lead to a fear of women by boys. Unconscious Desires and Fears Ideas which are difficult to express consciously often manifest themselves in art, folklore and literature. Fear of the FeminineTraditional or enforced standards of dress one way to control.‘real’ live women replaced by perfect re-creations.‘real’ women often depicted as helpless or trapped.                                                                                                                       Unconscious Desires and Fears 1 Animals, such as wolves and apes, often symbolize aggressive, id-driven impulses, combining hunger and sex.Fairy-tales become warnings about the dangers of premature or illicit sexuality.“Straying off the path” leads to danger for both Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. Of course, children love their mothers, but there’s often a fair amount of anger and resentment towards the parents, too. Since this cannot be safely psychologically expressed towards the real parents, wicked witches and evil stepmothers provide convenient substitutes.doppelganger: a psychological double-or stand-in onto which anxiety or aggression can be safely projected. Unconscious Desires and Fears 2 A boy realizes physical differences between boys and girls. Boy theorizes that maybe, just maybe, girls and boys originally had penises, but lost them. Since the power in the household lies mostly with the father, the boy assumes that the father can and possibly will castrate him for misbehaving.Fear of castration is also related to the terrifying image of the vagina dentata--or woman as castrator.Fear of castration cannot be consciously expressed. Common Castration Images Include:Injuries to, or severing of hands or other limbs. Blinding--as in the original myth of Oedipus who blinds himself in guilt. Brain plasticity Brain plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity, is the brain's ability to adapt, change, and reorganize itself throughout a person's life in response to learning, experience, injury, or environmental factors. Here are some examples of brain plasticity. Brain plasticity is a fundamental aspect of human neurobiology, allowing individuals to learn, recover from injuries, and adapt to various life circumstances. LEFT HEMISPHERE FUNCTIONS 1. Language Processing: The left hemisphere is typically responsible for language-related functions, including speech production and comprehension. 2. Logical and Analytical Thinking: It is often associated with logical reasoning, mathematical skills, and analytical thinking. 3. Sequential Processing: Tasks that involve processing information in a step- by-step or sequential manner are often associated with the left hemisphere. RIGHT HEMISPHERE FUNCTIONS: 1. Spatial Abilities: The right hemisphere is typically associated with spatial abilities, including understanding and interpreting spatial relationships. 2. Creativity and Imagination: Some aspects of creativity, artistic abilities, and imaginative thinking are thought to be associated with the right hemisphere. 3. Emotion Processing: While emotions involve both hemispheres, the right hemisphere is often linked to the recognition and processing of emotional cues. WHAT IS CREATIVITY? Creativity is the ability to produce or develop original work, theories, techniques, or thoughts. A creative individual typically displays originality, imagination, and expressiveness. Creative thinking refers to the mental processes leading to a new invention or solution to a problem. THE BIG “C” CREATIVITY In psychology, "The Big 'C' Creativity" refers to a concept that encompasses major, groundbreaking, and paradigm-shifting forms of creativity. It's often used to distinguish exceptional or extraordinary creative achievements from everyday creativity or "little 'c' creativity." EVERYDAY CREATIVITY the common and routine ways in which people engage in creative thinking and problem-solving in their daily lives. It encompasses the small, practical, and often personal creative acts that individuals perform without necessarily aiming for extraordinary or groundbreaking results. Everyday creativity can take many forms and is an essential aspect of human experience. STRUCTURE OF INTELLECT THEORY - OPERATIONS Operations refer to the mental processes or cognitive abilities that individuals use to manipulate information. Guilford identified five primary categories of operations: •Cognition: The ability to understand, store, and use information. •Memory: The capacity to store and retrieve information. •Divergent Production: The ability to generate multiple solutions or responses to a single problem. •Convergent Production: The ability to find a single, correct solution to a problem. •Evaluation: The ability to judge and compare ideas or solutions. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) As assessment tool designed to measure an individual's creativity.Developed by psychologist Ellis Paul Torrance in the late 1950s, the TTCT assesses various aspects of creative thinking and problem-solving skills. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking typically consist of multiple subtests, with each subtest evaluating different facets of creativity. These are the different measures on the Torrance Test of Creativity: The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) 1.Figural Creativity: This subtest assesses an individual's ability to generate creative drawings or visual representations in response to specific prompts or instructions. 2.Verbal Creativity: This subtest evaluates an individual's verbal creative thinking by asking them to generate imaginative stories, explanations, or ideas based on given stimuli. 3.Abstractness of Titles: In this subtest, participants are asked to provide unique and creative titles for specific scenarios or images. 4.Creative Movement: This subtest examines an individual's ability to express creativity through physical movement, such as dance or gestures. 5.Resistance to Premature Closure: This subtest measures the ability to explore multiple possibilities and avoid jumping to quick conclusions when problem -solving. 6.Elaboration: Participants are asked to expand on initial ideas or responses, encouraging the development of more detailed and imaginative solutions. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in the 1940s, which describes a pyramid of human needs, with the most basic physiological needs at the bottom and higher-level needs at the top. These needs are typically depicted in the following order, from the base to the pinnacle: Physiological Needs: Art can directly address these needs by depicting basic survival elements like food, water, and shelter. For example, many paintings, photographs, and sculptures depict scenes of abundance, scarcity, and the human struggle for these necessities. Safety Needs: Art can provide a sense of safety and security, especially in the context of emotional and psychological safety. Expressive art therapy, for instance, can help individuals process trauma and anxiety, contributing to a sense of emotional safety. Love and Belongingness: Art can be a powerful tool for building and strengthening social connections. Artistic expression, group art projects, and community art events can foster a sense of belonging, bringing people together through shared creative experiences. Esteem Needs: Art is a means through which individuals can achieve self-esteem and gain respect from others. Artists often create to express their unique perspectives and ideas, and their work can be a source of personal validation and recognition from an audience or the art community. Self-Actualization: Many artists and creators see their work as a path to self-actualization. Artistic expression allows individuals to explore their inner selves, realize their creative potential, and achieve a sense of purpose and personal growth. Artistic pursuits can help individuals reach the pinnacle of the hierarchy by facilitating self-fulfillment and the actualization of their unique talents. ART often addresses universal human themes, emotions, and experiences, making it a way to explore and connect with all levels of the hierarchy. Art can be a reflection of human nature, aspirations, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. THE FOUR “PS” OF CREATIVITY PERSEPCTIVES Perspectives: This refers to the mental and cognitive aspects of creativity. It encompasses how an individual perceives and interprets the world, including their ability to see problems from multiple angles, connect seemingly unrelated ideas, and think divergently. Creativity often involves shifting perspectives and looking at things in novel ways. They are: • Person • Product • Process • Press Person: The "person" in the Four Ps Model focuses on the individual's characteristics and traits that influence creativity. This includes cognitive factors (e.g., intelligence, knowledge), personality traits (e.g., openness to experience, tolerance for ambiguity), motivation, and the ability to persevere in the face of challenges. The person's unique combination of these factors plays a significant role in their creative capacity. Product: The "product" represents the tangible or observable outcomes of the creative process. It includes the creative work itself, such as a painting, poem, invention, or innovative solution to a problem. Evaluating the quality and novelty of the product is a key aspect of assessing creativity. Process: The "process" refers to the steps and strategies individuals use to generate creative ideas and solutions. It involves the various stages of creativity, such as problem identification, idea generation, idea evaluation, and implementation. The creative process can vary from person to person and may involve both conscious Press (or Press Environment): In some versions of the Four Ps Model, "press" represents the environmental and contextual factors that influence creativity. This includes the social, cultural, organizational, and physical environments in which creative activities occur. Supportive or challenging environments can either DIFFERENT APPROACHES to Creativity: Free vs Constrained Free artists and Constrained artists are terms that can be used to describe two different approaches to artistic expression and creativity The choice between a free or constrained approach to art depends on an artist's personal preferences and objectives. Some artists may find that working with fewer constraints allows them to fully explore their creative potential and emotions, while others may thrive on the challenges presented by constraints, which can push them to think more critically and creatively.. Gestalt Principles: Gestalt theory, developed in the early 20th century by German psychologists, emphasizes the idea that perception is more than the sum of its parts and that the human mind organizes sensory information into meaningful wholes. The principles of Gestalt theory include: 1. **Principle of Emergence:** The whole is different from the sum of its parts. When individual elements are combined, they create a new, unified whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. 2. **Principle of Reification:** We tend to fill in gaps or missing parts of a visual image to perceive it as a complete and meaningful whole. 3. **Principle of Multistability:** When presented with ambiguous stimuli, our perception can alternate between different interpretations, such as in optical illusions. 4. **Principle of Invariance:** We can recognize objects and patterns even when they are presented in different sizes, orientations, or contexts. This principle helps us identify objects under various conditions. 5. **Principle of Prägnanz (Law of Good Figure):** This principle suggests that we perceive objects and scenes in the simplest, most organized way possible. We tend to prefer and perceive the most straightforward and symmetrical configurations. 6. **Principle of Proximity:** Objects that are close to each other are often perceived as a group or pattern. The proximity of elements influences how we perceive their relationship. 7. **Principle of Similarity:** Similarity in shape, size, color, or other attributes can cause elements to be grouped together in our perception. This is the basis for recognizing patterns and relationships in visual stimuli. 8. **Principle of Closure:** When there are gaps in an object or shape, we tend to mentally complete the missing parts to perceive the whole figure. 9. **Principle of Continuity:** We prefer to perceive continuous and smooth patterns, lines, or shapes rather than abrupt interruptions. This principle leads to the perception of continuous and connected elements. 10. **Principle of Common Fate:** Objects that move together or have a common direction are often perceived as a group. This principle is particularly relevant in the perception of motion and direction. 11. **Principle of Figure-Ground:** We naturally separate visual stimuli into a figure (the object of interest) and a background. This helps us distinguish and focus on objects within a larger visual field. These principles are fundamental to understanding how our minds organize and interpret sensory information, whether in visual perception, auditory perception, or other cognitive processes. They have been influential in various fields, including psychology, design, and art.