Intelligence and Creativity PDF Notes

Unit 4 INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY Intelligence: Meaning, definitions and types - Theories of Intelligence: Two factor, Thurston’s Group factor, Thorndike’s Multi-factor, Guilford’s Structure of Intellect, and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence - Intelligence Quotient (IQ)...

Unit 4 INTELLIGENCE AND CREATIVITY Intelligence: Meaning, definitions and types - Theories of Intelligence: Two factor, Thurston’s Group factor, Thorndike’s Multi-factor, Guilford’s Structure of Intellect, and Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence - Intelligence Quotient (IQ) - Assessment of Intelligence – Creativity: Concept, factors and process - Strategies for fostering creativity 4.1. INTRODUCTION Intelligence involves a number of abilities together. It is the ability to understand the incoming information and make sense out of it. It is the ability to acquire new skills and use the existing knowledge to complete a task or deal with a situation. Intelligence includes the capacity to understand novel stimuli, learning language and communicate with others, being aware of the environment, have the ability to reason, plan, and solve the problems creatively. According to Wechsler (1944), “Intelligence is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment.” Intelligence from Indian perspective is conceptualised as adaptive potentiality of a person in different domains of life. It is not limited to cognitive domain only. This adaptive potentiality consists of a range of skills that help one to overcome the life problems, to grow and become what one wants to be (Srivastava & Misra, 1997). There are individual differences in intelligence. 4.2 MEANING AND DEFINITIONS Intelligence has been defined in several ways. Psychologists are yet to agree on a single definition of intelligence. However, a commonly accepted definition of intelligence refers to the ability to learn from one’s experiences, acquire knowledge, and use resources effectively in adapting to new situations or solving problems (Sternberg & Kaufman, 1998; Wechsler, 1975). Now, psychologists are of opinion that the definition of intelligence should include skills valued by the culture or society in which one lives. And the above said characteristics are those which the people need to be able to survive in their culture. Culture gives a context for the development of intelligence. Western culture promotes skills of performance, speed, and achievement motivation. In contrast, Indian culture emphasizes self-reflection and connectivity with people. 1 What is intelligence? The ability to solve problems and to adapt to and learn from life’s everyday experiences The ability to solve problems The capacity to adapt and learn from experiences Includes characteristics such as creativity and interpersonal skills The mental abilities that enable one to adapt to, shape, or select one’s environment The ability to judge, comprehend, and reason The ability to understand and deal with people, objects, and symbols The ability to act purposefully, think rationally, and deal effectively with the environment 4.3 DEFINITIONS OF INTELLIGENCE The aggregate or global capacity of an individual to think rationally, to act purposefully and to deal effectively with the environment (David Wechsler, 1944) The ability to carry on abstract thinking (Lewis Terman, 1921) The ability to solve problems and to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings (Howard Gardner, 1983) A person’s capacity for goal-directed adaptive behaviour (Robert Sternberg & William Salter, 1982) Intelligence refers to what is measured by tests of intelligence (Boring, 1923) Intelligence includes sensation, perception, association, memory, imagination, discrimination, judgment and reasoning (Haggerty, 1921) Ability to adapt oneself adequately to relatively new situations in life (Pentler, 1921). Thus, intelligence is referred as the ability to perceive information and retain it as knowledge for applying it towards adaptive behaviours in the environment. It is also described as individual’s capacity for self-awareness, understanding and problem solving. It is the general mental capability that involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas and learn from experience. 4.4 CHARACTERISTICS OF INTELLIGENCE The main features of Intelligence are the following: Intelligence is an innate natural endowment of the child. 2  It helps the child in maximum learning in minimum period of time. The child is able to foresee the future and plan accordingly. The child is able to take advantage of his previous experiences. The child faces the future with compliance. He develops a sense of discrimination between right or wrong. The developmental period of intelligence is from birth to adolescence. There is a minor difference in the development of intelligence between boys and girls. There are individual differences with regard to the intelligence between boys and girls. Intelligence is mostly determined by heredity but a suitable environment necessary to improve it. 4.5 THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE Intelligence has been defined in a particular way but there are differing opinions about the concept of intelligence. Thus, there are several theories that describe and explain intelligence with different perspectives. One group of theorists focuses upon the organization of mental abilities as factors that constitute intelligence. The other group looks at the nature of the intellectual processes. I Spearman’s Theory of Intelligence Charles Spearman’s (1904) theory of intelligence is known as two-factor theory. Spearman noticed that children who perform well in one subject tend to have good marks in other subjects also. This observation led him to propose that there is a common factor which affects all activities. Charles Spearman proposed that all cognitive activity or mental activity consists of two factors namely, “general” or “g” factor and “specific” or “s” factor. So, intelligence is a sum of “g” factor and “s” factor. The g-factor theory or generalfactor theory states that intelligence is composed of a general intelligence. The g factor refers to the broad spectrum of mental faculties that influences the performance on a wide variety of cognitive abilities. The s factor is the single or unique factor. It proposes that all cognitive abilities are related to one another. Hence, the general intelligence is responsible for acquiring knowledge, abstract reasoning and adapting to novel situations. 3  Figure 1 Two factor theory, Source: Google Two individuals in a class may be comparable on their G factor, yet one may be very good with numbers while the other possesses higher musical ability. II Thurstone’s Theory of Intelligence L.L. Thurstone (1938) emphasized that intelligence involved seven clusters of Primary Mental Abilities (PMA). His approach was very different from that of Spearman’s. He suggested that the differences that were observed in the performance of intellectual tasks could be attributed to different independent abilities. These abilities included: i) Word Fluency(W): Ability to think or use words rapidly, such as in the task of anagrams. ii) Verbal Comprehension(V): Ability to understand the meaning of the word, concept or ideas correctly. Vocabulary tests assess verbal comprehension. iii) Spatial Visualization(S): It is the ability to manipulate patterns and forms of objects in space visually. iv) Perceptual Speed(P): Tendency to perceive details quickly in every stimulus accurately. v) Numerical Facility(N): One’s ability to solve a numerical problem quickly and accurately. vi) Reasoning(R): Ability to observe facts and making a general rule out of it. vii) Associative Memory(M): Ability to memorise and recall quickly and accurately. All the above clusters were originally said to be functionally independent of each other, it was actually found that they were intercorrelated. 4 III Thorndike’s Multi Factor Theory For Thorndike, intelligence was more like a series of skills or talents and several or many tasks might call for the same kind of ability. Thorndike has classified intellectual activity into three broad types: (i) Social intelligence- It means the ability of an individual to react to social situations of daily life. Adequate adjustment in social situations is the index of social intelligence. Persons having this type of intelligence know the art of winning friends and influencing them. Leaders, ministers, members of diplomatic sources and social workers have it. (ii) Concrete /Mechanical intelligence - It is the ability of an individual to comprehend actual situations and to react to them adequately. The concrete intelligence is evident from various activities of daily life. This type of intelligence is applicable when the individual is handling concrete objects or medicines. Engineers, mechanics and architects have this type of intelligence. (iii) Abstract intelligence- It is the ability to respond to words, numbers and symbols. Abstract intelligence is required in the ordinary academic subjects in the school. This is acquired after an intensive study of books and literature. Good teachers, lawyers, doctors, philosophers etc. have this type of intelligence. Figure 2 Multi factor theory, Source: Google 5 Thorndike believed that there was nothing like General Ability. Each mental activity requires an aggregate of different set of abilities. He distinguished the following four attributes of intelligence: 1) Level: This refers to the difficulty of a task that can be solved. If we think of all test items arranged in a sequential order of increasing difficulty, then the height that we can ascend on this ladder of difficulty determines our level of intelligence. 2) Range: This refers to the number of tasks at any given degree of difficulty that we can solve. Theoretically an individual possessing a given level of intelligence should be able to solve the whole range of task at that level. Range is determined not only by Level but also by the Breadth of experience and by opportunity to learn. In intelligence tests range is represented by items of equal difficulty. 3) Area: It refers to the total number of situations at each level to which the individual is able to respond. Area is the summation of all the ranges at each level of intelligence processed by an individual. 4) Speed: This is the rapidity with which an individual can respond to items. Speed and altitude are positively related. Speed is much closely bound up with altitude than are the other attributes. We should not therefore emphasis speed too much in our intelligence test. IV GUILFORD’S STRUCTURE-OF-INTELLECT THEORY J. P. Guilford, was born on March 7, 1897 in Marquette, Nebraska. His interest in individual differences started from his childhood, when he observed the differences in ability among the members of his own family. As an undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska, he worked as an assistant in the psychology department. At Cornell University from 1919 to 1921, he studied under Edward Titchener and conducted intelligence testing on children. During his time at Cornell University, he also served as director of the university’s psychological clinic. From 1927 to 1928, Guilford worked at the University of Kansas, after which he became Associate Professor at University of Nebraska, remaining there from 1928 to 1940. In 1940 he was appointed as psychology professor at the University of Southern California, where he stayed until 1967. Guilford retired from teaching in 1967, but continued to write and publish. He died on November 26, 1987. Guilford believed that intelligence was not a monolithic, global attribute but a combination of multiple abilities, which were relatively independent. He applied factor analytic 6 method to study these mental abilities. Building upon the views of Thurstone (1939), Guilford rejected Charles Spearman’s view that intelligence could be characterised by a single numerical parameter (“general intelligence factor” or g). He also rejected broad factor groups like that of Thurstone’s primary abilities. According to him, intelligence consists of numerous intellectual abilities. By the 1950’s, Guilford felt there needed to be a system developed to classify the new mental abilities being discovered. The SOI model included four types of mental contents dimension (figural, symbolic, semantic, and behavioural), five types of operations dimensions (cognition, memory, evaluation, convergent production and divergent production), and six types of products dimensions (units, classes, relations, systems, transformations, and implications), thus resulting in 120 factors, with over 100 having been empirically verified. This model is represented as a cube with each of the three dimensions occupying one side. Many of the abilities are believed to be correlated with each other. The model also suggests where new abilities may be discovered based on existing abilities. Subsequently, Guilford (1977) modified his model and divided figural factor of the content dimension into visual and auditory factors, thus making five types of the contents dimension, instead of the original four types. In the modified version the number of cells became 150 (5 contents × 5 Operations × 6 Products= 150 cells). Figure 3 Structure of Intellect Source: Google 7 The Contents Dimension This dimension includes the broad areas of information in which operations are applied. It has been divided into four categories. Visual - Information arising from stimulation on the retina in the form of an image. Auditory – Information arising from stimulation of the cochlea of the ear as image. Symbolic - Information perceived as symbols or signs that have no meaning by themselves; for example, Arabic numerals or the letters of an alphabet. Semantic - Information perceived in words or sentences, whether oral, written, or silently in one’s mind. Behavioural – Information perceived as acts of an individual/ individuals. The Operations Dimension This consists of five kinds of operation or general intellectual processes: Cognition - The ability to understand, comprehend, discover, and become aware. Memory - The ability to memorise information. Divergent Production - The process of generating multiple solutions to a problem Convergent Production - The process of deducing a single solution to a problem. Evaluation - The process of judging whether an answer is accurate, consistent, or valid. The Products Dimension As the name suggests, this dimension contains results of applying particular operations to specific contents. There are six kinds of products, they are: Unit - Represents a single item of information. Class - A set of items that share some attributes. Relation - Represents a connection between items or variables; may be linked as opposites or in associations, sequences, or analogies. System - An organisation of items or networks with interacting parts. Transformation - Changes perspectives, conversions, or mutations to knowledge; such as reversing the order of letters in a word. Implication - Predictions, inferences, consequences, or anticipations of knowledge. 8 Some examples may provide a feel for the kinds of distinctions made in this model. Suppose a subject is given a long list of unrelated words to study and is asked to recall them later. The content of this scale is “semantic,” since it involves words; the operation is “memory”; and the product is the recall of words as “units. V GARDNER’S THEORY OF MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES Howard Gardner was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1943. In order to make a career in law, he joined Harvard University. Howard Gardener (1993b, 1999a) refuted the classic view of intelligence as a capacity for logical reasoning. He proposed that there is no one form of intelligence but a number of intelligences work together. Figure 4 Multiple Intelligence Source -Google According to him, intelligence is the “ability to solve problems or fashion products that are of consequence in a particular cultural setting or community” (1993). Initially, he proposed seven distinct types of intelligence namely, 1) Linguistic: People who are high on this type of intelligence have good linguistic abilities i.e., they can easily articulate and express their thoughts by choosing the most appropriate words. They can easily play with the words. Poets and writers have a higher level of linguistic abilities. 9  2) Musical: People high on this are knowledgeable and sensitive to music. They can manipulate musical pattern to create different music. People carrying this intelligence are good signers, play musical instruments and good music composers. 3) Logical-mathematical: This involves having the ability to think critically and on abstract problems. Such people have a scientific aptitude and are good with numbers and abstract problems. Scientists have a higher level of this intelligence. 4) Spatial: This intelligence is related to one’s ability to manipulate and use visual images or mental images. Navigators, pilots, architects, and painters have high spatial intelligence. 5) Bodily-kinesthetic: It is the ability to control and train your body or a part of it for construction of products and problem-solving. People serving in the military, intelligence agencies, sports person, actors and, dancers have higher levels of bodily- kinesthetic intelligence. 6) Intrapersonal: Being aware of one’s own feelings, emotions, needs, and motives are having intrapersonal intelligence. Philosophers and spiritual leaders are high on intrapersonal intelligence. 7) Interpersonal: Your ability to understand other person’s behavior, motive, and feelings. People high on this intelligence use their understanding of other people to develop a comfortable bond with other people. Counselors, politicians, teachers, social workers are high on interpersonal intelligence. Later, he added another type of intelligence. 8) Naturalist: It refers to being sensitive to different features of nature. They have compassion for nature and are usually nature lovers. Wildlifers and botanists possess a higher level of this intelligence. 9) Existential Intelligence: This is an ability to contemplate phenomena or questions beyond sensory data, such as the infinite and infinitesimal. Career which suits those with this intelligence include cosmologists, and philosophers. Each individual has a unique combination of these types of intelligence, which explains the individual differences. Gardner and his colleagues proposed that the typical paper-pencil tests for intelligence do not measure many aspects of intelligence such as interpersonal ability. For instance, many students performed poorly on the intelligence test but become great leaders because of their refined interpersonal qualities. Thus suggesting, that intelligence is more than merely mathematical, verbal and analytical abilities, measured by the traditional intelligence test. 10 4.6 ASSESSMENT OF INTELLIGENCE Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon were attributed with the first attempt to measure intelligence scientifically. In 1905, they developed first intelligence test known as Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale. Later in 1908, they coined a term Mental Age (MA) to measure the intellectual ability of a person in comparison to his or her fellow age group, and Chronological Age (CA) refers to a person’s biological age. According to Binet, if a child has MA more than her/his CA, then she/he will be classified as bright. If the child scores two MA years below than her/his CA, then she/he should be identified with intellectual disability. In1912, William Stern suggested the concept called Intelligent Quotient (IQ). It referred to a score derived by dividing MA with CA and multiplying the result with 100. IQ = (MA/CA) X 100 So, if MA equals CA, then IQ will be 100. If MA is less than CA, IQ will be less than 100. Figure 5 Normal distribution of IQ test 11 In this normal distribution (see Figure), following scores suggest different types of intellectual abilities: Table 1 Scores of IQ test IQ scores are used for educational placement, assessment of intellectual disability, and evaluating job applicants. Even when students improve their scores on standardized tests, they do not always improve their cognitive abilities, such as memory, attention and speed. In research contexts they have been studied as predictors of job performance, and income. They are also used to study distributions of psychometric intelligence in populations and the correlations between it and other variables. Raw scores on IQ tests for many populations have been rising at an average rate that scales to three IQ points per decade since the early 20th century, a phenomenon called the Flynn effect. Investigation of different patterns of increases in subtest scores can also inform current research on human intelligence. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF I.Q 1. Classification or Grouping pupils for school work: A teacher can use the intelligence tests together with all other information available about the child to place him with others of his ability in smaller groups, the composition of which will vary from subject to subject and from time to time. Students may be classified not according to C.A. but M.A. 2. For diagnosing disabilities in school subjects: We can compare the score representing in a school subject and the mental age and find the retardation in the subject. 12 3. For determining the optimum level of work: The primary aim of education is to assist each child to make the best possible use of all his capacities. It is a general measure of a pupil’s capacity to succeed in his school work. The mental age gives the mental level at which a child can be expected to work most efficiently in academic subjects. 4. Identification of intellectual deviations: It is a problem to find who is bright and who is dull. This is to be found, otherwise a teacher may force adult child to do what is beyond his capacity, or fail to assist the gifted to make use of his exceptionally great capacity. So the extreme cases are to be discovered. The very dull child is likely to be recognised sooner or later as also the gifted. One of the most important problems is giving education coping with mentally defective and identifying and cultivating the potential capacity for leadership which gifted children have. 5. Educational and Vocational guidance: The fact that intelligence is positively related to vocational competence and to attainments in college work has definite practical implications. The educational or vocational counselor can use the score on the intelligence test along with other data to predict a pupil’s success in college or in many vocations. Though vocational success depends upon other factors as well: health, persistence, interest and aptitudes, but intelligence is a potent factor. 6. Estimating the range of abilities in a class: The teacher can note the range of ability in the class. A group may contain neither very bright, nor very dull. In others the range may be very large. This gives teacher a difficult task in adjusting assignments, methods of instruction. Achievements tests are, therefore, supplemented by intelligence tests to find the range. 7. Determining the level of ability: In a class or school, the abilities of different teachers can be appraised in terms of the average attainments of their respective classes when these are made equal in the level of intelligence. Similarly comparisons of schools can be made only when the levels of ability of the students of the two schools are also determined. 8. Measuring special abilities: Aptitude tests can predict the ability to achieve in music, art and various mechanical and social lines. 9. Predicting success in particular Academic Subjects: Readiness and prognoses tests have been designed to give a high prediction of success in specific subjects, and provide useful basis for the selection of courses. Intelligence tests do not help 13  here much, as there is no fair degree of correlation between various subjects and I.Q. 10. Diagnosing Subject-Matter Difficulties: At the elementary school level when a child has little choice of subjects, the readiness test is valuable as a diagnosis. It gives the teacher information about the areas in which the child needs more training. 11. Combination of all informates for Educational Guidance: The teacher and counsellor should get as much information as possible about the pupil. The prognosis test will be very valuable in predicting success in particular subjects, and when combined with intelligence test will be even more effective. The use of achievement test will increase the reliability of the prediction. 12. Research: Intelligence test results can be pooled and utilised for research purposes. 13. Selection: In the school children are chosen for various purposes and activities through intelligence tests. 14. Guidance and Organisation of Learning activity. 4.6.1 TYPES OF INTELLIGENCE TESTS Intelligence tests have been classified on a number of criteria, such as tests based on the number of participants who can attempt the test, tests based on items used in the test and whether the test can be used across different cultures or not. Figure 6 Types of Intelligence test 14 I Individual and Group Intelligence Tests A) Individual Tests An individual test is one that is administered to one individual at a time. There are many standardised individual tests such as The Kaufman Scales, Stanford-Binet Scale and, Wechsler Intelligence Scales. We will limit our discussion with two most famous intelligence tests i.e., Stanford - Binet Test and Wechsler Intelligence Tests. Stanford-Binet Scale of Intelligence Binet-Simon intelligence test was the first intelligence test, developed by Binet and Simon (1905). It was one of the popular intelligence tests among psychologists. Later this test was revised and adapted by an American psychologist Lewis M. Terman who was working at Stanford University. After validating it on the American population, he renamed the original scale as “Stanford-Binet Scale”. In 2003, the fifth version of the Stanford-Binet Scale, Fifth Edition (SB5) was introduced with 10 subtests measuring following five factors: 1.Fluid reasoning 2. Knowledge 3.Quantitative Reasoning 4.Visual-Spatial Processing 5. Working Memory Other than scores with reference to these five factors, SB5 gives two distinct scores, namely Verbal IQ, and Nonverbal IQ. The instrument has 10 subtests. The SB5 can be used for people within the age range from two years to 85 years old individuals. On American sample of 4800 individuals, the reliability of the three IQ scores was found to be in.90 and that of the subtests, ranging from.70 to.85 (Roid, 2002). The Wechsler Scales The Wechsler scales were developed by Dr. David Wechsler. He developed three scales; for adults, for school-age children, and one for preschool children. All three of his tests contain several subtests from verbal as well as nonverbal domain and they can measure intelligence and cognitive abilities. He developed his first test (Wechsler- Bellevue scale) in 1939 when he was working in Bellevue hospital. He devised a new formula for calculating IQ from his scales. As we know, the usual formula of IQ is, IQ = Mental Age/Chronological Age × 100 According to Wechsler, IQ = Attained or Actual Score / Expected Mean score for Age There are three versions of Wechsler’s intelligence scale: 15  i) WPPSI – Wechsler Pre-School & Primary Scale of Intelligence: This scale can be administered on children from 2 years and 6 months to 7 years and 7 months. It was introduced in 1967 and originally designed for children between 4 years and 6.5 years old. It consists of 14 subtests measuring three indices, viz., verbal, performance and full-scale IQ. Currently, it is in fourth revision known as WPPSI-IV. ii) WISC – Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: This test can be administered on children from 6 to 16 years old. This test was developed from the Wechsler-Bellevue Intelligence Scale and was first introduced in 1949. This test is often used in schools and other educational setups with the aim to identify gifted children as well as children with learning difficulties. The most recent version of the test is the WISC-V, which was released in 2014. iii) WAIS – Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: This test is used for adolescents from 16 years of age through adulthood to measure general intelligence, by administering many subtests. Each of the test is an indicator and estimator of intelligence. The current version of the test is the WAIS-IV which was launched in 2008. B) Group Tests A group test is one that can be administered to more than one person at the same time. Thus, making the tests quick in administration. There are many intelligence tests which can be considered as group tests such as Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB; Jackson, 1984), Cognitive Abilities Test (Lohman & Hagen, 2001), Culture Fair Intelligence Test (1940) and, Raven’s Progressive Matrices (1938,1992). As an example, we will discuss only Raven’s Progressive Matrices Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) Raven’s Progressive Matrices (RPM) was developed by John C. Raven in 1983. It is a non- verbal test of inductive reasoning, designed to measure Spearman’s g factor or general intelligence. It consists of 60 multiple choice items and can be administered on children from 5 years-old to the older adults. The test contains visual geometric designs with a missing piece and the task of the test taker is to choose the missing part of the matrix from six to eight given alternatives. Raven constructed three different forms of tests: Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM), Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) and, Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM). 16 SPM is suitable for average individual between the ages of 6 and 80 years. CPM is availabe for younger children and for special groups who cannot be tested on SPM. APM is available for above average adolescents and adults. II Verbal and Nonverbal Tests (A) Verbal Tests Verbal intelligence is the ability to use and solve problems using language-based reasoning. Verbal tests are those which require the use of language for successful performance in it. Verbal intelligence is the ability to comprehend and solve languagebased problems. Initially, approximately all intelligence tests were based on language only but later it was realised that such tests are of no use for people who were illiterate, young children who have not acquired the language abilities fully and people with speech difficulties. To overcome the limitation of these verbal tests, many psychologists came up with a number of non-verbal intelligence tests. Moreover, many verbal standardised tests such as Wechsler scales and Kaufman scales now also have some non-verbal test components. B) Non-Verbal Tests A nonverbal test of intelligence measures one’s ability to analyze visual information and solve problems without necessarily using words. Nonverbal tests are also known as performance tests as they generally require a construction of certain patterns. Some of the famous nonverbal tests are Koh’s Block Design Test, Cube Construction Tests, and Pass along Tests. Raven’s Progressive Matrices (1938, 1986, 1992, 1995) is also a well-known nonverbal intelligence test which has been discussed. 4.7 CREATIVITY What is creativity? We all are creative to various extents. We have exhibited creative thinking at some point or other when faced with life’s varied situations and challenges. It can be called as a special kind of problem solving. Usually when we are faced with a problem, we have the problem situation (the original state), we have a goal state (the desired outcome), and then we have rules using which we reach the desired state. But creativity goes beyond the conventional ways of thinking and addresses the problem in a novel way. It reflects a uniqueness in the person and in the approaches used by him/ her. Thus, in the above task of joining the two dots, one can do so by a straight line, and also by drawing zigzag lines, wavy lines, or even extended lines. Creativity can be described in reference to people, the inventive 17 acts or products, a new creation like a composition or an art/sculpture, or a scientific theory. In other words, we mainly refer creativity to the person or to some tangible product or new creation of that individual. We also describe the creative persons in terms of various specific characteristics. Thus, creativity can be considered a. from the point of view of the person who creates, b. in terms of the mental and emotional processes such as perception, motivation, learning, thinking and communication; and c. in terms of its products such as inventions, theories, poems, paintings etc. Creativity has been described and defined in various ways. It is the ability to come up with or generate creative ideas and possibilities. It involves thinking in new and original ways to reach a solution. Creativity thus entails originality, but originality is not always creativity. For instance, in case of people diagnosed with schizophrenia, their thinking is characterized by originality and uniqueness, but can it be called as creative? No, because having unusual and new thoughts does not always make sense or are appropriate and relevant to the society. Hence, novelty/originality must go along with relevance or usefulness or practicality. 4.7.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF CREATIVITY 1) Imaginative: Creative thinking is imaginative as it brings about something that did not exist or was not known before, so it had to be imagined first. 2) Purposeful: The creative imagination is not daydreaming. It has a purpose, an objective, which can be a variety of things. 3) Original: Originality highlights that creativity has individuals built in it. It grows out of the individual as a plant grows out from a seed and it is characteristics of the individual too. 4) Valuable: It means that the product or result has to be of value, adds the element of evaluation into creative thinking. When evaluating our creation, we need to see how it serves the purpose. 5) Ability: Creativity is the ability to imagine or invent something new. Creativity is not the ability to create out of nothing but the ability to generate new ideas by combining, changing or reapplying existing ideas. 6) Attitude: Creativity is also an attitude, the ability to accept change and newness willingness to play with Ideas and possibilities, a flexibility of outlook, the habit of 18  enjoying the good, while looking for ways to improve it, we are socialized into accepting only a small number of permissible or normal things like chocolate covered strawberries 7) Process: Creativity is also a process. Creative persons work hard to continually improve ideas and solutions, by making gradual alterations and refinements to their work. Newell, Shaw and Simon (1963) have suggested four criteria for creativity. One or more of these criteria must be satisfied for an answer to be considered creative It has novelty and usefulness, either for the individual or the society It demands that we reject ideas we had previously accepted z It results from intense motivation and persistence. It comes from clarifying a problem that was originally vague. MacKinnon (1963) has emphasized the adaptiveness of creativity as well as its originality. 4.7.2 ASPECTS OF CREATIVITY Knowing the aspects of creativity can help to design tests for measuring or assessing creativity in people. According to Guilford (1950), creativity involves divergent thinking in contrast to convergent thinking. Thus, one of the key aspects of creativity is divergent thinking. It consists of four processes/aspects such as, Fluency: refers to how rapidly the person comes up with ideas. It can be in respect of words, ideas, expression or associations. For example, write words containing a specified letter like p, ‘pot’, ‘hop’, ‘option’ etc. (word fluency); tell the fluids that will burn (ideational fluency); and write words similar in meaning (associational fluency). Flexibility: refers to the ability to produce a large variety of ideas such as thinking of varied uses of a particular object, e.g., list the different ways of using a rope or a newspaper. It also includes activities to make objects, e.g., drawing specified objects using a set of given figures. Originality: refers to the uniqueness or novelty of ideas. It is the ability to produce ideas that are unusual, statistically infrequent and not obvious. Elaboration: involves the ability to develop and describe an idea, such as, consequences of a hypothetical event, e.g., what would happen if no sleep is required? 19 4.7.3 STAGES OF CREATIVITY Creativity is a complex process. It does not come all of a sudden. It takes time but creative ideas appear all of a sudden, like a flash of lightning. According to Graham Walls (1926), there are four main stages in creativity: Preparation: The person in this stage tries to understand the problem. As Einstein had said, “the formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution”. Thus, focus needs to be more on knowing about the problem in detail. Mackworth (1965) views that problem finding is more important than problem solving. It is crucial to discover the right problem that needs to be solved. For this, one needs to collect all the information about the problem that will help identify the problem, analyze it and understand it. Further, it involves setting the goal and generating ideas towards the solution of the problem. Figure 7 Stages of Creativity Incubation: This is the time out phase where the individual does not engage in any activity. At least there is no overt activity, but the processing of all the information gathered during the preparation stage goes on in this stage. The person does not consciously or actively think about the problem, but the creative processes carry on within the individual at an unconscious level. Inspiration: After the incubation stage, the person suddenly gets an insight about the solution of the problem. In other words, it results in an ‘Aha’ experience. A new idea or new possibilities emerge and the individual is more active and conscious in this stage. She/he may also reformulate the problem based on the illumination or inspiration obtained in this stage. It may be noted that this ‘eureka’ moment involves a lot of thinking and effort in the preparation stage. 20 Verification: The person then tries to evaluate and verify the ideas and solutions in this stage. It may result in some modifications of the solution. In some cases, the person may also need to go back to the first stage to gather or generate more information about the problem, thus more ‘preparation’ is required. The process is cyclical. However, sometimes, if the person has good knowledge of the problem area, the stages may appear in a different order, directly proceeding to the stage of incubation or inspiration or even to the verification stage. 4.7.4 WAYS TO ENHANCE CREATIVITY Children are generally observed to be more creative than adults. Creativity in children can be observed in the form of symbolic play or imaginative possibilities they engage in. However, as children grow, our process of education and socialization focusing more on conformity, tend to suppress the creativity in them and even punish them for their expression of creativity. This poses a serious challenge for the development of creative abilities in school children. Torrance (1965), based on his studies on third to sixth grade children, has identified five principles that teachers should implement in order to reward the creative behaviour of students Be respectful to unusual questions. Be respectful of imaginative, creative ideas. Show your students that their ideas have value. Occasionally have students do something ‘for practice’ without the threat of evaluation. Tie in evaluation with causes and consequences. Encourage the self-initiated learning and evaluate it. Enhancing Creativity Creative potential of an individual can be increased through various ways and methods. But there needs to be a general attitude and atmosphere of supporting or favouring creativity. Principles for fostering creativity 1) Introduce a variety of instructional materials need to be used to facilitate different forms of student expression. 2) Develop a favourable attitude towards creative achievement. 3) Provide encouragement for creative ideas and creative expression. 4) Foster the creative abilities of children through feedback and support. 5) Provide reinforcement for engaging in creative work. 21 6) Provide a supportive environment at school and home to foster a creative personality – being self-confident, sensitive, independent, unconventional etc 7) Divergent thinking: It includes thinking and behaving in divergent ways. It helps come up with multiple ideas that aid creativity. Further, the child can be given opportunities for original expression in many ideas, such as through written language, rhythms, music, art etc. Thus, fluency, originality and flexibility in producing ideas need to be encouraged in the children 8) Brainstorming: Osborn’s (1957) brainstorming is a group approach to encourage creativity. It is a technique where people in a group setting are required to come up with as many ideas as possible without any self-censor or inhibition. Thus, they speak out whatever comes to their mind on a particular topic/issue without much thinking about it or postponing it or judging it. There are four basic guidelines for the group: (i) evaluation of ideas withheld until later, thus ruling out criticism; (ii) the wilder the idea, the better; (iii) the greater the number of ideas, the better; and (iv) people can combine two or more ideas proposed by others. Osborn emphasizes that the spirit of the brainstorming session need be maintained by encouragement of each other, complete friendliness and relaxed mind. 9) Synectics is a method developed by Gordon (1961) that encourages the use of analogies in creative thinking. The term Synectics is derived from a Greek word meaning “the joining together of different and apparently irrelevant elements”. The method focuses on understanding the emotional and the irrational elements of a problem, which results in creative solutions. The method involves the use of analogy or metaphorical process, making the strange familiar; and the familiar, strange. It uses four kinds of analogies such as: (i) personal analogy, encourages you to place yourself directly in the situation; (ii) direct analogy, encourages you to find something else that solves the problem you are examining; (iii) symbolic analogy, uses objective, impersonal, or poetic images to describe a problem; (iv) fantasy analogy, frees your imagination from the boundaries of the normal world. 22