Describe what distinguishes creative thinking from more

Question

routine problem-solving; define the creative processes of fluency, flexibility, and originality; differentiate between convergent and divergent thinking; identify three ways that creativity can be measured; and explain why creativity involves more than just the production of original answers.

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

ANSWER: Answer will include that problem-solving is usually a consciously reflective processing activity; creativity is more likely to involve apparently unconscious experiential processing. Creative thinking also involves fluency, flexibility, and originality. Fluency is defined as your total number of suggestions. Flexibility is the number of times you shift from one class of possible uses to another. Originality refers to how novel or unusual your ideas are. By counting the number of times you showed fluency, flexibility, and originality, we could rate your creativity, or capacity for divergent thinking. In routine problem solving or thinking, there is one correct answer, and the problem is to find it. This leads to convergent thinking (lines of thought converge on the answer). Divergent thinking is the reverse, in which many possibilities are developed from one starting point. Divergent thinking can be measured in several ways. In the Unusual Uses Test, you would be asked to think of as many uses as possible for some object, such as a paper clip. In the Consequences Test, you would list the consequences that would follow a basic change in the world. For example, you might be asked, "What would happen if everyone suddenly lost their sense of balance and could no longer stay upright?" If you were to take the Anagrams Test, you would be given a word such as creativity and asked to make as many new words as possible by rearranging the letters. Each of these tests can be scored for fluency, flexibility, and originality. Divergent thinking is an important part of creativity, but there is more to it. To be creative, the solution to a problem must be more than novel, unusual, or original. It must also be high quality and relevant to solving the original problem. This is the dividing line between a "harebrained scheme" and a "stroke of genius." In other words, the creative person brings reasoning and critical thinking to bear on new ideas once they are produced.