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This chapter argues that all creative thought ultimately reduces to creative action. On this account, action schemata are activated creatively and rehearsed, issuing in globally broadcast imagery (including inner speech). It is argued that the proper function of childhood pretend play is to practice creative supposition, and the absence of pretence in autism as a test case is examined. The chapter closes with some discussion of creative hypothesis generation and creative language use in adulthood.

Mental imagery is the quasi-perceptual state of consciousness in which the mind appears to be able to create sensory-like experience. It is often cited as having a crucial role in creative thought; it is often associated with successful acts and performances across a wide range of creative tasks, including the development of scientific models, the conceptualization of architectural design, and the aspects of everyday problem-solving. Despite its assumed role in creative thought, its exact contribution remains a debated issue. This chapter outlines some of the anecdotal evidence that supports the link between imagery and creative thought. It also reviews evidence garnered from a number of experimental studies that have examined the use of imagery under controlled conditions. It also discusses the extent to which representational theories of imagery have failed to directly account for the phenomenology that is associated with imagery.

This chapter articulates and defends the view that a work of art is the intentional product of aesthetic creative thought. The view, roughly, is that someone has an insight into an aesthetic/non-aesthetic dependency, and then intentionally endows something with aesthetic properties in virtue of the non-aesthetic properties. The chapter gives an account of aesthetic insight and aesthetic action. The account of aesthetic action is an instance of a familiar means-end model of rational deliberation. But the account of aesthetic creative insight is non-rational, and it coincides with traditional accounts of genius. The chapter defends the notion of creative genius against claims made by sociologists of art.

This chapter focuses on the rare form of creative cognition, that which leads to revolutionary ideas. The case is made, with supporting empirical evidence, that prior experience can sometimes block or impede cognitive operations in memory, problem solving and creative thinking, and that similar cognitive processes are involved in all three domains. Such constraints can have profound effects on the creative ideas generated not only in individuals but in groups of people as well.

This chapter proposes that creativity emerges out of a three-way process between an individual, his or her domain of work and the audience of knowledgeable peers and judges. However, this chapter focuses on within-individual cognitive processes which are essential in any creative work. The rest of this chapter discusses some of the main approaches and findings that have arisen in the study of creative processes. Overall, the results and theories outlined here indicate that, contrary to the myth of mystery, creative thinking can be empirically investigated and would appear to be explicable in terms of normal cognitive processes suitably marshalled, often in real life cases, over long periods.

This chapter examines the role of creativity in resilience in the palliative care setting. It discusses the common knowledge that many famous artists create in order to survive and highlights the stories regarding a myriad of great artworks relating their creation to the darkest of times for their creators. Examples of these are the second piano Concerto of Serge Rachmaninov and Vincent Van Gogh's paintings. This chapter suggests that this same process of creative thinking can be applied to cope with a loss, trauma, or bereavement.

A common critique of universities is that they do not adequately prepare most students for life after graduation. In response to this critique, Minerva has focused its curriculum on “practical knowledge.” Practical knowledge consists of skills and information that one can use to achieve one’s own goals; practical knowledge allows one to adapt to a changing world, succeeding at jobs that may not even exist yet. To provide students with a broad and powerful “cognitive tool kit” to help them achieve their goals, we identified four core competencies, namely critical thinking, creative thinking, effective communication and effective interactions. Each of these competencies has distinct aspects, which in turn are carried out by collections of “habits of mind” and “foundational concepts.” This chapter reviews the rationale for this approach and provides detailed examples of a set of well-defined learning objectives.

In this chapter, it is argued that because uniquely-human forms of prosocial conduct stem from mechanisms in the human brain, understanding how the brain evolved supplies a basis for understanding them. Runaway “arm race” process, such as those involved in sexual selection, the selection of social strategies, and the evolution of culture, were probably implicated in the expansion and refinement of the human brain. Humans’ large brains enable them to create and manipulate images and ideas in their heads, which increases their capacity to learn, to remember, to plan, to predict, to perform mental simulations, to reason, and to engage in creative thinking. Humans’ capacity for language contributed to the expansion and refinement of prosocial behaviors in several ways. Although advanced cognitive abilities endow people with the capacity to engage in uniquely-human prosocial behaviors, they do not necessarily generate the motivation to enact them.

This introductory chapter discusses how music composition could be taught to students in such a way that they will find pleasure in music making. Music teachers, as regulated by National Standards for Music Education (NSME), are expected to make music composition learning more creative for students. The NSME provides supporting documents to implement its standard of music education, and appropriate teaching materials, lesson plans, and activities. Music lesson plans are basically composed of activities which let students define music and music composition, and enhance their creative thinking, so that later on they may produce their original creative music compositions.

This chapter is about the impact of new technologies on creative thinking — an impact of a productive rather than a disruptive kind. New tools can suggest new scientific ideas and metaphors about nature, society, and the mind. When this happens, one can trace discoveries back to the changing technological environment in which they evolved rather than attributing them to some mystical process inside a scientist’s head. The tools-to-theories heuristic, one of several heuristics of discovery, can explain the emergence of a broad range of theories and shed light on their limitations and potentials.

Our world is facing unprecedented challenges that will require novel approaches and creative solutions. In our general education course on Empirical Analyses we introduce skills and concepts that cultivate a systematic and creative approach to evidence-based analyses and problem solving. The overarching goal is to instill in students a deep understanding of how evidence is used creatively to generate hypotheses, test hypotheses, draw conclusions, and recognize biases. We lead students to develop creative solutions and designs; we also stress the ability to critically evaluate empirical research. Effective thinkers must think both creatively and critically, generating ideas and options and evaluating them rigorously. Although we draw on examples and questions from the physical, life, and social sciences, the skills and concepts we introduce apply well beyond science to the problems, decisions and challenges of our daily lives.

Innovative ideas often emerge between spatial, object, and verbal ways of thinking rather than in any one of them. Creative breakthroughs sometimes arise when people try to convert thoughts from one mode into another. This chapter compares the mental worlds of novelist Salman Rushdie, game designer Jason Rohrer, neuroscientist Edward G. Jones, novelist and philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, painter Rigoberto A. Gonzalez, and graphic designer Harriet Goren. Jones’s and Goren’s insights reveal that being visually gifted often means being able to describe one’s visions well in words. Cognitive scientist Lawrence Barsalou proposes that thinking and remembering involve simulations of past sensory–motor states, and neuroscientist Nancy Andreasen argues that the relaxed mental state conducive to creativity promotes the mixing of recreated sensations. Neuroscientist Vanessa Sluming has revealed that some orchestra musicians have enhanced spatial abilities and language centers. Actively trying to interconvert object, spatial, and verbal representations can promote creative thought.

Theories about learning and teaching form the basis for designing effective programs and marketing them to their audiences and administrators. This chapter offers an introduction to theories about learning and teaching that support effective programs for adults and young people. Since these cognitive development and mental model theories are important to teachers, conservation educators who wish to work with school personnel as well as adults will find these ideas helpful. The chapter offers program planners a foundation in how people learn, and a suite of theories, such as constructivism, inquiry learning, experiential learning, activity theory, social learning, and cooperative learning, all of which can be used to design effective, interactive programs. Critical thinking, creative thinking, and systems thinking skills are important to help learners to address conservation issues and can be practiced and promoted through well-designed programs.

In this chapter, Daya Krishna discusses the philosophical notion of creative thinking about the creative act. Krishna cites art as a paradigmatic example of the creative act. He asks whether art can be conceived without thinking that someone created it, or whether we can conceive art without reference to the senses that we have. He says one should reflect on this question as to why only the eyes and the ears are supposed to give rise to art. He also considers the phenomenon of creation, suggesting that what attracts our attention is the product of creativity and not the process of which it is the end result. Krishna rejects the impression that the present thinking is the only thinking that goes on in one's culture or in one's language, and argues that any understanding of the arts that sees them in terms of causality, at whatever level, is mistaken.

This chapter narrates the author's childhood experiences of a summer spent by the river, and the events surrounding that particular haunt. During his quieter moments he would regard the water striders as they move across the river. The water strider is an exceedingly fragile organism that could die at any time, blown away by the wind, drowned by the water, or swallowed by birds or even a leaping fish. But when it flies close to the surface of the water, it is graceful and touching, not unlike a wild crane. Observing these, he had been able to consider a nigh-philosophical state, assuming a heady silence that he would later equate with a richness of creative thought, as active and stimulating as a water strider flying above rapids.