Wednesday Concepts, categorization, and creativity.
-
Upload
godwin-atkinson -
Category
Documents
-
view
213 -
download
0
Transcript of Wednesday Concepts, categorization, and creativity.
Wednesday
Concepts, categorization, and creativity
Terminology
Category = a set of objects
ConceptA defined category (pink cat is a ...)A relation between an agent and its environment
MeaningAttributesPrototypesThe way we think about the category
Categorization
Decision about:
Category membershipIs bat a bird?
Is penguin a bird?
Category boundariesWhat is the difference between „game” and „play”
What concepts are for?
Organization of knowledgeSemantic networks
Semantic hierarchy
Direction of thinkingConceptual versus visual thinking
Thinking as covert speech
Creative categorization (1)
Opening the boundaries„fuzzy” sets„fuzzy" concepts
MarriageGood, old-fashioned marriage„Open” marriageGay or lesbian marriage...
Creative categorization (2)
Changing the semantic fieldInclusion of „new” elements
memory
Exclusion of „old” elementsWell-educated person
Creative categorization (3)
Object redefinition
A china cup is ...A containerSomething preciousSomething valuableSomething fragileA currencySomething lighter than elephantSomething heavier than butterfly...
Creative categorization (4)
Conceptual synthesisComputer dog
Natural selectionSelection + natural (=self-made)
Cognitive scienceCognition (philosophy, psychology) + science
Creative categorization (5)
Contextual changeA concept is moved to the semantic or
situational context that used to be unusual for it
„falsification of miracles”
„ethnic cleansing”
Creative categorization (6)
Conceptual revolution
Paradigmatic change
Quantum mechanics
Pop culture
underwear as an „official” clothing
Paradoxes
Can you give me an example ofCold sunWarm iceTrue lie
George Orwell:Ministry of TruthMinistry of Love
Metaphors
„Teaching is like throwing false pearls before genuine pigs”
Combination of conceptsNew meaning, added valueImproves understanding of the problemEasy to rememberEnhances analogical transfer
Overinclusion
„Holes” in category boundariesNo definite boundary between fiction and
nonfiction, e.g., Woody Allen’s „Zelig”
„Alien” elements within the categoryStatistics, mathematics, and psychology
Overinclusion
Overinclusion andschizophrenia and schizotypy
Bipolar disease
Creative persons show tendency to overinclusion (Eysenck, Claridge)
Trzebiński (1981)
Conceptual coresClose to prototypesNecessary for category identity
Conceptual cores differ in plasticity
We can take advantage of plasticity when making categorical decisions
Plasticity of conceptual cores may be modified
Modification of conceptual cores
Tell me about a danger that is relaxingDescribe a kindergarten that is similar to the
armyDescribe an army that is similar to the
kindergartenWhat should be done in order to make a
book look like a newspaper... or a TV set
Trzebiński’s results
PretestTraining in core modificationPosttest
The training improvedFluencyFlexibilityOriginality
(n Guilford’s tasks}
Finke i Ward (1992)
Fixedness in conceptual thinking
Fixedness in divergent problems
Most studies on fixedness used convergent problemsFunctional fixedness
Mental inertia
Two ropes problem
Finke, Ward i Schumacher
„Imagine a creature that could live on another planet and draw it”
Experimental group was shown 3 examples of such creature for 1 minuteFour legsA tailTwo antennas on the head
Control group did not see anything
Results
Group E Group C
Antennas 17% 5%
Tails 37% 15%
4 legs 19% 14%
Conclusion: one minute is enough to develop mental fixedness
„Strange animals” as a test and the criterion for creativity
ScoringEven number of legs or hands?If feather, then no fur?If fur, then no beak?If scales, then no fur?...
These are examples of schematic thinking
Cognitive linguistics: meaning is the way we think about objects
„Green is a color about which we think as a color of grass”
BachelorMale, adult, unmarried
Anna Wierzbicka: „bachelor is a person who we think could marry”
Consequences for creativity
The way we think about the problem at hand
The way we think about conditions of future solutions
The way we think about obstacles to our problem solving
The way we think about our problem solving competences