Contradictions and competing demands are common in everyday problems. To address these problems, individuals need to both recognize and integrate these contradictions during problem-solving to find creative solutions. We propose that recognition and integration take place in the problem construction phase of the creative problem-solving process.…

Given the central role of creativity in the future post-information society, a call for a pragmatist approach to the study of creativity is advocated, that brings as a consequence the recognition of the dynamic nature of this phenomenon. At the foundation of the proposed new theoretical framework lies the definition of creativity itself, which is…

Based on a detailed reading of Graham Wallas' "Art of Thought" (1926) it is argued that his four-stage model of the creative process (Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, Verification), in spite of holding sway as a conceptual anchor for many creativity researchers, does not reflect accurately Wallas' full account of the creative…

Arthur Cropley (2006) emphasized the critical place that convergent thinking has in creativity. Although he briefly refers to the blind variation and selective retention (BVSR) theory of creativity, his discussion could not reflect the most recent theoretical and empirical developments in BVSR, especially the resulting combinatorial models.…

Although many anecdotes suggest that creative insights often arise during mind wandering, empirical research is still sparse. In this study, the number reduction task (NRT) was used to assess whether insightful solutions were related to mind wandering during the incubation stage of the creative process. An experience sampling paradigm was used to…

Recent findings in creativity research suggest that how creativity is operationalized may have a profound influence on theories of creative production. In this study, two paradigms--divergent thinking and creative problem solving--were compared on several indices of creativity while keeping the problem constant. Participants were students from a…

Attempts to maximize creativity pervade corporate, artistic, and scientific domains. This research investigated how individual's lay beliefs about the malleability of creativity affect several measures of creative potential. Two correlational and 1 experimental study examined the relationship between malleability beliefs about creativity and…

This study investigated the effects of working in dyads and their associated gender composition on performance (solution rate and time) and process variables (number of impasses, number of passed solutions, and number of problem solving suggestions and interactions) in a set of classic insight problem solving tasks. Two types of insight problems…