Education at its best allows students to experience the fruitfulness and joy of the creative process. One complexity of applying research findings to education is that creative work unfolds in phases and the various phases engage distinctively different cognitive processes. Since Wallas first described four phases, psychologists have elaborated on…

This paper discusses an alternative approach for developing problem solving experiences for students. The major argument is that students can develop their creativity by engaging in collaborative problem solving activities in which they apply a variety of mathematical methods creatively to solve problems. The argument is supported by: considering…

This paper offers an extension of Graham Wallas' model of the creative process. It identifies periods of problem solving, incubation, and growth with specific points of initial idea inception, creative frustration, and illumination. Responses to creative frustration are described including denial, rationalization, acceptance of stagnation, and new…

The study relates performance on a cognitive-style measure of perceptual sensitivity and grade point averages to several indices of creativity as affected by a checklist procedure and verbal pretraining. Subjects were 76 students, half of which received verbal pretraining requiring them to list adjectives under five categories. The pretrained…

This paper on the nature of expertise discusses implications of findings of an earlier study into the problem-solving, problem-finding and thought processes of 3 groups: 20 professional artists (experts), 20 semiprofessional artists (non-experts), and 20 non-artists (novices), each group consisting of 10 male and 10 female adults. Subjects were…

This article examines the relationship of cognitive processing and creativity and argues that educational interventions contribute to the development of creative thinking skills when they provide requisite knowledge structures and stress controlled application of these processes in solving progressively more complex problems. (DB)

The philosophy, purpose and methods of the Creative Problem-Solving Institute are discussed. (RW)

Creative thinking and problem solving processes were studied in 233 gifted elementary students. (Author/DLS)

This paper examines cognitive capacities and dispositional characteristics that contribute to creative problem solving, including relationship generation skills, expertise, adaptability, and wisdom. The paper argues that programs for gifted and talented students should develop the beliefs, values, and motives that will encourage students to apply…

Seven principles are presented for improving creative thinking, based on assumptions of creativity as a perceptual shift resulting from a metamorphic mental image. Principles include (1) the future initiates and pulls creative thought; (2) initial fact finding is best postponed; (3) problem redefinition is often retrospective; and (4) metaphors…

Creativity in education often takes the form of concentrated periods of arts-based "light relief" from the rigours of the National Curriculum. In psychology, on the other hand, creativity is often associated with a dramatic moment of "illumination" in solving scientific, mathematical or practical problems. This paper explores a third approach…

Forty New Zealand children (ages 3-4) were given false-belief and creativity tasks to investigate whether those with a Theory of Mind outlook are better at searching their own minds for creative answers. The numbers of appropriate and original responses in the creativity test correlated positively with performance on false-belief tasks. (Author/CR)

A 2-year sequence in creative problem solving for college students had no significant effect on memory or evaluation operations, but significantly improved divergent production, convergent production, and cognition. The data support a multidimensional analysis of creativity, involving idea finding, knowing, judging, and implementing ideas.…