Transfer, particularly far transfer through analogic mapping and reasoning, is considered one of the mechanisms for creative problem solving. However, the cognitive paradigm of training for analogical problem solving has not met with much success. It is argued by these authors that a pedagogical model that exclusively focuses on training for…

Although research from a range of fields indicates the importance of innovation for progress in those fields, there is not yet a set of best practices for promoting insights that lead to scientific innovation. This article proposes and tests the hypothesis that function-construction maps based on prototype and heuristic theory lead to increased…

The literature on insight problems--problems that supposedly can only be solved by rejection of an initial faulty problem representation and sudden comprehension of another, nonobvious representation (restructuring)--suggests that the size of initial representations affects the very process of problem solving. Large initial representations impose…

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…

Studies of creative thinking skills have generally measured a single aspect of creativity, divergent thinking. A number of other processes involved in creative thought have been identified. Effective execution of these processes is held to depend on the strategies applied in process execution, or heuristics. In this article, we review prior…

College students (N=135) were presented with novel, ill-defined problems and asked to select concepts they thought would help solve the problems. The use of concepts organized around long-term goals was positively related to indices of solution quality and originality. (DB)