Sol argues that innovation propensity is not a specialized adaptation resulting from targeted sel... more Sol argues that innovation propensity is not a specialized adaptation resulting from targeted selection but an instance of exaptation because selection cannot act on situations that are only encountered once. In exaptation, a trait that originally evolved to solve one problem is co-opted to solve a new problem; thus the trait or traits in question must be necessary and sufficient to solve the new problem. Sol claims that traits such as persistence and neophilia, are necessary and sufficient for animal innovation, which is a matter of trial and error. We suggest that this explanation does not extend to human innovation, which involves strategy, logic, intuition, and insight, and requires traits that evolved, not as a byproduct of some other function, but for the
We begin this chapter with the bold claim that it provides a neuroscientific explanation of the m... more We begin this chapter with the bold claim that it provides a neuroscientific explanation of the magic of creativity. Creativity presents a formidable challenge for neuroscience. Neuroscience generally involves studying what happens in the brain when someone engages in a task that involves responding to a stimulus, or retrieving information from memory and using it the right way, or at the right time. If the relevant information is not already encoded in memory, the task generally requires that the individual make systematic use of information that is encoded in memory. But creativity is different. It paradoxically involves studying how someone pulls out of their brain something that was never put into it! Moreover, it must be something both new and useful, or appropriate to the task at hand. The ability to pull out of memory something new and appropriate that was never stored there in the first place is what we refer to as the magic of creativity. We will see that (like all magic ac...
The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other doma... more The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other domains. We tested whether people were able to recognize which works of art were inspired by which pieces of music. Three expert painters created four paintings, each of which was the artist's interpretation of one of four different pieces of instrumental music. Participants were able to identify which paintings were inspired by which pieces of music at statistically significant above-chance levels. The findings support the hypothesis that creative ideas can exist in an at least somewhat domain-independent state of potentiality and become more well-defined as they are actualized in accordance with the constraints of a particular domain.
We present a set of studies that tested the hypothesis that creative style is recognizable within... more We present a set of studies that tested the hypothesis that creative style is recognizable within and across domains. Art students were shown two sets of paintings, the first by five famous artists and the second by their art student peers. For both sets, they guessed the creators of the works at above-chance levels. In a similar study, creative writing students guessed at above-chance levels which passages were written by which of five famous writers, and which passages were written by which of their writing student peers. When creative writing students were asked to produce works of art, they guessed at above-chance levels which of their peers produced which artwork. Finally, art students who were familiar with each other's paintings guessed at above-chance levels which of their peers produced which non-painting artwork. The findings support the hypothesis that creative styles are recognizable not just within but also across domains. We suggest this is because all of an indivi...
Sol argues that innovation propensity is not a specialized adaptation resulting from targeted sel... more Sol argues that innovation propensity is not a specialized adaptation resulting from targeted selection but an instance of exaptation because selection cannot act on situations that are only encountered once. In exaptation, a trait that originally evolved to solve one problem is co-opted to solve a new problem; thus the trait or traits in question must be necessary and sufficient to solve the new problem. Sol claims that traits such as persistence and neophilia, are necessary and sufficient for animal innovation, which is a matter of trial and error. We suggest that this explanation does not extend to human innovation, which involves strategy, logic, intuition, and insight, and requires traits that evolved, not as a byproduct of some other function, but for the purpose of coming up with adaptive responses to environmental variability itself. We point to an agent based model that indicates the feasibility of two such proposed traits: (1) chaining, the ability to construct complex tho...
Human creativity is a multifaceted phenomenon with cognitive, attitudinal, intrapersonal interper... more Human creativity is a multifaceted phenomenon with cognitive, attitudinal, intrapersonal interpersonal, practical, socio-cultural, economic, and environmental aspects (Plucker & Runco, 1999). It can be challenging to incorporate creativity in classrooms (Kampylis, 2008). Teachers tend to inhibit creativity by focusing on correct responses, reproduction of knowledge, and obedience and passivity in class (Alencar, 2002). Right answers, after all, tend to be easier to evaluate than creative ones. Teaching in such a way as to discourage creative answers and approaches may lead to higher scores on standardized tests (with all the sociological, marketplace, and political consequences that entails). Teachers claim to value creativity, but to hold negative attitudes toward, and show little tolerance of, attributes associated with creativity, such as risk taking, impulsivity, and independence (Beghetto, 2006; Fasko, 2001; Runco, 2003; Westby & Dawson, 1995). The majority of teachers express ...
The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other doma... more The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other domains. We tested whether people were able to recognize which works of art were inspired by which pieces of music. Three expert painters created four paintings, each of which was the artist’s interpretation of one of four different pieces of instrumental music. Participants were able to identify which paintings were inspired by which pieces of music at statistically significant above-chance levels. The findings support the hypothesis that creative ideas can exist in an at least somewhat domain-independent state of potentiality and become more well-defined as they are actualized in accordance with the constraints of a particular domain.
McClelland, is an intriguing and well written book that provides a groundbreaking overview of div... more McClelland, is an intriguing and well written book that provides a groundbreaking overview of diverse approaches to understanding memory that sets the agenda for an interdisciplinary approach to the topic. Memory has long been a focus of investigation and interest in both the sciences and the humanities. The way memory enriches and distorts lived experience has been widely explored in literature and the arts. Our fascination with the subject is increasingly evident in popular culture, with the widespread proliferation of novels and movies in which events play out in a nonlinear fashion that reflects how memories of them are woven together in the minds of the characters involved. Scientific approaches to memory have focused on the study of amnesiacs, neuroimaging studies, and cognitive studies of the formation, retrieval, and forgetting of memories. Until now, however, humanistic and scientific investigations of memory have been carried out independently. This book provides an exempl...
The Memory Process, edited by Suzanne Nalbantian, Paul M. Matthews, and James L. McClelland, is a... more The Memory Process, edited by Suzanne Nalbantian, Paul M. Matthews, and James L. McClelland, is an intriguing and well-written book that provides a groundbreaking overview of diverse approaches to understanding memory that sets the agenda for an interdisciplinary approach to the topic. Memory has long been a focus of investigation and interest in both the sciences and the humanities. The way memory enriches and distorts lived experience has been widely explored in literature and the arts. Our fascination with the subject is increasingly evident in popular culture, with the widespread proliferation of novels and movies in which events play out in a nonlinear fashion that reflects how memories of them are woven together in the minds of the characters involved. Scientific approaches to memory have focused on the study of amnesiacs, neuroimaging studies, and cognitive studies of the formation, retrieval, and forgetting of memories. Until now, however, humanistic and scientific investiga...
The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other doma... more The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other domains. We tested whether people were able to recognize which works of art were inspired by which pieces of music. Three expert painters created four paintings, each of which was the artist's interpretation of one of four different pieces of instrumental music. Participants were able to identify which paintings were inspired by which pieces of music at statistically significant above-chance levels. The findings support the hypothesis that creative ideas can exist in an at least somewhat domain-independent state of potentiality and become more well-defined as they are actualized in accordance with the constraints of a particular domain.
How cultural knowledge shapes design thinking-A situation specific analysis of availability, accessibility and applicability of cultural knowledge in inductive, deductive and abductive reasoning in two design debriefing sessions
This paper challenges the ‘core design thinking and its application’ as outlined by Dorst (2011) ... more This paper challenges the ‘core design thinking and its application’ as outlined by Dorst (2011) and uses a dynamic constructivist notion of cultural-cognitive performance to analyze aspects of a design thinking process (Clemmensen, 2009; Hong & Mallorie, 2004). Based on a qualitative analysis of some of the events in the DTRS11 data set and using the theory of Dorst on design thinking as well as Hong & Mallorie’s socio-cognitive theory of cultural knowledge networks, the paper shows how it is possible and useful to analyze design thinking from a cultural perspective. The results show that cultural knowledge, either as shared knowledge by the crosscultural team or group specific knowledge, influences the Dorst design thinking equations across all the 16 episodes analyzed in DTRS11 data set. Furthermore, most of the design discussions were approached by the designers as problem situations and were approached in a backwards manner, where the value to create was known; however, the des...
The goal of this study was to investigate the translation of creative works into other domains. W... more The goal of this study was to investigate the translation of creative works into other domains. We tested whether people were able to recognize which works of art were inspired by which pieces of music. Three expert painters created four paintings, each of which was the artist's interpretation of one of four different pieces of instrumental music. Participants were able to identify which paintings were inspired by which pieces of music at statistically significant above chance levels. The findings support the hypothesis that creative ideas can exist in an at least somewhat domain independent state of potentiality and become more well defined as they are actualized in accordance with the constraints of a particular domain.
The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other doma... more The goal of this study was to investigate the translate-ability of creative works into other domains. We tested whether people were able to recognize which works of art were inspired by which pieces of music. Three expert painters created four paintings, each of which was the artist’s interpretation of one of four different pieces of instrumental music. Participants were able to identify which paintings were inspired by which pieces of music at statistically significant above-chance levels. The findings support the hypothesis that creative ideas can exist in an at least somewhat domain-independent state of potentiality and become more well-defined as they are actualized in accordance with the constraints of a particular domain.
Sol argues that innovation propensity is not a specialized adaptation resulting from targeted sel... more Sol argues that innovation propensity is not a specialized adaptation resulting from targeted selection but an instance of exaptation because selection cannot act on situations that are only encountered once. In exaptation, a trait that originally evolved to solve one problem is co-opted to solve a new problem; thus the trait or traits in question must be necessary and sufficient to solve the new problem. Sol claims that traits such as persistence and neophilia, are necessary and sufficient for animal innovation, which is a matter of trial and error. We suggest that this explanation does not extend to human innovation, which involves strategy, logic, intuition, and insight, and requires traits that evolved, not as a byproduct of some other function, but for the purpose of coming up with adaptive responses to environmental variability itself. We point to an agent based model that indicates the feasibility of two such proposed traits: (1) chaining, the ability to construct complex tho...
The growing trend of co-creation and co-design in cross-cultural design teams presents challenges... more The growing trend of co-creation and co-design in cross-cultural design teams presents challenges for the design thinking process. We integrate two frameworks, one on reasoning patterns in design thinking, the other on the dynamic constructivist theory of culture, to propose a situation specific framework for the empirical analysis of design thinking in cross-cultural teams. We illustrate the framework with a qualitative analysis of 16 episodes of design related conversations, which are part of a design case study. The results show that cultural knowledge, either as shared by the cross-cultural team or group specific knowledge of some team members, shape the reasoning patterns in the design thinking process across all the 16 episodes. Most of the design discussions were approached by the designers as problem situations that were formulated in a backward direction, where the value to create was known first. Then the designers were using available cultural knowledge to articulate the unknown what to design (products/services) and how the design would work (the working principles of product/services). In conclusion, we demonstrate a novel approach for understanding how cultural knowledge shapes core design thinking in specific situations.
Uploads
Papers by Apara Ranjan