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