Creative thinking brings about new things-innovations-ranging from solutions to simple puzzles and riddles to ideas and inventions that have radically altered our world. Creative people are those who produce such innovations, and the creative process consists of the psychological processes involved in bringing about innovations. Figures 1.1A and 1.1B give examples of some of the more impressive products of creative thinking. In Figure 1.1C are some simple exercises that might result in creative thinking on your part. If you had never seen those puzzles and riddles before, and if you solved one or more of them, then you were thinking creatively when you did so-you produced something new. In this book, we will consider the full range of creativity, ranging from solving simple puzzles to producing the seminal innovations shown in Figures 1.1A and 1.1B. We will examine a wide range of recent research on creativity, as w ... read full excerpt from Creativity: Understanding Innovation in Problem Solving, Science, Invention, and the Arts ebook
