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Thinking, Problem Solving and
Creativity
Thinking
Thinking is an active mental process that distinguishes human beings from other species. It is proposed as a silent and implicit activity involving the formation of images, ideas, and concepts of objects or events in the mind. Thinking is primarily a cognitive process that helps in-
- understanding the different situations of life,
- identifying the goals to satisfy our needs and
- devising ideas and to achieve the goals. It involves lucid and systematic process to produce rational ideas that enable us in effective decision making and problem solving.
💡 De nition of Thinking : “It is an^ active^ and^ implicit cognitive process
that provides concepts, ideas or notions for solving various problems in life as well as achieving certain goals.”
Nature of Thinking
Thinking is a basic cognitive process forming the foundation for other unique human cognitive operations, such as remembering, imagination, problem solving, reasoning, decision making It involves the analysis, organisation, re-organisation, and manipulation of information received from the environment. Information used in thinking is: gathered from the environment and stored using language. Familiarity with language creates signs, symbols, or mental images in the mind corresponding to the received information. These symbols or images assist in recognising information and thinking about the information at a later stage.
During thinking, symbolic representations stored in the mind are processed and manipulated to identify and understand various pieces of information. Thinking is purpose-driven and controlled by goals: Idle or aimless thinking lacks a speci c goal. Purposive thinking involves xed goals and progresses through using stored experiences and information and re-organising and manipulating them into new patterns. Thinking spans from the concrete to the abstract : At the preliminary level, it depends on sensory perception of concrete objects or events. It advances to imaginative and abstract thinking, which may occur without sensory perception. Thinking can swiftly shift from one subject to another in a very brief time.
Elements of Thinking
↠ Image
Images are mental pictures of people, animals, objects, ideas, or activities perceived through past sensory experiences. These mental images are symbolised in the mind to aid the thinking process. Mental images include imagination and other creative inputs added to the subject matter. While thinking, images are: Manipulated and re-organised in the mind. Used to understand new information by relating it to similar past experiences. Contemporary research highlights that mental images or impressions can form from any sensory input: A visually perceived object creates a visual image in the mind. For example, seeing a ower creates and stores its image in the mind as an experience.
development. The children gradually learn to use and apply different phonemes , morphemes and syntactic rules.
- Language: Language is mainly used to communicate with others. This communication involves sharing meanings through expressions. Through this, meaningful messages can be passed from one person to another. The meaningful part of language is called its semantic content. Semantics is a branch of linguistics that studies the meanings of words and language , including the symbolic use of language and the multiple meanings of words.
Concept
Concept refers to a common idea about a category of objects or events, based on their common features. It involves general categorization of objects, events, ideas, situations, or qualities to understand and remember them easily. For example, the concept of a "motor car" includes common features like wheels, steering, doors, engine, and brakes, despite differences in models. Concepts help classify things into groups, such as sorting objects by color (e.g., green vs. not green). Concepts are not limited to concrete objects ; they also include abstract ideas like love, hatred, happiness, or independence. Abstract concepts can develop through experiences, stories, and historical events. Concepts are stored in memory as mental representations of similar categories or groups of objects. Concepts are products of understanding and logical thinking, essential for developing higher-order thinking abilities.
↠ Types of Concepts
- Simple concepts: Simple concepts are based on a single, common feature of an object or event. These concepts usually develop in animals and young children during their early stages of life.
They are formed through normal observation of similar features among various objects in the surroundings and by building simple relationships. Simple concepts serve as preliminary ideas about objects or events. For example, when a child learns the concept of "yellow," they identify all yellow-colored objects, such as owers, fruits, vegetables, dresses, and cars.
- Complex Concepts: Complex concepts involve identifying, understanding, generalizing, and differentiating the common characteristics of items, events, and ideas. They are formed through interactions with the environment and sorting objects into groups based on common features. Their development requires intelligence and logical thinking , typically observed in grown-ups, depending on a person’s intellectual capacity. Complex concepts are essential for higher-order thinking skills like reasoning, creative thinking, and abstract thinking. Types of Concepts:
- Conjunctive concepts : De ned by the simultaneous possession of two or more characteristics. Example: The concept of a "landlady" involves both being a woman and an owner of a house or land.
- Disjunctive concepts : De ned by having any one of the two or more characteristics or a combination of them, with no common elements shared. Example: The concept of "ice cream" can be chocolate , fruit-based , or a blend of both.
- Natural Concept: Natural concepts develop naturally through direct observation , experiences, and constant interactions with the natural world. Examples include concepts of man, woman, food, animals, day, and night, which are part of daily thinking. People have a natural inclination to learn these concepts quickly and easily.
Ideas from different aspects are synthesized to determine the best possible answer. Convergent thinking works best when a single correct answer exists and can be discovered through stored information and analysis. It is commonly emphasized in school tasks and formal education , where structured problem-solving is required.
↠ Divergent Thinking
Divergent thinking is a problem-solving process where multiple possible solutions are proposed to nd the most suitable one. It is a subjective process , as solutions may vary from person to person based on individual evaluation. Unlike convergent thinking, which is systematic and logical , divergent thinking is spontaneous and free- owing. It is a loosely organized and partially directed process where efforts are made to explore solutions from different perspectives in an innovative manner. Divergent thinking focuses on generating many unique solutions rather than selecting from predetermined options. It works best in open-ended problems that require creativity and brainstorming. The outcome is often unconventional and creative , emerging from an individual's innovative ability.
↠ Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is a thought process that produces novel and unusual solutions instead of conventional ones. It requires a high level of imagination and involves combining unrelated ideas to generate new and unique solutions. Characteristics of Creative Thinkers:
- Curiosity – Creative thinkers have a strong desire to learn and explore uncommon aspects of objects or events. Their inquisitive nature leads them to investigate and examine ideas deeply.
- Generating Ideas – They can come up with a large number of unique and unusual solutions to problems.
- Risk Takers – They are often energetic, adventurous, and willing to take risks in pursuit of new ideas.
- Higher Emotional Sensitivity – Creative thinkers are deeply emotional and sensitive , especially in relationships, aesthetics, spirituality, and humane activities.
- Self-Expressive – They can effectively communicate their thoughts and ideas.
- Constructive Criticism – They critique constructively and are highly self- critical , always striving for improvement.
↠ Goal-oriented Thinking
Goal-oriented thinking is a cognitive skill that enables individuals to set a goal, measure progress, and evaluate outcomes to improve a situation. After xing a target with a useful purpose , individuals engage in goal- oriented thinking to continuously adjust to their surroundings and move steadily toward their objective. To be effective, goal-oriented thinking requires setting realistic goals based on an individual's aptitude, ability, and circumstances. Unrealistic goals can lead to an irrational approach , making the process unsuccessful. When goal-oriented thinking fails to produce expected results , individuals may experience disappointment and frustration , negatively affecting their mental health.
↠ Aimless thinking
Thinking is a continuous process throughout life, beginning once a child develops cognitive abilities. Every thought should have an aim to achieve a solution or goal. Goal-oriented thinking helps individuals progress in personal growth, education, social status, and economic upliftment. When thinking lacks a proper focus , it becomes aimless and hinders psychological and overall development. Without a clear goal , thoughts may drift towards unnecessary and useless matters , leading to negative habits and lifestyles.
Example: ▸Seema feels tension before an examination. ▸ Shekhar feels tension before an examination. ▸ Bobby feels tension before an examination. Conclusion: Therefore, examination is stressful. In this example, the speci c instances (Seema, Shekhar, and Bobby) lead to a general conclusion about the stressful nature of exams.
- Deductive Reasoning Deductive reasoning , also known as deduction , is a basic form of reasoning that uses a general principle or premise as grounds to draw speci c conclusions. This is also used to verify the already established principles or already discovered facts and hypothesis. This way of testing hypothesis or determining the l ogical validity of a hypothesis is called deductive reasoning. Example : ▸ Examination is stressful. ▸ Seema is going to appear in examination. Conclusion : Therefore, she is stressed. In this example, the general principle (exam stress) lead to a speci c conclusion that Seema is stressed due to examination. Common Errors in Reasoning
↠ Faulty Premises
Faulty premises arise from false assumptions or inaccurate concepts about objects, events, or people. These premises are based on incorrect or vague ideas , leading to erroneous conclusions. For example, anxiety over a cat crossing one's path or hatred towards someone of a different caste or religion are the results of faulty premises. Reasoning involves verifying concepts through inductive or deductive methods. If the concept is not accurate, the reasoning process will yield a awed conclusion. It is crucial that the initial concept or premise is correct and clear. Example: If a car is expensive, the assumption may be that its engine must be more powerful. However, this may not be true, as the car could be expensive due to other factors like advanced features, safety mechanisms, or design.
↠ Biases
Biases are basically the preconceived ideas that result in systematic errors in reasoning. Biases in reasoning are usually cognitive errors. Such cognitive biases are tendencies to think in certain ways that may mislead the process of reasoning. Therefore, it may lead to s ystematic deviation from a standard, rational judgment and thinking process.
↠ Hindsight Error
Hindsight error refers to a person's tendency to believe that they predicted the outcome of a recently occurred event, even when there is little or no evidence to support this belief. After an event happens, individuals often feel as though they knew the result all along , despite the unpredictability of the event. This is also known as the " knew-it-all-along effect ." In hindsight error, the individual feels that the outcome was inevitable or foreseeable. This cognitive bias is common when people look back at unpredictable events and claim they had foreseen the result. Example: After a sudden torrential downpour disrupts a city's life, some people may say, " I knew it all along " that the catastrophe would occur, despite no prior indication. This error is also often seen in historians analyzing past battles, where they might claim the outcome was inevitable, even though it was uncertain at the time.
↠ Rationalisation
Rationalisation is a reasoning error where an individual justi es inappropriate behavior with logical reasoning , often to defend oneself. When someone performs an inappropriate task or makes a mistake, they may try to explain their actions in a way that seems reasonable, even if the justi cation is awed. This faulty reasoning can support irrational and unacceptable behaviors, motives, and feelings. Example: A student who performs poorly in an exam may rationalise the failure by blaming improper correction by the teacher , rather than accepting their lack of preparation as the true cause. Rationalisation distorts reasoning by altering the actual facts to create a more acceptable explanation , avoiding accountability.
↠ Fallacy of Single Cause
- Identi cation of the options
- Weighing the options
- Choice among alternatives
- Commitment to the decision
- Review of the decision and its consequences Problem Solving Problem solving involves deriving a solution to a unique and novel situation or problem which cannot be obtained through usual application of principles, concepts and past experiences. 💡 De nition of Problem-Solving:^ According to^ Skinner , “Problem solving is a process of overcoming dif culties that appear to interfere with the attainment of a goal. It is a procedure of making adjustment in spite of interferences.”
Steps in Problem Solving
- Identi cation or formulation of the problem
- Analysing the elements if the problem
- Searching potential solutions
- Evaluating possibilities of each solution
- Attempting appropriate solution Strategies of Problem Solving
↠ Trial And Error
Trial and error is a primitive and frequently used problem-solving approach. It is a blind approach , often used when lacking suf cient information for a systematic approach and involves guessing and then checking the result. However, it does not guarantee a dependable solution or work for solving critical problems.
Common in discovering new medicines, with researchers testing chemicals on animals until a desired effect is found.
↠ Algorithm
Algorithm is a strategy of solving a problem using a systematic and methodical approach. It applies a set of rules or speci ed actions to solve a particular kind of problem and get a proper solution. An algorithm is de ned as a set of step-by-step procedures that provides the correct answer. This strategy guarantees arriving at the right answer. Algorithms are logical procedures , thorough, carefully designed, and complete in nature. They include logical steps and decision points , ensuring every element of a problem is considered. Example: To make a meaningful word with the letters O, N, S, the algorithmic strategy involves arranging them in different orders (ONS, NOS, SNO, NSO) until the correct word 'SON' is formed.
↠ Heuristics
Heuristics is a problem-solving approach that uses mental shortcuts based on past experiences to nd quick and practical solutions. It does not guarantee the best or perfect solution but helps meet immediate goals. This strategy is highly ef cient , solving problems in the least period of time through quick methods. Heuristics include using a thumb-rule , a common guess, intuitive judgment, stereotypical patterns, standard outlines, and common sense. According to Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman , there are two types of heuristics:
- Availability Heuristic: Availability Heuristic is a mental shortcut where people unconsciously make decisions based on how quickly and easily relevant information comes to mind. Since things that are more memorable seem more important or common, this helps with quick decision-making but can lead to biased judgments. For example, people often view murder or accidents as more
expected value or utility of an outcome. Unlike logical reasoning , individuals may rely on preferences despite uncertainty , as seen in gambling or insurance. When faced with an uncertain outcome, a person evaluates each option by calculating the sum of probability-weighted utilities for all possible results. This concept was rst proposed by Daniel Bernoulli in 1738. For example, when a doctor diagnoses a patient, the goal is not just identifying the disease but choosing the best treatment based on the optimum expected outcome —curing the illness. Psychological Problems affecting Problem Solving
- Mental set of the problem solver: The mental set or psychological state of an individual plays a crucial role in problem-solving. It can have a favorable or unfavorable impact on cognitive abilities such as thinking, reasoning, attention, concentration, and decision-making. Stress can signi cantly hinder rational thinking and focus , leading to poor problem-solving potential.
- Functional xedness: Functional xedness refers to the rigidity of thinking and behavior. It prevents individuals from thinking creatively or using alternative approaches to solve problems. People tend to rely on familiar techniques and xed rules , making it dif cult to adapt to new situations. This rigidity can result from stereotypical thinking, prejudices, biases, and preconceived ideas. Due to functional xedness , individuals struggle to nd out-of-the-box solutions , reducing their problem-solving effectiveness.
Creativity
Creative thinking is the ability to perceive the world differently , nd hidden patterns , make unique connections , and generate novel solutions. It involves two key processes: thinking and producing , essential for innovation and invention. 💡 Definitions of Creativity
- Spearman: " Creativity is the power of the human mind to create new contents by transforming relations and thereby generating new correlates."
- Creative thinking is " the mental ability to produce a new, unconventional, and novel solution instead of common and usual solutions for solving a problem or to reach a goal ."
Components of Creative Thinking
- Intellectual Aspect: The ability to produce ideas.
- Motivational Aspect: Preparedness to think of something new and to articulate this thought.
- Emotional Aspect: The courage to think out-of-the-box, to resist the pressure to conform, and to take risks in achieving the goal.
Characteristics of Creativity
- Creativity is exceptional or rare.
- It involves imagination , i.e, formation of such mental images that are not perceived in reality.
- It is the mental power required for innovation and creating ideas with novelty or originality.
- It is an essential element of critical thinking that helps in solvong complex problems.
- It ows away in diverging directions so as to involve a variety of aspects that may lead to novel thoughts or ideas. Stages of Creative Thinking
