A heuristic model designed to improve creative problem-solving by engineering students was studied. Ten students majoring in industrial engineering were pre-tested to establish the range and accuracy of their performance prior to training and to identify stereotyped thinking. The test was an adventure scenario with 50 embedded problems along with a performance problem that required the student to build a simple machine designed to solve a specific performance problem. After demonstrating that thinking has a tendency to become stereotyped, students were shown processes for revising the stereotype, discovering the components of a problem, and analyzing the component patterns within the problem. Training included lecture, demonstration, discussion, and application. Students were expected to see the relationship between the differentiation processes and the associations or patterns that could be developed from the parts. The model was effective for 60 percent of the students, while the other 40 percent showed positive change even though they did not achieve a significant level of change. It is concluded that certain basic processes involved in creative problem-solving appear to be easily stimulated and developed with this short-term stimulation technique. (SW)