ERIC Number: EJ1100515
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-0419
EISSN: N/A
Linkographic Evidence for Concurrent Divergent and Convergent Thinking in Creative Design
Goldschmidt, Gabriela
Creativity Research Journal, v28 n2 p115-122 2016
For a long time, the creativity literature has stressed the role of divergent thinking in creative endeavor. More recently, it has been recognized that convergent thinking also has a role in creativity, and the design literature, which sees design as a creative activity a priori, has largely adopted this view: Divergent and convergent thinking are seen as occurring in cyclic phases within the design process. Neurological evidence suggests that frequent shifts between defocused and focused attention to stimuli in memory activation, which equate divergent and convergent thinking, are a hallmark of creative thinking. In this article, we use linkography to show that the shifts between divergent thinking--forelinking of design moves, and convergent thinking--backlinking of moves, are so frequent that at the cognitive scale they can be seen as occurring concurrently in the ideation phase of creative designing. It is proposed that in assessments of creative potential, shifts between divergent and convergent thinking should be the yardstick instead of, or alongside measurements of divergent thinking.
Descriptors: Evidence, Convergent Thinking, Creativity, Creative Thinking, Creative Activities, Literature, Attention, Memory, Design
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A