Divergent Thinking

Dystopian fiction is evolving in one of the most interesting literary genres for youth. Education in "Divergent" constitutes a domain of the society which affects directly the citizens and turns to be a catalyst for the establishment of the regime. This article focuses on the role and aspects of education and portrays some representations of the educational system in force in "Divergent", making possible associations with our social and educational worlds. Using the method of quantitative content analysis, we found that "ranking" and "training" have the most powerful presence in the novel. In this dystopian society, the concept and institution of education has a very different role of the one we would imagine in another more friendly and warless society. Based on our findings, we propose ways in which students can actually learn from dystopian fiction and make steps towards the change of their own educational system and society.

Creativity is one of the most frequently cited 21st century skills, and developing creativity is one of the most often declared goals of modern education systems. However, without easy-to-use assessment instruments available for everyday application in educational practice, systematic improvement of creativity is far from a realistic option. The aim of the present study is to explore the possibility of online assessment of divergent thinking and to contribute to the development of a reliable technology-based test. The paper also investigates the relationship between divergent thinking and mathematical achievement in different dimensions. The sample for the study was drawn from sixth-grade students (N=1,984). The computerized instrument comprising nine tasks was based on item types for divergent thinking by Torrance and by Wallach and Kogan. Our online test proved to be a reliable instrument. Based on theoretical assumptions, evidence for construct validity was provided for both the fluency-flexibility-originality and verbal-figural dimensions. Divergent thinking predicts mathematical achievement at a moderate level. The advantages of technology-based assessment made our instrument suitable for everyday school practice and large-scale assessments; however, the coding process is not yet fully automated.

Creativity, meant as the ability to produce novel, original and suitable ideas, has received increased attention by research in the last years, especially from neuroaesthetics and social neuroscience. Besides the research conducted on the neural correlates of such capacities, previous work tried to answer the question of whether it is possible to enhance creativity through cognitive and neural stimulation. In particular, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been applied to increase neuronal excitability in those areas related to creativity. However, being a complex construct that applies to a huge variety of situations, available results are often confusing and inconsistent. Thus, in the present critical review, after selecting original research articles investigating creativity with tDCS, results will be reviewed and framed according to the different effects of tDCS and its underlying mechanisms, which can be defined as follows: the promotion of self-focused attention; the disruption of inhibiting mechanisms; the enhancement of creative thinking; the promotion of artistic enactment. Finally, a theoretical perspective, the creative on/off model, will be provided to integrate the reported evidence with respect to both anatomical and functional issues and propose a cognitive explanation of the emergence of creative thinking. Creativity has been defined by some scholars as humankind's ultimate resource (Toynbee, 1964). It is traditionally considered a mere outcome of an individual's genius, a gift, and a personality trait. Consequently, the interpretation that emerged in relation to this topic tended to consider creativity as something given without a reason, even genetically predetermined, and thus far from objective and systematic comprehension (Batey and Furnham, 2006). However, such ideas deal only with the first of the four points that Rhodes (1987) suggested for a complete framing of creativity. According to his proposal, it is possible to conceptualize creativity on the importance given to: (a) the person who creates; (b) the cognitive processes involved in the creation of ideas; (c) the environment in which creativity occurs; and (d) the outcome of the creative activity. Besides the specific focus on these different contributions to the phenomenon, it is also important to consider the multifaceted expressions of creativity, from artistic enactment, to scientific progress, and to problem-solving. Therefore, although there is a great interest dedicated to this issue, it is still difficult to define and study creativity in a comprehensive way. The most accepted definition that can be easily applied to all contexts proposes a double requirement for creativity: originality and usefulness (Barron, 1955). Moreover, different perspectives proposed creativity Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience | www.frontiersin.org

The interaction of emotions with creative cognition is one of the most intriguing topics in the creativity research. In this study, we investigated the extent to which various emotional states influence the evaluation of ideas, which is a crucial component of the creative thinking process. To this end, we used emotional (both positive and negative) and neutral pictures to induce emotional states and then asked participants to evaluate the creativity of exogenous ideas (i.e., those generated by other people) as part of an alternative use evaluation task. As the results of previous studies suggest the existence of a negative bias when judging highly creative ideas, we presented the participants with non-creative, moderately creative, and highly creative uses for everyday objects. Overall, the participants gave higher creativity ratings when under positive emotional engagement than when in negative or neutral conditions. Moreover, neutral and emotional context differently moderated the creativity evaluation of the three object use categories. Specifically, participants gave higher ratings for non-creative uses, and (to a lesser extent) for highly creative uses when in a positive emotional state, than they did when in the neutral condition. On the other hand, when in a negative emotional state, the participants gave lower ratings for moderately creative uses than they did in either the positive or neutral conditions. These data provide initial evidence that emotional states can influence the creativity evaluation of exogenous alternative ideas that are generated through divergent thinking.

This study investigated individual differences in cognitive abilities that contribute to solving insight problems. A model is proposed describing three types of cognitive ability that contribute independently to insight: convergent thinking, divergent thinking, and breaking frame. The model was tested in a large sample (N ¼ 108) by regressing insight problem solving performance on measures of these three abilities. This analysis demonstrated that all three abilities predicted insight independently. Convergent thinking was further broken down into verbal intelligence and working memory, which also predicted insight independently of each other and of divergent thinking and breaking frame. Finally, when pitted against noninsight problem solving as a predictor in regression, only insight problem solving was uniquely associated with divergent thinking and breaking frame. The model is suggested as a potentially useful taxonomy for the study of ill-defined problems and cognitive abilities.

Many studies have assessed the neural underpinnings of creativity, failing to find a clear anatomical localization. We aimed to provide evidence for a multi-componential neural system for creativity. We applied a general activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis to 45 fMRI studies. Three individual ALE analyses were performed to assess creativity in different cognitive domains (Musical, Verbal and Visuo-spatial). The general ALE revealed that creativity relies on clusters of activations in the bilateral occipital, parietal, frontal and temporal lobes. The individual ALE revealed different maximal activation in different domains. Musical creativity yields activations in the bilateral medial frontal gyrus, in the left cingulate gyrus, middle frontal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule and in the right postcentral and fusiform gyri. Verbal creativity yields activations mainly located in the left hemisphere, in the prefrontal cortex, middle and superior temporal gyri, inferior parietal lobule, postcentral and supramarginal gyri, middle occipital gyrus and insula. The right inferior frontal gyrus and the lingual gyrus were also activated. Visuo-spatial creativity activates the right middle and inferior frontal gyri, the bilateral thalamus and the left precentral gyrus. This evidence suggests that creativity relies on multi-componential neural networks and that different creativity domains depend on different brain regions

The main goal of the present study was to explore the role of sleep in the process of ill-defined problem solving. The results of previous studies indicate that various cognitive processes are largely dependent on the quality and quantity of sleep. However, while sleep-related memory consolidation seems to be well-grounded, with regard to the impact of sleep on problem solving, existing research yields mixed and rather inconclusive results. Moreover, this effect has been mainly tested using simple and well-defined, common laboratory problems, such as the remote associate test (RAT), crossword and anagram puzzles, numeric and logic problems, etc. What is lacking is research on the effect of sleep on solving more complex and more real-life oriented ill-defined problems. In the present study, we hypothesized that sleep can improve performance in solving this kind of problems. The study involved 40 participants, randomly assigned to two experimental conditions: sleep group and waking group. The experimental protocol comprised three stages: problem presentation, retention interval, and testing stage. The problem was presented to the participants in the form of an interactive computer game concerning a complex, elaborate crime story. During the retention interval, the participants-depending on the condition-took a nap or stayed awake; sleeping participants underwent polysomnography recording, while waking participants performed activities not related to the experimental problem. In the testing stage, participants tried to solve the presented problem. The solutions generated were assessed both for quality (reasonableness, consistency, and story recall) and creativity (fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration). Contrary to expectations, we found no effect of sleep on ill-defined problem solving. Neither quality nor creativity of the solutions generated by the participants was higher in the nap group than in the waking group. There were also no performance improvements with regard to any sleep stage or incidence of dreams. Our study adds to a growing body of evidence that sleep probably might provide an incubation gap, but not a facilitating environment serving the purpose of problem solving, at least with regard to ill-defined problems.

School-based psychological interventions which require students and pupils to think of counter-stereotypic individuals (e.g., a female mechanic, a Black President) have been shown to reduce stereotyping and prejudice. But while these interventions are increasingly popular, no one has tested whether tasks like this can have benefits beyond promoting tolerance, particularly with respect to the way individuals think and solve problems. We looked at one such intervention and asked whether this task could, in addition to decreasing propensities to stereotype others, contribute to more flexible and original performance. We expected that because exposure to people who disconfirm stereotypes compels students to think “out of the box”, they will subsequently not only rely less on stereotypes, but in more general thinking rely less on easily accessible knowledge structures and be more flexible and creative. As predicted, being encouraged to think counter-stereotypically not only decreased stereotyping, but also, on a divergent creativity task, lead to the generation of more creative ideas – but only for individuals who initially reported a lower personal need for structure (PNS).

In recent years, tablets have been shown to serve as incredible teaching tools in classrooms around the world. In mathematics education, divergent thinking, creativity, and play may play a key role in formation of adaptive thinking and math achievement. This qualitative, participatory action research investigated the use of an instructional model that provided minimal instruction in the use of tablets to create stop motion animation movies. This study focused on the themes and patterns that emerged as pre-service teachers integrate a design thinking philosophy as they explore creativity and divergent thinking through the creation of stop motion animation movies. This study employed a participatory action research design that examined the use of an instructional approach informed by design thinking that utilized tablets to enable pre- service teachers to create stop motion animation movies and examine pedagogical implications of creativity, divergent and convergent thinking.