Thinking

Activity . can be detrimental to creative expression. We become so used to thinking and perceiving things in a familiar way that it becomes difficult to think in novel ways. It may be related to our tendency to quickly jump to conclusions, not to see problems from fresh perspectives, be satisfied with routine patterns of doing things, or resist to overcome pre- conceived viewpoints, and not to change immediate judgment, etc.

The perceptual blocks prevent us from being open to novel and original ideas. Try to recall the joining dot problem in Activity . , where you were required to connect all nine dots with four straight lines going through each dot only once without lifting the pencil or pen from the paper. The solution to the problem lies in going beyond the boundaries.

We assume that boundaries exist whereas they did not. Many would attempt to solve the problem by staying in the square that the nine dots form. There is nothing in the directions to do this. The joining dots problem is indicative of the boundaries and the limitations that are assumed or self-imposed.

Motivational and emotional blocks also interfere with creative thinking which show that creative thinking is not merely a cognitive process. Lack of motivation, fear of failure, fear of being different, fear of ridicule or rejection, poor self-concept, negativism, etc. may hamper creative thinking. For example, some people may not be motivated enough to extend themselves and make extra efforts.

A person may find that s/he can not do it further, may leave the problem in between or may accept the intermediate idea as the final idea. Further, some people, for example, have negative assumptions about themselves. They feel that they are not capable of doing some tasks. You may be surprised to know that Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of the bulb, took years of experimentation with hundreds of failures before he produced the first bulb.

Cultural barriers are related to excessive adherence to traditions, expectations, conformity pressures, and stereotypes. Conformity to some extent is essential for social existence but excessive conformity to traditions, rituals, and procedures are likely Strategies for Creative Thinking Research on characteristics of creative people has revealed that there are certain attitudes, dispositions, and skills which facilitate creative thinking. Here are some strategies to help you enhance your creative thinking abilities and skills: Become more aware and sensitive to be able to notice and respond to feelings, sights, sounds, textures around you. Spot problems, missing information, anomalies, gaps, deficiencies, and so on.

Try to notice contradictions and incompleteness in situations that others may not do. For this, cultivate the habit of wider reading, exposure to a variety of information, and develop the art of asking questions, pondering over the mysteries of situations and objects. Generate as many ideas, responses, solutions or suggestions on a given task or situation to increase your flow of thoughts. Try deliberately to look for multiple angles of a task and situation to increase flexibility in your thinking.

It could be, for example, thinking of alternative arrangements of furniture in a room to generate more space, different ways of conversing with people, looking for costs and benefits of a course of study or career, looking for ways of dealing with an angry friend, helping others, etc. Osborn’s Brainstorming technique can be used to increase fluency and flexibility of ideas to open-ended situations. Brainstorming is based on the principle that producing ideas should be kept separate from the evaluation of their worth. The basic assumption is to let the minds think freely and the tendency to put judgment on the worth of ideas may be postponed, i.e.

imagination should be given priority over judgment till all the ideas are exhausted. This helps in increasing the fluency of ideas and piling up alternatives. Brainstorming can be practised by playing brainstorming games with family members and friends keeping its principles in mind. Use of checklists and questions often provide a new twist for ideas like, What other changes?

What else? In how many ways could it be done? What could be the other uses of this object? and so on.

Originality can be developed by practicing fluency, flexibility, habit of associative thinking, exploring linkages, and fusing distinct or remote ideas. A creative thinker, it is said, may not evolve new ideas but evolve new combination of ideas. It is the chain of thoughts and cross-fertilisation of ideas that may bring out something new. The idea of the ‘rocking chair’ has come from the combination of ‘chair’ and ‘see- saw’.

Practice making unusual and unexpected associations using analogies. Sometimes finding original ideas/solutions requires a dramatic shift of focus which can be facilitated by asking oneself : what is the opposite of the commonplace or usual solution to the problem? Allow conflicting thoughts to co-exist. Looking for solutions opposite to the obvious may lead to original solutions.

Engage yourself more frequently in activities which require use of imagination and original thinking rather than routine work according to your interest and hobbies. It may be decorating the house, improvising or redesigning of old objects, making use of waste products in multiple ways, completing incomplete ideas in unique ways, giving new twist to stories or poems, developing riddles, puzzles, solving mysteries and so on. Never accept the first idea or solution. Many ideas die because we reject them thinking that the idea might be a silly idea.

You have to first generate a number of possible ideas or solutions, then select the best from among them. Get a feedback on the solutions you decide on from others who are less personally involved in the task. Try to think of what solutions someone else may offer for your problems. Give your ideas the chance to incubate.

Allowing time for incubation between production of ideas and the stage of evaluation of ideas, may bring in the ‘Aha!’ experience. Sometimes ideas cluster like branches of a tree. It is useful to diagram your thinking so that you can follow each possible branch to its completion. Resist the temptation for immediate reward and success and cope with the frustration and failure.

Encourage self- evaluation. Develop independent thinking in making judgments, figuring out things without any help or resources. Visualise causes and consequences and think ahead, predicting things that have never happened, like, suppose the time starts moving backwards, what would happen?, If we had no zero?, etc. Be aware of your own defenses concerning the problem.

When we feel threatened by a problem we are less likely to think of creative ideas. Last but not the least, be self-confident and positive. Never undermine your creative potential. Experience the joy of your creation.

T HOUGHT AND L ANGUAGE Till now, we have discussed the nature and meaning of thinking and how thinking is based on images and concepts. We have also discussed the various processes of thought. Throughout the discussion did you feel that words or language are essential to express what we think? This section examines the relationship between language and thought: that language determines thought, that thought determines language, and that thought and language have different origins.

Let us examine these three viewpoints in some detail. Language as Determinant of Thought In Hindi and other Indian languages we use a number of different words for various kinship relationships. We have different terms for mother’s brother, father’s elder brother, father’s younger brother, mother’s sister’s husband, father’s sister’s husband, and so on. An English person uses just one word uncle to describe all these kinship relationships.

In the English language there are dozens of words for colours whereas some tribal languages have only two to four colour terms. Do such differences matter for how we think? Does an Indian child find it easier to think about and differentiate between various kinship relationships compared to her English- speaking counterpart? Does our thinking process depend on how we describe it in our language?

Benjamin Lee Whorf was of the view that language determines the contents of thought. This view is known as linguistic relativity hypothesis . In its strong version, this hypothesis holds what and how individuals can possibly think is determined by the language and linguistic categories they use (linguistic determinism) . Experimental evidence, however, maintains that it is possible to have the same level or quality of thoughts in all languages depending upon the availability of linguistic categories and structures.

Some thoughts may be easier in one language compared to another. Thought as Determinant of Language The noted Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget believed that thought not only determines language, but also precedes it. Piaget argued that children form an internal representation of the world through thinking. For example, when children see something and later copy it (a process called imitation), thinking does take place, which does not involve language.

A child’s observation of other’s behaviour and imitation of the same behaviour, no doubt involves thinking but not language. Language is just one of the vehicles of thinking. As actions become internalised, language may affect children’s range of symbolic thinking but is not necessary for the origins of thought. Piaget believed that though language can be taught to children, understanding of the words require knowledge of the underlying concepts (i.e.

thinking). Thus, thought is basic, and necessary if language is to be understood. Different Origins of Language and Thought The Russian psychologist, Lev Vyogotsky, argued that thoughts and language develop in a child separately until about two years of age, when they merge. Before two years thought is preverbal and is experienced more in action (Piaget’s sensory motor stage).

The child’s utterances are more automatic reflexes - crying when uncomfortable - than thought- based. Around two years of age, the child expresses thought verbally and her/his speech reflects rationality. Now children are able to manipulate thoughts using soundless speech. He believed that during this period the development of language and thinking become interdependent; the development of conceptual thinking depends upon the quality of inner speech and vice versa.

Thought is used without language when the vehicle of thinking is non-verbal such as visual or movement- related. Language is used without thought when expressing feelings or exchanging pleasantries, for example “Good morning! How are you?” “Very well, I am fine”. When the two functions overlap, they can be used together to produce verbal thought and rational speech.

D EVELOPMENT OF L ANGUAGE AND L ANGUAGE U SE Meaning and Nature of Language In the previous section we discussed the relationship between language and thought. In this section, we will examine how human beings acquire and use language in different age groups. Think for a moment: what would have happened if you did not have a language to express whatever you wanted to say? In the absence of language you will not be able to communicate your ideas and feelings, nor will you have the opportunity to know or have access to what others think and feel.

As a child when you first started saying “ma..ma..ma.”, it not only gave you tremendous boost to continue repeating this activity but also was a great moment of joy for your parents and other care-givers. Slowly you learnt to say ‘ma’ and ‘papa’ and sometime later combined two or more words to communicate your needs, feelings, and thoughts. You learnt words appropriate for situations and also learnt the rules of putting these words in sentences. Initially you learnt to communicate in the language being used at home (usually the mother-tongue), went to school and learnt the formal language of instruction (in many cases this language is different from the mother- tongue), and were promoted to higher grades and learnt other languages.

If you look back, you will realise that your journey from crying and saying “ma..ma..ma” to the attainment of mastery in not one but many languages, has been a fascinating one. In this section we shall be discussing the salient features of language acquisition. You have been using language all your life. Now try to define accurately what it is that you have been using.

Language consists of a system of symbols organised by means of certain rules that we use to communicate with each other. You will notice that language has three basic characteristics: (a) the presence of symbols , (b) a set of rules to organise these symbols, and (c) communication . Here we shall be discussing these three characteristics of language. The first characteristic of language is that it involves symbols.

Symbols represent something or someone else, for example, the place where you live is called ‘home’, the place where you study is called ‘school’, the thing that you eat is called ‘food’. Words like home, school, food, and numerous other words do not in themselves carry any meaning. When these words are associated with some objects/ events they attain meaning and we begin recognising those objects/events, etc. with particular words (symbols).

We use symbols while thinking. The second characteristic of language is that it involves rules . While combining two or more words we usually follow a definite and accepted order of presenting these words. For example, one would most likely say “I am going to school” and not “school am going I”.

The third characteristic of language is that it is used for communicating one’s thought, ideas, intentions, and feelings to others . On many occasions we communicate through the use of our body parts, called gestures or postures. This type of communication is called non-verbal communication. Some people who cannot use oral speech, like the ones with severe hearing and speech problems, communicate through signs.

Sign language is also a form of language. Development of Language Language is a complex system and unique to human beings. Psychologists have tried to teach sign language, use of symbols to chimpanzees, dolphins, parrots, etc. But it is observed that, human language is more complex, creative, and spontaneous than the system of communication other animals can learn.

There is also a great deal of regularity with which children all over the world seem to be learning the language or languages to which they are exposed. When you compare individual children, you find that they differ a Bilingualism refers to attaining proficiency in communicating through any two languages. Learning of more than two languages is referred to as multilingualism. The term mother tongue has been variously defined as one’s native language, the language spoken by the individual from the cradle; language ordinarily used at home; language spoken by the mother; etc.

However, generally the mother tongue is viewed as a language with which one identifies at the .