Cognitive Psychology and Personal Definition of Creativity - Essay Example

Creativity can simply be summed up as the creation of something new.

Sternberg (2001) uses the example of Charles Darwin's theories of evolution. Charles Darwin was thought to be creative because of his high intelligence – he was able to generate the idea of evolution and critically analyze it against other possibilities. If his analysis had not been intelligent, then his creativity could have been chance to happen, or it would not have been his theory of evolution in the first place. Hence he underlines the distinct lines between creativity and intelligence.

* Description of a problem (personal or historical) in which creativity or insight could or could have been applied to bring about a solution or a better solution.

I remember having an old computer part in my storage; the keyboards, the old chargers, and the spare screen that I had long ago put away. They were all in working condition only that they were redundant because I worked on my new laptop and hence having them around was of no use. Finding them in storage an old buddy of mine asked if he could take them off my hands. Without hesitating I agreed since my storage was already packed to the maximum and I could do with the space. A lot later coming across items for sale on eBay I saw a whole collection of what I would refer to ask junk or obsolete computer equipment being sold for reasonable prices. It was then that I realized that perhaps If I had been more creative with what use I could gather from things I had so easily referred to as obsolete I would have been able to regain part of the cost that I had sustained in acquiring them.

* Creative solutions to the problem.

As far as a creative solution to the problem is concerned what I could have done is like so many other people on eBay sold the electronic equipment that was occupying so much needed space in my storage. Redirection, and starting over might work well in this case (Sternberg, 2009). I could have taken a completely different approach to tackle this problem by viewing the equipment as possibly useful in monetary terms and hence changed my perception of wanting to get rid of it in any way possible. If my conventional approach to perceiving the worth of the equipment as much less than the increase in storage space had been revised I would have been a lot more careful with how I handle its disposal. Read More