Structured Imagination: the Role of Category Structure in Exemplar Generation

Ward, Thomas B.

doi:10.1006/cogp.1994.1010

Cited by 666 publications

(344 citation statements)

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“…Participants who had seen experimenter-provided examples of category members prior to generating original ideas showed a significant tendency in their sketches to conform to those examples by reproducing example elements. These results are in accord with previous findings (Smith & Blankenship, 1991) as well as subsequent studies using different creative cognition tasks (see Ward, 1994).…”

supporting

confidence: 94%

Following the Wrong Footsteps: Fixation Effects of Pictorial Examples in a Design Problem-Solving Task.

Chrysikou

Weisberg

2005

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

220

175

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Two experiments examined possible negative transfer in nonexperts from the use of pictorial examples in a laboratory design problem-solving situation. In Experiment 1, 89 participants were instructed to "think aloud" and were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: (a) control (standard instructions), (b) fixation (inclusion of a problematic example, describing its problematic elements), or (c) defixation (inclusion of a problematic example, with instructions to avoid using problematic elements). Negative transfer due to examples was measured both quantitatively and qualitatively through verbal protocols. Verbal protocols (N ϭ 176) were analyzed for participants' reasons for reference to the examples. In Experiment 2, fixation to examples was evaluated in nonverbalizing participants (N ϭ 60). Results of both experiments suggest that (a) although participants consulted the problem instructions, they tended to follow the examples even when they included inappropriate elements and (b) the fixation effects can be diminished with the use of defixating instructions.

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supporting

confidence: 94%

Following the Wrong Footsteps: Fixation Effects of Pictorial Examples in a Design Problem-Solving Task.

Chrysikou

Weisberg

2005

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cogni

220

175

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“…We also employed a different measure of creativity to demonstrate the robustness and generalizability of the effect to different tasks. An important part of the creative process is the ability to go beyond what is known to generate something new (Ward, 1994). This task is quite difficult, however, as individuals are constrained by what they already know and often generate products or ideas that very closely resemble those that already exist (Ward, 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Squeezed in the middle: The middle status trade creativity for focus.

Duguid

Goncalo

2015

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Classical research on social influence suggested that people are the most conforming in the middle of a status hierarchy as opposed to the top or bottom. Yet, this promising line of research was abandoned before the psychological mechanism behind middle status conformity had been identified. Moving beyond the early focus on conformity, we propose that the threat of status loss may make those with middle status more wary of advancing creative solutions in fear that they will be evaluated negatively. Using different manipulations of status and measures of creativity, we found that when being evaluated, middle status individuals were less creative than either high status or low status individuals (Studies 1 & 2). In addition, we found that anxiety at the prospect of status loss also caused individuals with middle status to narrow their focus of attention and to think more convergently (Study 3). We delineate the consequences of power and status both theoretically and empirically by showing that, unlike status, the relationship between power and creativity is positive and linear (Study 4). By both measuring status (Studies 2 & 3) and by manipulating it directly (Study 5), we demonstrate that the threat of status loss explains the consequences of middle status. Finally, we discuss the theoretical implications of our results for future research on status and problem solving on tasks that require either focus or flexibility.

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“…Although precise definitions vary, the creation of novel ideas is generally regarded as a core component of creativity (Amabile, 1983). Individual performance on creative generation tasks tends to be impaired because participants borrow from and rely too heavily on salient, existing examples in society or on related information that they have recently heard or seen (S. M. Smith, Ward, & Schumacher, 1993;Ward, 1994). For example, individuals instructed to make up creatures "beyond their wildest imagination" tend to produce results that conform to the attributes of realistic earth creatures or known science fiction characters (Ward, 1994).…”

Section: Experiments 1: Creating Product Labelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Individual performance on creative generation tasks tends to be impaired because participants borrow from and rely too heavily on salient, existing examples in society or on related information that they have recently heard or seen (S. M. Smith, Ward, & Schumacher, 1993;Ward, 1994). For example, individuals instructed to make up creatures "beyond their wildest imagination" tend to produce results that conform to the attributes of realistic earth creatures or known science fiction characters (Ward, 1994). Similarly, one of the classic findings in research on creativity (Osborn, 1953) is that a collection of individuals working alone produces more novel ideas than the same number of individuals brainstorming together, because group members block each other's generation of novel ideas; one member's ideas limit and constrain the imagination of other group members.…”

Section: Experiments 1: Creating Product Labelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Situational cues, social norms, and the attitudes and behavior of others all provide guidance and boundaries for acceptable thought and behavior, pressing individuals in predictable directions. Indeed, the range of situational elements that have been found to influence individual psychology, from various subtle nonsocial cues (e.g., Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001;Higgins, 1996;Ward, 1994) to overt acts of social influence (e.g., Asch, 1955;Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004;Deutsch & Gerard, 1955;Sherif, 1935), is astounding. As a result, elements of the situation are often more important determinants of expressions and behavior than are individuals' dispositions (Ross & Nisbett, 1991;cf.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Power reduces the press of the situation: Implications for creativity, conformity, and dissonance.

Galinsky

Magee

Gruenfeld

et al. 2008

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

733

594

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Although power is often conceptualized as the capacity to influence others, the current research explores whether power psychologically protects people from influence. In contrast to classic social psychological research demonstrating the strength of the situation in directing attitudes, expressions, and intentions, 5 experiments (using experiential primes, semantic primes, and role manipulations of power) demonstrate that the powerful (a) generate creative ideas that are less influenced by salient examples, (b) express attitudes that conform less to the expressed opinions of others, (c) are more influenced by their own social value orientation relative to the reputation of a negotiating opponent, and (d) perceive greater choice in making counterattitudinal statements. This last experiment illustrates that power is not always psychologically liberating; it can create internal conflict, arousing dissonance, and thereby lead to attitude change. Across the experiments, high-power participants were immune to the typical press of situations, with intrapsychic processes having greater sway than situational or interpersonal ones on their creative and attitudinal expressions.Keywords: power, influence, conformity, dissonance, creativityThe assertion that social and mental life is directed by the situation is almost a truism in social psychology. Situational cues, social norms, and the attitudes and behavior of others all provide guidance and boundaries for acceptable thought and behavior, pressing individuals in predictable directions. Indeed, the range of situational elements that have been found to influence individual psychology, from various subtle nonsocial cues (e.g., Dijksterhuis

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Structured Imagination: the Role of Category Structure in Exemplar Generation

Cited by 666 publications

References 0 publications

Following the Wrong Footsteps: Fixation Effects of Pictorial Examples in a Design Problem-Solving Task.

Following the Wrong Footsteps: Fixation Effects of Pictorial Examples in a Design Problem-Solving Task.

Squeezed in the middle: The middle status trade creativity for focus.

Power reduces the press of the situation: Implications for creativity, conformity, and dissonance.

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