Psychology: Understanding Psychology: Student Web Activity: Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Thinking and Language

"Boost Your Search Engine"

Introduction
If your teacher offered you a choice between taking a multiple choice test or writing a comparative essay, which would you choose? Most people prefer taking multiple choice tests because they are required to only memorize facts. But real-life problems do not come with a list of choices, and they often have more than one correct answer. Creativity makes problem solving possible by allowing you to find new ways to organize your thoughts, find links between ideas, and come up with solutions. The Creativity Web contains lots of techniques that can sharpen your divergent thinking skills and lead you on a path to more flexible thinking!

Destination Title: Creativity Web
Note: Clicking on the link above will launch a new browser window. Need help using your browser for this activity? Click here for tips.

Directions

Start at the Creativity Web site.
Browse through the site, taking notes as you go.

Read through the information, and then answer the following questions.

1. What tools increase one's creativity?

2. What hampers your own creativity, and how can you compensate to become more creative?

3. Describe a problem in your school and use the method of problem reversal to suggest a solution.

4. How can imitation spark imagination?

5. The random-word method uses one random word, thought, or image to stimulate new ideas. Stop reading this page and look for the first written word you see. On a separate sheet of paper, write a children's story using that word in the title. Allow your brain to make associations, images, and metaphors of the word while writing the story.