Creative Imagery Discoveries and inventions in Visualization
- 1st Edition
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CONTENTS vi i
Interpreting the Preinventive Forms
(Experiments 6-7) 85
Results of the Experiments 87
Implications of the Results 89
Examples of Creative Inventions 89
Reader Participation: Preinventive Forms 103
Summary 103
Theoretical Implications 106
Chapter 7 Personal Inventions 109
",..
Informal Explorations 109
Examples of the Author's Inventions 110
Spontaneous Creative Inventions 129
Student Inventions 129
Spanning the Categories 134
Summary and Implications 140
Chapter 8 Creative Concepts 141
A Paradigm for Conceptual Discovery
(Experiments 8-9) 142
Experimental Procedures 142
Results of the Experiments 145
Examples of Creative Concepts 147
Reader Participation: Creative Concepts 157
Personal Conceptual Discoveries 157
Summary 162
Theoretical Implications 162
Chapter 9 Creative Implications 167
Review of Experimental Findings 167
A Reconceptualization of Creativity 168
Preinventive Forms and Problem Solving 169
Implications for Theories of Perception
and Cognition 170
Ecological Significance of the Research 172
Practical Implications in Everyday Life 172
Practical Implications for Experts 173
Further Issues and Directions 174
viii CONTENTS
References 177
Author Index 181
Subject Index 185
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my students and colleagues for their many contributions to
the ideas and experiments presented in this book: Janet Davidson, Martha Farah,
Jennifer Freyd, Howard Kurtzman, Laura Lekich, Marvin Levine, Donna Mc-
Keown, Steven Pinker, Larry Parsons, Linda Radin, Traci Ratliff, Jonathan
Schooler, Gary Shyi, Karen Slayton, Steven Smith, Linda Wagner, and Tom
Ward .
I would like to thank, in particular, Chad Neff, whose discussions on creativity,
art, and aesthetics stimulated many of the ideas on creative invention that I have
attempted to present here for the first time.
Portions of the author's research were supported by Grant 5ROIMH-3980903
from the National Institute of Mental Health.
ix
Chapter
1
Introduction
Every person has the potential to make creative discoveries in their imagery.
Moreover, it is possible to demonstrate this experimentally for many types of
creative discoveries. The experiments I report will show, in fact, that certain
techniques are remarkably effective in stimulating the discovery of unexpected
patterns, new inventions, and creative concepts-all within imagination. And
these are techniques that anyone can learn to use.
A unique feature of this book is that it combines the experimental method and
creative exploration. Most experimental studies on imagination constrain how
the images are to be formed (e.g., Finke, 1989; Kosslyn, 1980; Shepard &
Cooper, 1982). In contrast, previous books on how to engage in creative visualiza-
tion have not been extensively based on experimental techniques (e.g. , Adams,
1974; Arnheim, 1969; Edwards, 1986; McKim, 1980). This book attempts to do
both.
I begin by considering examples of famous anecdotes in which mental images
evidently led to creative insights and discoveries.
ANECDOTES OF CREATIVE DISCOVERIES
IN IMAGERY
Roger Shepard (1978, 1988) has compiled a remarkable collection of anecdotes,
mostly from eminent scientists and mathematicians, regarding the use of mental
imagery in scientific and conceptual discovery. The interesting feature of these
accounts is how the insights often arose spontaneously, as one considered the
implications of the visualized forms and structures. These insights were typically
2 1. INTRODUCTION
surprising, in much the same way that a person might be surprised upon finding
the missing clue to a mystery. In these cases of image discovery, however, the
"clues" were evidently generated from within the human mind itself.
Perhaps the most famous anecdote concerning the use of imagery in scientific
discovery is that of Kekule, who discovered the molecular structure of benzene.
In his own account, Kekule described having dreamed of a snake coiled in a
circle, biting its own tail. Kekule had been considering the problem of the
underlying structure of organic molecules. He then suddenly realized that the
snake's position in his image represented the key molecular structure he had been
searching for.
Similarly, Einstein reported having been led to many of his fundamental
insights by doing thought experiments in imagination. For example, by visualiz-
ing how the world would look if one were to travel beside a beam of light, he
was led to the concept of special relativity. His accounts of having engaged in
"combinational play" in imagery, as the preferred method for thinking about
problems, again suggests that imagery can provide an internal medium for inven-
tion and discovery.
Shepard considered reports of many other examples among famous scientists
of the use of visualization in moments of creative insight, notably those of James
Clerk Maxwell, Michael Faraday, Sir Francis Galton, James Watt, Nicola Tesla,
and, among recent physicists, Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking, and Mitchell
Feigenbaum. There have also been accounts of the use of creative visualization in
various technological advances. For instance, Ferguson (1977) brought together
numerous examples of mechanical inventions that were inspired by creative
mental imagery. It seems, in fact, as if most of the important insights in the
physical and applied sciences have come from visual images of some kind.
In a recent critique, Weisberg (1986) questioned whether accounts such as
those of Kekule actually occurred in the way they were reported. For example,
there are indications that Kekule's insight did not actually occur in a nocturnal
dream, but rather, in a daydream. Weisberg also questioned the purpoaed "leaps
of insight" in many of these accounts. For purposes of the present investigations,
such considerations are largely irrelevant. The key focus here is on the conditions
that give rise to creative insights in imagery, and not the particular kind of imagery
that is used, or exactly how the insights occur.
A NEW APPROACH TO CREATIVE INSIGHT
AND INVENTION
The central idea I shall develop in this book is that creative discoveries and
inventions might best be achieved by taking what most people would regard as
a very indirect approach. Instead of starting out by thinking of what kinds of
inventions are needed, or what new ideas are feasible , one conceives of a general
A NEW APPROACH TO CREATIVE INSIGHT AND INVENTION 3
object or shape that is intuitively interesting or appealing, and then considers
its possible uses, as the situation demands . This is in the spirit of general
recommendations for nondirective thinking that have been made by previous
writers on creativity and problem solving (e.g., de Bono, 1967; Hayes, 1981;
Levine, 1987).
The realization of a new idea or invention is thus largely unanticipated; it
follows from the structure of the imagined form . However, it doesn't necessarily
follow from any particular form, in that many other creative interpretations might
have been possible, give.. other problems and considerations that might have
been present at the time. In other words, there are many possible discoveries that
the same imagined form can inspire, depending on what is desired or required.
This willJ>el:ome clearer once the experiments on creative invention are presented.
For the moment, an analogy might help.
Imagine a person stranded on a deserted island, who, out of boredom, considers
interesting combinations of the small number of raw materials that he or she
finds-and then realizes that some of these fanciful constructions have unex-
pected, practical applications. The person didn't begin by trying to assemble the
raw materials to make something that had a specific function or purpose; rather,
the inventive insights followed the person's "combinational play."
The basic notion here is that real creativity comes from using the things we
create, not creating the things we use. The idea is similar to that found in modem
"free writing" approaches to composition, where one starts out by generating
many sentences and possible ideas, and then selects the ones that begin to make
sense, and which then lead to new insights and understandings (e.g., Elbow,
1981).
I propose that one should consider turning the inventive process "inward,"
generating and exploring mental images that I call "preinventive forms." These
forms are the products of the combinational play of visualization; they need not
be structured according to a particular problem or task. In fact, it's better not to
try to do so. Creative insights follow naturally as one explores possible interpreta-
tions of the preinventive forms. Typically, one ends up inventing things that one
never previously considered, or discovering solutions to problems that one was
not trying to solve. On the contrary, it is more likely to be a coincidence when
a preinventive form leads you to discover something specific that you were trying
to discover.
As I will argue later on, I don't believe that these instances of "image discover-
ies" are the products of unconscious processes or the like (e.g. , Erdelyi, 1974;
Marcel, 1983). Rather, I believe they are mostly accidental discoveries, in that
the same imagined form could be interpreted as many different kinds of inventions
or concepts-depending on what the person happened to be thinking about.
Indeed, many of the inventions I will describe give one the impression that they
could not have been conceived of as anything else, yet this is an illusion. Great
4 1. INTRODUCTION
insight may simply be the result of interpreting visualized structures that are
inherently meaningful only in a very general sense.
COMPONENTS OF CREATIVITY
Throughout this book, "creative" discoveries are defined according to two sepa-
rate dimensions-one being the practicality of an invention (or the sensibility of
a concept), and the other its originality. Admittedly, there are other dimensions
of creativity that one might consider (e.g., see Sternberg, 1988); moreover, there
is a sense in which something can be regarded as "creative" without being
practical. Nevertheless, the definition will prove useful in evaluating the quality
of inventions and concepts that the present methods inspire.
SCOPE OF THIS BOOK
The various findings reported here are based on a total of 18 experiments, 9 of
which were devoted specifically to discovering creative inventions in imagery.
These studies, which were conducted over the past 3 years, involved more than
800 subjects participating in over 5,000 experimental trials. Hundreds of creative
inventions resulted, and many of these are described in the text. In addition, the
chapters present these findings in their actual chronological order, so that readers
can consider how the ideas and experimental methods evolved across the individ-
ual studies.
There are certain aspects of creativity that are not considered in tPis" book.
First, I do not discuss the very large literature on problem solving, although I do
consider the implications of the present findings for general strategies for how to
go about solving problems. For reviews of the problem solving literature, the
reader is referred to the following sources: Hayes (1981), Levine (1987), Newell
and Simon (1972), Polya (1957), and Wickelgren (1974).
Also, individual differences are not considered to any great extent. There is
already an enormous literature on individual differences in creativity and visual
cognition that the reader may wish to consult (e.g. , Cooper, 1976b; Cooper &
Regan, 1982; Davidson, 1986; Kosslyn, Brunn, Cave, & Wallach, 1984; Marks,
1973; Slee, 1980; Sternberg, 1977, 1988; Torrance, 1974). This is not because
I am uninterested in individual differences; rather, my primary concern has been
to develop techniques for creative invention that virtually anyone can learn to
use.
READER PARTICIPATION 5
READER PARTICIPATION
Readers will be able to use the various methods I describe for making their
own creative discoveries. In each of the following chapters, I have created
opportunities to participate in the actual experimental tasks. If they are like many
of the subjects in these experiments-who were undergraduate students without
any prior training-readers should be able to use these techniques to considerable
success. In fact, in the most successful of these experiments, almost two-thirds
of the subjects were able to generate at least one creative invention in six attempts,
under extremely limited time constraints! These are, I believe, learnable skills
that one can apply across many conceptual domains.
Not p.IMy are the techniques described here useful in coming up with new
inventions for practical devices, they are also useful in coming up with new
conceptual ideas or principles, as I will describe near the end of the book. Readers
will be given an opportunity to extend the techniques in this way as well.
Subjects in these experiments not only claimed to be excited about their
discoveries, they also reported that they intended to develop their ideas further.
Some have even asked me whether they might be able to patent their ideas! I
cannot promise that all of the inventions and concepts that these methods will
inspire are going to be truly novel, having never been thought of by anyone else
before. This, however, is a secondary issue. The crucial thing is whether the
methods enable people to make discoveries that they might not have made
otherwise, and which lead them to new realizations and insights. Ultimately, I
will leave it to readers to judge this for themselves.
The next two chapters report the findings of background research and describe
the various kinds of control procedures that were included to rule out alternative
explanations. These chapters will be of particular interest to readers who might
be concerned about methodological issues in imagery experiments. Although all
readers may find it interesting to try out examples of these earlier tasks, those
who are interested primarily in learning to use the creative invention techniques
may wish to begin with Chapter 4.
Chapter
2
Visual Discoveries in Imagery
Before one can make creative discoveries in imagery, it must be possible to
recognize meaningful shapes or patterns that "emerge" when images are formed.
These emergent shapes and patterns, moreover, should not be so obvious that
one could easily anticipate them. They should, instead, lead to genuine visual
discoveries, often to the surprise of the person forming the image. For this reason,
this chapter emphasizes control procedures that have been included in imagery
studies of this type.
THE NEED FOR EXPERIMENTAL VERIFICATION
The reason it is necessary to demonstrate that images can have emergent properties
is that people often find it difficult to detect "hidden" patterns in their images. As
one example, Reed (1974) reported an experiment showing that, when asked to
form mental images of patterns made up of line drawings of simple forms and
geometric shapes, people often fail to recognize nonobvious parts of the patterns.
Consider, for example, the pattern shown in Fig. 2.1, consisting of a juxtaposed
pair of "Roman numeral 10" symbols. Subjects in the experiment were allowed
to inspect the pattern briefly before it was removed. They were then shown
drawings of possible parts of the pattern and were asked whether the parts had
been contained in the original pattern, much like the way a "hidden" figure can
appear in a drawing. Reed found that the subjects could rarely detect those parts
that would not have been obvious initially when the original patterns had been
inspected.
For example, cover the pattern in Fig. 2.1 and try visualizing it. Does the
7
8 2. VISUAL DISCOVERIES IN IMAGERY
FIG. 2.1. Example of patterns
used to explore people's ability
to detect "hidden" forms in
mental images. (From Reed,
1974, from Memory & Cogni-
tion, Vol. 2, pp. 32~336, re-
printed by permission of Psy-
chonomic Society, Inc.)
pattern contain a triangle? A diamond? What about a parallelogram? Most people
find it easy to detect the four triangles and the diamond in their image, but difficult
to detect the parallelogram. However, by removing the cover and inspecting the
pattern, it is now relatively easy to find a parallelogram- in fact, there are two
of them. Reed concluded, therefore, that people may not be able to detect parts
of patterns in images that would have gone unnoticed at the time the images were
formed. Because these "hidden" parts would not have been included in a normal
description of the pattern, they would not have been represented in the image,
and hence, would not have been detected.
In the same spirit, Chambers and Reisberg (1985) reported that people find it
difficult to experience spontaneous "reversals" of perceptually ambiguous figures
in imagery. For instance, consider the famous "Necker cube," shown in Fig. 2.2.
As you continue to observe this figure, it appears to reverse in depth-first one
face of the cube appears closer, then the other. Chambers and Reisberg reported
that people do not experience reversals of the Necker cube in imagery, nor do
they experience perceptual reversals of other similar kinds of ambiguous figures.
!§' ....
FIG. 2.2. Example of the
"Necker cube, a perceptually
U
ambiguous figure that appears
to reverse in depth as one con-
tinues to inspect it. Such pat-
terns do not exhibit spontane-
ous reversals in imagery.
THE EMPIRICAL CHALLENGE 9
They concluded that it may not be possible to reinterpret an image once it is tied
to some initial interpretation. (For additional examples of perceptually ambiguous
figures, see Attneave, 1971).
THE EMPIRICAL CHALLENGE
My interest in exploring creative visualization began with a concern over how to
demonstrate that it was, in fact, possible to detect novel patterns in an image and
to reinterpret an image in unexpected ways. My colleagues and I had often
had the e)(perience of detecting new perceptual relations in an image, and of
reinterpreting an image in ways that seemed quite unrelated to the initial meaning
of the image. It was therefore puzzling why the studies just mentioned failed to
find evidence for emergent patterns in imagery or of image reinterpretation.
A possible explanation was suggested by a series of studies carried out by
Stephen Kosslyn and his students . They found that mental images are generated
by assembling the parts of the image one part at a time, and that the parts represent
meaningful "chunks" or "units" in the imagined object or pattern (Kosslyn, Cave,
Provost, & von Gierke, in press; Kosslyn, Reiser, Farah, & Fliegel, 1983). In
addition, they found that when an image fades, it does so one part at a time,
again with the parts representing meaningful chunks or units. These effects are
more pronounced whenever the image corresponds to a complex pattern consisting
of many parts, in which case one is constantly having to regenerate the faded
parts in order to maintain the image (e.g. , Kosslyn, 1975, 1980).
This might explain, first of all, the difficulty people had in detecting, entirely
within imagination, the hidden figures studied by Reed. If parts of an image fade
as meaningful units based on an initial interpretation of the pattern, this might
prevent one from detecting those parts that correspond to meaningful units based
on some other interpretation. Similarly, the detection of perceptual reversals of
ambiguous figures in imagery might be disrupted if meaningful parts of an image
were continually fading and having to be regenerated, especially with relatively
complex patterns such as the Necker cube. (Readers may verify these characteris-
tics of a fading image by trying to maintain images of the patterns in Figs. 2.1
and 2.2.)
The challenge, therefore, was to come up with experimental tasks in which
unexpected patterns would "emerge" in imagery, but where the image would be
less susceptible to fading . I begin by describing a set of experiments conducted
in collaboration with Steven Pinker and Martha Farah (Finke, Pinker, & Farah,
1989), which demonstrate that people can detect unexpected patterns when they
visualize simple, familiar shapes and forms being combined and transformed in
various ways. In presenting these findings, I will also give readers the opportunity
to participate in the actual tasks.
