Attempting to retrieve a target from memory via a retrieval cue can cause competition from the cue's associates, which might block the target. A 1994 study by Anderson, Bjork, and Bjork demonstrated retrieval-induced forgetting for competing associates and suggested that inhibitory control resolving competition causes the forgetting. A 2011 study by Storm, Angello, and Bjork found forgetting for incorrect associates following creative problem solving. This thesis investigated whether such forgetting is also the result of inhibitory control. Competition was manipulated by instructing participants to remember or forget incorrect associates before working on a Remote Associates Test problem. If problem-solving-induced forgetting is caused by inhibition, then to-be-remembered associates should suffer more forgetting than to-be-forgotten associates. Overall, forgetting occurred for incorrect associates participants were instructed to remember and forget. However, the first quartile of trials showed forgetting only for to-be-remembered associates following longer problem solving durations, suggesting a possible role of inhibitory control as an active means to overcome fixation in creative problem solving.

The purpose of this study was to revise and revalidate the scoring procedure of the DISCOVER Mathematics Assessment to allow evaluators to better measure creative problem solving ability in mathematics, identify gifted students, and evaluate the programs developed for fostering creative problem solving. The data for this study consisted of 233 students selected from five different grade levels. I conducted descriptive statistics and regression analyses to compare the relationships of both the original and revised versions of the scoring system with general creativity. I found that range increased from the original to the revised version of the scoring system for mathematical problem solving performance in semi-open-ended problems, however it decreased for overall performance and performance in open-ended problems. Variance, on the other hand, increased for both overall problem solving performance and performance in semi-open-ended problems, and decreased for performance in open-ended problems from the original to the revised version of the scoring system. Furthermore, in the revised model all three variables of the creative mathematical problem solving performance (overall performance, performance in semi-open-ended problems, and performance in open-ended problems) explained more variance in general creativity than the original version. Statistically, the differences between the original and the revised versions were significant for all three variables, except for creative mathematical problem solving performance in open-ended problems. Across grade levels, I found that for the group Lower Grade Levels (grade levels 1 and 2), the explained variance in general creativity increased from the original to the revised version for both overall performance and performance in semi-open-ended problems. However, it decreased for performance in open-ended problems. On the other hand for the group Higher Grade Levels (grade levels 3, 4, and 5) the explained variance in general creativity increased for all three variables from the original to the revised version. Statistically, the only significant difference between the original and the revised versions was for overall problem solving performance in Higher Grade Levels. I concluded that the revised version of the scoring system was more effective when predicting variance in general creativity for overall problem solving performance, and performance in semi-open-ended problems. Also, it predicted more variance in general creativity for the group Higher Grade Levels than the group Lower Grade Levels. Therefore, I suggested that quality should be considered as well as fluency, flexibility, and originality when scoring assessments for creative problem solving ability in mathematics.

To respond effectively in today's quickly changing, highly complex business environment, management must depend on organizational members' mental capacities to generate new and meaningful ideas. Consequently, creativity has evolved into a fundamental organizational resource useful in establishing and maintaining competitive advantage. One relatively new set of tools intended to augment the creative process is Idea-Generation Support System (IGSS). These computer-based tools are generally aimed at enhancing boundary-breaking, insightful thought during problem solving. However, if a IGSS were to directly enhance creative performance, the benefits could be multifaceted. For example, students could use the IGSS for reinforcing techniques learned in formal creativity training. Or, by matching IGSS tools to specific lesson needs, the IGSS might enable teachers to better enhance student's creative performance. Due to (1) the effects of culture gap on system performance and user satisfaction, (2) the lack of clear empirical evidence concerning the value of an IGSS, there is also little theoretical justification. Each IGSS appears to provide a different methodology for enhancing creativity with little more than anecdotal reasoning to justify the approach; a laboratory experiment was conducted to evaluate the performance of IGSS developed in Taiwan. The results suggest that responses generated with software support are significantly more novel and valuable than responses without software support. It is hoped the findings from this investigation can be used to improve individual creative performance, further research concerning factors relevant to creativity, and guide future IGSS development efforts.

Effects of mind wandering on creative thinking is unclear in the literature. Using multiple measures of mind wandering and creativity, the current study investigates the role of different contexts on the relationship between mind wandering and creative thinking. Thought probes measured intentionality and freely moving dimensions of mind wandering in a lexical decision and a movie task (between-subjects). Three measures of attention control were also obtained. Deliberate and spontaneous mind wandering traits were measured with a survey. Participants did not show off-task behaviors during the mind wandering tasks. Attention control positively predicted creative problem solving and divergent thinking scores. Freely moving thought did not predict creative thinking. Deliberate mind wandering positively predicted creative problem-solving scores above and beyond attention control.

The Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS) model was developed in 2004 by C. June Maker and colleagues as an intervention for gifted students to develop creative problem solving ability through the use of real-world problems. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the REAPS model on developing students' general creativity and creative problem solving in science with two durations as independent variables. The long duration of the REAPS model implementation lasted five academic quarters or approximately 10 months; the short duration lasted two quarters or approximately four months. The dependent variables were students' general creativity and creative problem solving in science. The second purpose of the study was to explore which aspects of creative problem solving (i.e., generating ideas, generating different types of ideas, generating original ideas, adding details to ideas, generating ideas with social impact, finding problems, generating and elaborating on solutions, and classifying elements) were most affected by the long duration of the intervention. The REAPS model in conjunction with Amabile's (1983; 1996) model of creative performance provided the theoretical framework for this study. The study was conducted using data from the Project of Differentiation for Diverse Learners in Regular Classrooms (i.e., the Australian Project) in which one public elementary school in the eastern region of Australia cooperated with the DISCOVER research team at the University of Arizona. All students in the school from first to sixth grade participated in the study. The total sample was 360 students, of which 115 were exposed to a long duration and 245 to a short duration of the REAPS model. The principal investigators used a quasi-experimental research design in which all students in the school received the treatment for different durations. Students in both groups completed pre- and posttests using the Test of Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP) and the Test of Creative Problem Solving in Science (TCPS-S).A one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted to control for differences between the two groups on pretest results. Statistically significant differences were not found between posttest scores on the TCT-DP for the two durations of REAPS model implementation. However, statistically significant differences were found between posttest scores on the TCPS-S. These findings are consistent with Amabile's (1983; 1996) model of creative performance, particularly her explanation that domain-specific creativity requires knowledge such as specific content and technical skills that must be learned prior to being applied creatively. The findings are also consistent with literature in which researchers have found that longer interventions typically result in expected positive growth in domain-specific creativity, while both longer and shorter interventions have been found effective in improving domain-general creativity. Change scores were also calculated between pre- and posttest scores on the 8 aspects of creativity (Maker, Jo, Alfaiz, & Alhusaini, 2015a), and a binary logistic regression was conducted to assess which were the most affected by the long duration of the intervention. The regression model was statistically significant, with aspects of generating ideas, adding details to ideas, and finding problems being the most affected by the long duration of the intervention. Based on these findings, the researcher believes that the REAPS model is a useful intervention to develop students' creativity. Future researchers should implement the model for longer durations if they are interested in developing students' domain-specific creative problem solving ability.

A significant proportion of the population engages in entrepreneurial behavior but many ventures do not survive beyond startup thus decreasing the pool of entrepreneurs available to contribute to the economy. Opportunity recognition is central to entrepreneurial success and the improper delineation of opportunities is cited as a leading cause of venture failure. There is a logical link between creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. The goal of the researcher in this study was to explore the relationships between CPS training and the generation of entrepreneurial ideas. The investigation studied the relationship of training in creative problem solving (CPS) to the opportunity identification skills of entrepreneurial learners. It was hypothesized that CPS training would positively impact attitudes relating to divergent thinking, would increase the number of opportunities identified and would increase the quality of opportunities identified. The tutorial was targeted at novice entrepreneurs who were in the initial stages of identifying an opportunity. Quality at this early stage in the venture formation process was defined as the degree to which the idea meshed with the learner's interests and passions and the extent to which they possessed prior experience. An experimental research design was used and participants were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. There were no statistically significant differences in composition between the treatment and control groups. There were statistically significant differences found in one of the two divergent thinking constructs - the tendency to make premature evaluations. Two measures of ideational fluency were tested. No statistically significant differences were found in fluency for the post-test/pre-test measure within the treatment group or between the treatment and control group. Statistically significant differences were found in the number of unique ideas generated post-test/pre-test (within the treatment group and between the treatment and control group) and statistically significant differences were also found in the unique bottles measure (within group only). There were no statistically significant differences found in the 4 quality measures. The findings in this study have the potential to strengthen the link between the enhancement of creative performance and the generation of entrepreneurial ideas. The research also holds the potential to provide practical guidelines for use of instructional techniques for training in opportunity recognition but also more broadly across the continuum of entrepreneurship education. The objective of the training was to increase the size and the quality of the venture idea pool that entrepreneurs draw from when initiating ventures.

The use of process models to support business analysts' idea-generation tasks has been a long-standing topic of interest in process improvement. We examine how two types of representations of organizational processes - textual and diagrammatic - assist analysts in developing innovative solutions to process-redesign tasks. The results of our study clarify the types of process-redesign ideas generated by analysts who work with text versus those who work with models. We find that the volume and originality of process-redesign ideas do not differ significantly but that appropriateness of ideas varies. We discuss the implications of these findings for research and practice in process improvement.

While 3D digital design tools have extended the reach of architectural and engineering designers within their own domains, restrictions on the use of the tools and an approach to practice whereby the architect designs (synthesises) and the engineer solves (analyses) - in that order ¡V have limited the opportunities for interdependent modes of interaction between the two disciplines during the early design phase. While it is suggested that 3D digital design tools can facilitate a more integrated approach to design exploration, this idea remains largely untested in practice. The central proposition of my research is that that 3D digital tools can enable interdependencies between crucial aspects of architectural and engineering design exploration during the early design phase which, before the entry of the computer, were otherwise impossible to affect. I define interdependency as a productive form of practice enabled by mutual and lateral dependence. Interdependent parties use problem solving processes that meet not only their own respective goals, but also those of others, by constructively engaging difference across their boundaries to actively search for solutions that go beyond the limits of singular domains. Developed through practice-based project work undertaken during my 3 year postgraduate internship within the Melbourne Australia office of the engineering firm Arup, my research explores new and improved linkages between early design exploration, analysis and making. The principal contribution of my research is to explore this problem from within the context, conditi ons and pressures of live practice. To test the research proposition this dissertation engages firstly with available literature from the fields of organisation theory and design, secondly with information gathered from experts in the field principally via interview, and lastly with processes of testing through practice-based (as opposed to university-based) project work. The dissertation is organized as follows: The Introductory Chapter outlines the central hypothesis, the current state of the discourse, and my motivations for conducting this research. I summarise the structure of my research, and the opportunities and limitations that have framed its ambitions. Chapter Two, Approach to Research and Method, details the constraints and possibilities of the Embedded Research within Architectural Practice context, within which this work has been undertaken, and describes the Melbourne office of Arup, the practice with whom I have been embedded. These contexts have led to the selection of a particular set of ethnographic research instruments, being the use of semi-structured interviews and the undertaking of practice-based studies as a participant-observer. These modes of testing are explained, and the constraints, limitations and requirements associated with them described. Within Chapter Three, Factors for Separation and Integration in Architectural and Engineering Design, I examine selected design literature to detail several factors impacting upon the historic and contemporary relationship between architects and engineers, and to introduce the problem towards which this thesis is addressed. I describe a process of specialisation that has led architects and engineers to see different aspects of a common problem, detail the historical factors for separation, the current relationship between domains and the emerging idea of increased integration during the early design phase. The aim of this section is primarily contextual - to introduce the characters and to understand why their interaction can be difficult - and investigation occurs through the concepts of specialisation and disciplinary roles. Chapter Four, Unravelling Interdependency, establishes an understanding of interdependency through the concept of collaboration. While I differentiate interdependency from collaboration because of the inconsistent manner in which the latter term is employed, the concept of collaboration is useful to initialise my understanding of interdependency because it, as opposed to the closely linked processes of cooperation and coordination, is recognised as being characterised by interdependency, and in fact is a viewed as a response specific to wider conditions of interdependency. From the literature, I identify four sites of intersection crucial to an understanding of interdependency; these are differing perceptions, shared and creative problem solving, communication and trust. These themes, which correlate with my practice experience at Arup Melbourne, are developed to introduce the concepts and vocabulary underlying my research. Chapter Five, Intersections & Interdependency between Architects and Engineers, grounds these four sites of intersection within contemporary issues of digital architectural and engineering practice. Each site is developed firstly through reference to design literature and secondly through the experiences and understandings of senior Arup practitioners as captured through my interviews. The views and experiences of these practitioners are used to locate digital limits to, and potential solutions for, interdependent design exploration between architects and engineers as they are experienced within and by practice. Through this combination of design literature and grounded experience, I extend: * the understanding of differing perceptions through reference to problems associated with digital information transfer. * the understanding of joint and creative problem solving by connecting it to the notion of performance-based design. * the understanding of communication by focussing it upon the idea of back propagating design information. * the understanding of trust by connecting it to the management and reduction of perceived complexity and risk. Chapter Six, Testing through Projects, details the project studies undertaken within this research. These studies are grouped into three discourses, characterized as Design(Arch)Design(Eng), Design|Analysis and Design|Making. As suggested by the concurrency operator that separates the two terms that constitute each of the three labels, each discourse tests how architectural and engineering explorations might execute in parallel. The section Design(Arch)|Design(Eng) reports projects that use a common language of geometry to link architectural and engineering design ideas through geometric interpretation. The section Design|Analysis reports projects in which analytical tools have been used generatively to actively guide and synthesise design exploration. The final section, Design|Making, reports projects in which the architectural and engineering design processes are synthesised around the procurement of fabrication information. Conclusions are then drawn and discussed in Chapter Seven. In evaluating the research I discuss how 3D digital design tools have enabled alternative approaches that resolve issues associated with differing perceptions, establishing common meanings, communication and trust. I summarise how these approaches have enabled increased interdependency in architect engineer interaction. Lastly, I draw together the impacts of intersecting 3D digital aspects of architectural and engineering design exploration during the early design phase, and indicate those aspects that require further analysis and research.

This thesis presents an Advanced Placement curriculum for the concentration section of the Drawing Portfolio. It is intended as a teaching tool to encourage and develop creative strategies related to idea generation and refinement based on creative problem solving, which is essential to the development of an effective concentration. One of the most difficult problems faced by Advanced Placement Studio Art students is idea generation for the artwork related to a central topic for the concentration section of their portfolios. This curriculum introduces lessons based on artist research, brainstorming, synectics, and SCAMPER techniques designed to foster creative idea generation for artwork development. It also gives students a tool with which to analyze the ideas generated based on specific criteria necessary to the concentration. This curriculum specifically encourages the creative process in students and provides teachers with a foundation with which to begin a unique and highly personal journey by the individual student.

Abstract Challenges, problems, and conflicts can be the seeds of growth, or the seeds of destruction. It seems worthwhile to develop skills for addressing and resolving life challenges in ways that promote growth. Problem solving skills are a component of any performance challenge whether athletic, academic, professional, or personal. However, the cognitive and physiological resources and processes associated with problem solving have the potential to act in ways that both enhance and inhibit effective problem solving and performance outcomes. The threat appraisal mechanism, the subconscious process of evaluating whether a challenge poses a threat, is designed to preserve the individual but can also work to interfere with an individual’s capacity for creative problem solving. Focus, a process capable of galvanizing an individual’s attention and energies toward a singular purpose, can erode performance just as powerfully by drawing energies away from performance goals. Insight into the interactions and interdependencies of underlying cognitive and physiological mechanisms and principles comprising the problem solving process would better inform the design of facilitative performance interventions for a variety of realms including business, academic, athletic, and interpersonal. The following experimental and quasi-experimental field study explored the relationship between cognitive appraisal, attentional focus, problem solving, and goal attainment. The research examined the influence that threat focus, assumption focus, goal focus and ‘integrated’ focus had upon coping strategies, cognitive stress appraisal, and performance outcome on problem solving tasks. Shifts in focus were achieved using questions designed to direct thinking. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted in the form of three separate but interrelated experiments. The first experiment compared the impact of three focusing interventions on problem solving rate and approach on a variety of insight problems. The second experiment evaluated a refined intervention against a control group on the same tasks. The final experiment applied the refined intervention within an organizational field setting and evaluated the impact of the intervention on problem solving approach and outcome when faced with challenges related to a workplace injury. Outcome was based upon correct solutions in the lab and sustainability of solutions in the field. Analysis of variance results demonstrated that the focusing intervention significantly and positively affected problem solving rate, outcome and approach in the lab and moderately and positively affected problem solving outcome and approach in a workplace setting. The research has implications for other individual, team and organizational settings suggesting that performance on a wide variety of problems may be improved by utilizing an integrated focus.