Earthquakes, lightning, and history-changing ideas are classic examples of powerful, unpredictable forces of nature. These sorts of phenomena have been difficult to explain and predict, an often frustrating fact as humans try to understand and control the significant influences in our lives. Historically, such phenomena have been attributed to…

In the target article, "Where does creativity fit into a productivist industrial model of knowledge production?", Ghassib (2010) invites the reader to step back and consider some long term historical and socio-cultural trends concerning the field of science and its relationships to society. This perspective suggests that science has evolved to…

Using questions posed by a gifted 12th-grade girl during an American History class, this article defines the nature of reflective thinking as a search for meaning that involves both imaginative as well as critical, logical thought processes. The author concludes by drawing implications for the education of gifted persons. (Author)

Tests of creative production given to 75 college students used three different types of instructions. The total number of superior responses was equal for brainstorming and criteria-cued instructions and greater than standard instructions. Criteria-cued instructions worked more efficiently, producing the largest number of creative responses for…

The CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) is a five-step program in direct instruction of thinking skills which increase the number and diversity of ideas as well as help the individual establish goals, set priorities, improve interactions with others, and incorporate feeling into thinking. (DB)

Two stages of skill development are: declarative (facts are interpreted) and procedural (knowledge is embodied in skill procedures). Knowledge compilation moves skills from the declarative to procedural stage in subprocesses of composition, which collapses sequences of productions into single productions, and proceduralization, which embeds…

Equation problems elicited a strategy in which the subject attempted to isolate the X variables on one side of the equation, whereas word problems elicited a strategy in which the subject attempted to reduce the expression. These results suggest that problem format influences the type of strategy used to solve algebra problems. (Author/PN)

Using tenets from Vedic science and quantum physics, this model of the creative process suggests that the unified field of creation is pure consciousness, and that the development of the creative process within individuals mirrors the creative process within the universe. Rational and supra-rational creative thinking techniques are also described.…

Learning disabled students need systematic instruction in thinking skills. Both individual clinical studies and group programs have proven such training effective. Some important thinking strategies include goal clarification, previewing, organization, questioning, imagining, predicting, checking results, humor, and self-monitoring techniques. (DB)

If schools are to succeed in teaching critical thinking, educators must have a clear idea of what it is. Critical thinking is skillful, responsible thinking that relies upon criteria, is self-correcting, and is sensitive to context. (TE)

Gives an analysis of how Einstein viewed "thinking," and the nature of scientific discovery, using extensive quotations from Einstein's own writings, and especially from his essay "Autobiographical Notes."

The article identifies five modes of thinking--defensive, productive, adaptive, elaborative, and developmental. Case studies of artistic, creative writing illustrate the modes. A writing program designed to identify and develop these thinking modes is described. (Author/DB)

This paper investigates similarities and differences between the computer and the human brain in terms of thought processes and develops the theory that the computer can learn, is intelligent and does satisfy educational learning requirements. (Author/MK)

This psychological phenomenological research analyzed cognition of 7 adult inventors and proposes a theory of original, creative thinking. Spatial intelligence is reviewed. Results provide 7 findings, including cognitive, motivational, affective, and psychokinesthetic factors. Spatial-temporal intelligence is theorized as an abstract model of…

A questionnaire for focusing college student attention upon the subtleties implicit in a three-dimensional model of creativity is presented. (BD)