INNOVATIVE INSTRUMENTS FOR STIMULATING CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM SOLVING

Octav Dumitru DAFINOIU

Abstract


Abstract

The creation of knowledge, the advanced research in strategic directions, the increasing of economic competitiveness and the transfer of knowledge in the economy are priorities of economic policies. They are based on research, development and innovation activities, which although take various shapes, have something in common: they relate to problem solving. Strategies, methods and techniques used in order to find solutions for problems are based on problem solving techniques taken from psychology.

This paper, which creates a bridge between the field of economy and that of psychology, proposes innovative tools to stimulate creativity and the problem solving ability. The tools suggested are based on analogy, the fundamental operation of thinking and creative imagination, and can be applied in various business functions.


Keywords


analogy; creativity; innovation; invention processes; problem solving.

References


Ashworth, E. J. (2013) Medieval Theories of Analogy, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2013 Edn), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), accessed at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/analogy-medieval/, January 20, 2014.

AT&T, Inventing the Telephone, accessed http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/id/AGB/index.html, November 20, 2014.

Bender, E. A. (1996) Mathematical methods in artificial intelligence, IEEE CS Press, Los Alamitos, CA, USA.

Boden, M.A. (1991) The Creative Mind – Myths & Mechanisms, Basic Books, New York.

Bohr, N. (1913) On the constitution of atoms and molecules, Philosophical Magazine, XXXVII, Series 6, p. 476-502, accessed http://www.fisica.ufpb.br/~jgallas/CURSOS/Estrutura02/bohr_part02_PM1913_14786441308634993.pdf, November 30, 2014.

Ecole Politechnique Federale de Lausanne (2014) Blue Brain Project accessed http://bluebrain.epfl.ch/, November 29, 2014.

European Commission (2010) Europe 2020 A European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, accessed http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/pdf/COMPLET%20EN%20BARROSO%20%20%20007%20-%20Europe%202020%20-%20EN%20version.pdf, January 15, 2015.

European Commission (2014) Boosting Open Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in the European Union, accessed http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/b1_studies-b5_web-publication_mainreport-kt_oi.pdf, January 15, 2015.

Gentner, D. (1983) Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy, Cognitive Science, no.7, pp. 155-170.

Holyoak, K., Thagard, P. (1989) Analogical Mapping by Constraint Satisfaction, Cognitive Science, no.13, pg. 295–355.

Holyoak, K. J., Thagard, P. R. (1996) Mental leaps. Analogy in creative thought, MIT Press, Cambridge.

Holyoak, K. J., Koh, K. (1987) Structure and surface similarity in analogical transfer, Memory & Cognition, no.15(4), pg. 332-340.

Horowitz, R. (1999) Creative Problem Solving in Engineering Design - Thesis submitted for the degree of "Doctor of Philosophy", accessed http://www.asit.info/Creative%20Problem%20Solving%20in%20Engineering%20Design,%20thesis%20by%20Roni%20Horowitz.pdf, January 20, 2015.

Hounshell, D.A. (1984) From the American System to Mass Production 1800-1932 - The Development Manufacturing Technology in the United States, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

IBM (2014) Neurosynaptic chips, accessed http://www.research.ibm.com/cognitive-computing/neurosynaptic-chips.shtml#fbid=1O0BX1fFybF, November 29, 2014.

Nakagawa, T. (2004) Problem Solving Methodology for Innovation: TRIZ/usit. Its Philosophy, Methods, Knowledge Bases, and Software Tools., The TRIZ Journal, accessed http://www.triz-journal.com/problem-solving-methodology-innovation-trizusit-philosophy-methods-knowledge-bases-software-tools/, January 29, 2015.

Nolan, V., Williams, C., (2010) (Eds.) Imagine That! Celebrating 50 years of Synectics, Synecticsworld®Inc.

OECD (2002) Frascati Manual - Proposed Standard Practice for Surveys on Research and Experimental Development, accessed http://www.tubitak.gov.tr/tubitak_content_files/BTYPD/kilavuzlar/Frascati.pdf), February 20, 2015.

Ormrod, J. E. (1999) Human learning, 3rd edn., Prentice-Hall Inc.

Polya, G. (1954) Patterns of plausible inference, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA.

The Romanian Government (2014) Decision nr. 929/October 21, 2014 regarding the approval of National Strategy for Research, Development and Innovation 2014-2020, accessed http://www.cdi2020.ro/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/HOT%C4%82R%C3%82RE-nr-929-din-21-octombrie-2014-privind-aprobarea-Strategiei-na%C5%A3ionale-de-cercetare-dezvoltare-%C5%9Fi-inovare-2014-2020.pdf, February 20, 2015.

Rubin, J. (2013) The Invention of the Telephone, accessed http://www.juliantrubin.com/bigten/telephoneexperiments.html, November 20, 2014.

Runco, M.A., Pritzer, S.R. (2011) Encyclopedia of creativity, 2nd edn., vol. I A-I. Academic Press, Londra-New York-Amsterdam-Paris-Singapore-Tokyo-San Francisco-Sydney.

Tuma, D. T., Reif, F. (1980) Problem solving and education, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, USA.

Wilson, D. (1983) Rutherford: Simple Genius. The MIT Press , Cambridge, MA, USA.

Wilson, L. B., Clark, R. G. (1988) Comparative programming language, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Wokingham, UK.


Full Text: PDF

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.