It involves rigorous gymnastics of the mind that lead to unexpected solutions. What is the Difference Between Blended Learning & Distance Learning? Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course. Subjects' performance on both a word fluency task and a challenging nonverbal planning test was "significantly impaired by sleep loss", even when the factor of personal motivation to perform well was controlled. Shake Things Up. Following divergent thinking, ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent thinking, which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution, which in some cases is a "correct" solution. - Causes, Statistics & Prevention, Empty Nest Syndrome: Definition & Explanation, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL): Definition & Scale, What is Semantic Dementia? The goal of brainstorming is to generate as many potential ideas as possible. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. What are some examples of divergent thinking? 1. This is in contrast to convergent thinking, which relies on focusing on a finite number of solutions rather than proposing multiple solutions. Following the lesson, you will have the opportunity to test your knowledge with a short quiz. Convergent thinking is used in accordance with divergent thinking. Persons in a negative mood may choose optimizing strategies and be more concerned with the quality of their ideas, which is detrimental to performance on this kind of task. The distinction between divergent and convergent thinking implies a dichotomy. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Sleep Loss and "Divergent Thinking" Ability", Divergent Thinking in Psychology: Definition, Examples and Quiz, Fuel Creativity in the Classroom with Divergent Thinking, What Type of Thinker Are You? [2] This study highlighted the link between behaviours of divergent thinking, or creativity, in playfulness during childhood and those displayed in later years, in creative adolescents and adults. Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Rights in the U.S. Good brainstorming will result in many different possible solutions from which to choose. What is divergent thinking? Definition of Convergent and Divergent Thinking . Mark A. Runco, in Creativity (Second Edition), 2014. succeed. However, sometimes that creative potential disappears when children grow up in an educational system that standardizes the mindset of all students, unifying their perspectives. Gregory Boldt, Artistic creativity beyond divergent thinking: Analysing sequences in creative subprocesses, Thinking Skills and Creativity, 10.1016/j.tsc.2019.100606, (100606), (2019). Following divergent thinking, the ideas and information will be organized using convergent thinking; i.e., putting the var ious ideas back together in … [3] This shows that their subjects are at a distinct cognitive advantage when performing divergent thinking-related tasks in an elevated mood. Divergent thinking is ideational or visionary in nature. Parallels have been drawn between playfulness in kindergarten-aged children and divergent thinking. imaginable degree, area of When you have a challenging problem to solve, what thinking strategy do you prefer? Divergent thinking takes place in a free-flowing manner and is spontaneous, which results in multiple possible solutions in short amount of time. Brainstorming is the most well-known problem-solving strategy associated with divergent thinking. Some problems demand flexibility, originality, fluency, and inventiveness, especially those for which the individual must supply a unique solution. Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community, Explain what divergent thinking is and contrast it with convergent thinking, Discuss how brainstorming works to generate ideas or solutions, Recall the purpose of stream of consciousness writing. Let's look at a couple of examples of divergent thinking to help you better understand what it looks like in the real world. Divergent thinking is an aspect of intelligence a thought process or method, which is usually applied with the goal to generate ideas. {{courseNav.course.topics.length}} chapters | This procedure is unorganized and yields unexpected connections. It is sometimes referred to as “lateral thinking” which is a term credited to Edward De Bono, a Maltese psychologist, physician, author, and inventor. just create an account. [7] This study showed that even "one night of sleep loss can affect divergent thinking”, which "contrasts with the outcome for convergent thinking tasks, which are more resilient to short-term sleep loss". - Definition & Examples, Reconstructive Memory: Definition & Example, Linear Perspective in Psychology: Definition & Examples, Retinal Disparity in Psychology: Definition & Examples, Health Psychology: Definition, Purpose, and Goals, Aptitude vs. Achievement: Definition & Test Types, Resistance in Psychotherapy: Definition & Concept, Place Theory of Hearing: Definition & Explanation, Types of Creativity: Descriptions & Examples, Social Psychology: Homework Help Resource, Research Methods in Psychology: Help and Review, Abnormal Psychology: Homework Help Resource, UExcel Psychology of Adulthood & Aging: Study Guide & Test Prep, Educational Psychology Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, Social Psychology Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans, UExcel Introduction to Psychology: Study Guide & Test Prep, Intro to Psychology Syllabus Resource & Lesson Plans. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you A series of related studies suggested a link between positive mood and the promotion of cognitive flexibility. Below is one definition of divergent thinking: Divergent Thinking Definition: Divergent thinking can be described as unconventional Oftentimes when writers encounter writer's block, they search for ways to come up with new and fresh ideas for their writing. This long-term study would help parents and teachers identify this behaviour (or lack thereof) in children, specifically at an age when it can be reinforced if already displayed, or supported if not yet displayed. Most often, a piece of sea glass isn't just sitting on the top of the pile of sand or stones waiting for you to find it. Compare convergent thinking. Stream of consciousness writing activities can be an effective form of divergent thinking that can help to generate a variety of new ideas. Divergent th inking typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing manner, such that the ideas are generated in a random, unorganized fashion. What is Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences? The name of this test suggests that it is a divergent thinking test, and its acronym (TCT-DP) makes it easy to confuse with Torrance’s TTCT. Study.com has thousands of articles about every lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. credit by exam that is accepted by over 1,500 colleges and universities. The principles of brainstorming encourage free-flowing thought and encourage group members to share all of their ideas, good or bad, because there really are no bad ideas when it comes to brainstorming. When you get stuck in convergent thinking, you miss possibilities open to you, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Divergent_thinking&oldid=993386850, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking in-text citations from March 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 December 2020, at 10:04. This is different from convergent thinking which attempts to find a single, correct answer to a problem. Convergent thinking is considered black and white, while divergent thinking has gray areas. In free writing, a person will focus on one particular topic and write non-stop about it for a short period of time, in a stream of consciousness fashion. Maybe you go with the simplest solution first. Divergent thinking in children is an exceptional gift. Please subscribe to my channel: http://bit.ly/spencervideosImagine you have a problem you need to solve and you’re looking for innovative solutions. Log in here for access. 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