Creative Problem Solving. Does Projection influence the Press?

Table of Contents

Introduction

What Does Projection Mean?

Rhodes Defined Person and Press

Third Law of Motion and the Press

Prospection

Brain Functions While Projecting

Dr. Goran Ekvall Ten Dimensions of the Creative Climate Questionnaire

Alex F. Osborn & “Applied Imagination”

The Press (environment)

Creative Problem Solving Tools and Press

Visionary Thinking Tool in CPS

PPCo use in Visionary Thinking

Summary

References

Figures

Fig 1. Sir Isaac Newton

Figure 2. Brain functions while Projecting

Fig 3 Alex F. Osborn

Fig 4. Lake View Town

In Creative Problem Solving, Does Projection Influence the Press?

Abstract

What this project aims to achieve is using creative problem tools with the notion that Projection (in relation to circumstances in our environment) causes us to push against our press. Using Projection (mental images), can we find solutions to problems efficiently? Samples of CPS tools and their uses will be explained. “Projection” meaning and inner-works of our brain function will show an illustration that will be clarified as to how individual’s cognitive functions react to stimuluses’. Projection is a simulation of a scene, place, and time. It is reasonable to ask that if, based on our environmental factors like press (environment), attitudes, and emotions, do we Project or re-create mental pictures in our mind that help move us forward whereby we solve problems deliberately to overcome our environment beforehand.

Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion proves what humanity does to push against the press. Projection including future think (prospection), remembering the past, considering the viewpoint of others (theory of mind) and navigation is proven as fact according to figure two. We instinctively Project images in our mind to solve problems and find solutions that derive from our environment/press. It’s almost like playing and replaying a video. Ekvall’s ten questionnaire will be mentioned. The Visual Thinking process and PPCo tool uses, helps us prioritize visual pictures we Project that drive us to find a creative solution, goal or wish. There will be samples of what our mind perceives when faced with press challenges and issues based on our circumstances.

“Prospection” concepts will be examined. Mentioned is how moods, behaviors and emotions could play a role in our decision making on environmental factors positively or negatively. To support this I will share the father of brainstorming’s view on mental imagery and what he believes humans use innately.

Key words: Projection, Press, Prospection Visionary Thinking, Visionization, Creative Problem Solving.

SUNY-Buffalo State

International Center for Studies in Creativity

In Creative Problem Solving, Does Projection Influence the Press?

A Project in Creative Studies

by Eugene Ravenell

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science

April 2017

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I’d like to thank my wife for being a strong influence as a result of me going for a higher education degree. With her believing in me, I could achieve anything. I don’t know what other path I would have taken as it pertains to life choices. I am gratified that I chose this program. I like to thank faculty and friends at Buffalo State College for making an impact in my life so I could help others reach their full potential. I set out to become a public administrator and found getting a master’s degree in creativity quite fascinating when I looked at the creativity programs catalog. Gerard Puccio PhD, John Cabra PhD, Susan Keller Mathers PhD, Roger Firestien PhD and Jon Michael Fox M.S. and other wonderful personnel have taught me to be creative, imaginative, and innovative for a lifetime. I appreciate their time and effort in making sure I received the best that the Creative Studies program, had to offer. They have taught me skills that I’ve discovered help me get to my goals more effectively. I can now problem solve and teach others in and out of the classroom with confidence. And last, I’d like to thank my wonderful children who have been encouraged by me to be “creative deliberately.”

Dedication

This project is dedicated to my loving wife and children.

Copyright Notice

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Introduction

During the course of obtaining a Master of Science degree in Creativity at Buffalo States Creative Studies’ curriculum, I’ve become interested in the possibility that Projection in creativity and how we push against our environment. Projection in this case means the ability to project one’s thoughts, consciousness and emotions out of body. The body is physical but projection of mind extends beyond it. I dove deep in this project to find what projection is and how its relation to press issues has a lot to do with the ideas or the decisions we make. Could the environment have an effect on what we project? Could it be linked to our attitudes? When I mention environment, I mean the Press.

The third P in creativity is press. For example, you are in a circumstance where you are lost in the woods and its dark (the woods are your environment/press). The only light you see is your cell phone that is losing power. The fact that you are lost is the (press) pushing in on you. What do we do when our environment seems to limit our solutions? You are fully aware that you are lost (conscious thought). Your emotions (fear, anxiety, paranoia, and hopelessness) follows next, what then your attitude. What would you do to get home? By Projecting you think and envision several different ways to escape the woods in a matter of seconds (at least this what I do deliberately when faced with dilemmas). Could there be more to this than we already think? Based on Newton’s Third Law of Motion, for every action there is a reaction, the environment/Press is pushing on you. By default, something has to push back. Could it be Projection? Could it be the powers of visualization and envisioning a projected outcome help you push against the Press and assist you to find a solution to getting out of the woods?

Do we visualize a mental picture or a desired future state? Do we visualize our past and present? Our ideas spark mental images as we rifle through them and as we preview a future desired goal. This happens when we dream or focus on a solution. This altered state I call visionization. It is the use of Creative Problem Solving, focusing on dreams, visions, and making them a reality.

The key is to visualize a mental image of a person such as preparing for a presentation. The more you rehearse, the more you become familiar with the presentation as if you already presented it. What you have done is project yourself in your mind at the event giving the presentation. Visionization emphasizes goals and objectives plus opportunities. Your wishes and desires for yourself manifest through focusing on what is important to you through mental imagery. Creative Problem Solving (CPS) is a process that is used to increase the possibility of the processing and implementation of applicable interrelationships of information our brains contain and continually captivates. Its repeated application results in what is called a creative attitude. Creative Problem Solving tools help to uncover new ways to view (envision, project), define and/or approach challenges, desires, problems or dilemmas to achieve effective, implementable resolutions.

In addition, your emotions and attitudes play a key role whereby our feelings may be linked to solutions that could help us solve a problem or hinder them. Furthermore, I stress that using Creative Problem Solving tools work in aiding an individual or groups to solve probing questions like above mentioned title of this project.

What Does Projection Mean?

The word Projection means in this case the act of visualizing an idea or an objective reality. This includes an estimate or forecast of a future situation and trend based on a study of present ones is another meaning. The synonyms for Projection are forecast, prediction, prognosis, outlook and expectation. When thinking about the future, we mentally Project ourselves into that alternate reality.

Gathering information proposes envisioning the future remembering the past, regarding the viewpoint of others, and some forms of navigation, reflecting the workings of the same core brain network. These abilities emerge at a similar age and share a common functional structure that includes frontal and medial temporal structures they are related with planning, intermittent memory, and slow cognitive states. I posit that these aptitudes, studied separately, rely on a common set of processes by which past practices are used adaptively to imagine viewpoints and events beyond those that arise from the direct environment.

Rhodes Defined Person and Press

As it has been researched, a person(s) or group(s) are creative. This branch leads to a person(s) within an environment (press) system that welcomes a person(s) or group(s) knowledge, experiences, personalities, visions, imagination, and skill set. These key ingredients dictate how much a person or group can produce (in general). “The term person, covers information about personality, intellect, temperament, physique, traits, habits, attitudes, self-concept, value systems, defense mechanisms, and behavior” (Rhodes, p. 307). The press (environment) is that in which a place, work climate, and culture influences creative behavior and thinking. A person might be a perfect fit for the job but if certain environmental factor play a negative role, then creativity doesn’t flourish for the organization and the person willing to work. This is simply your environment pushing in on you. “The term press is the relationship between human beings and their environment” (p. 308). The press moves in on you due to a place, cultural influences (religion), that steer our behavior and ideas (Rhodes, p. 308).

Some of us absorb data which is the action of the Press. Then we react. We fight for

positive consequences as we “Project” our thoughts, imaginations visions, and ideas into our minds for a desired outcome. It is as if we are visualizing an outcome that inspires us to make the right choice. What did we just do? I believe we created outcomes with assistance from the ingredients of the four Ps as leverage, to arrive at “Projection.” The key word is Projection. I believe that this is not elaborated on enough and is what we do unconsciously. What do you think?

The person is how you view yourself in every way. Questions like how do I look, am I being mean? These are assurances as to how you are viewed by the public. At this point you are projecting an image (how they see you) of yourself to others. The key word is image. “The product quality is how well people provide creative ideas given the circumstances of their Press.” (Puccio, p.34).

The process as it relates to projection is visioning ideas, thoughts, and mental pictures of what it will take to get answers, opportunities and leads. Some of us see (visualizing mental pictures) several outcomes ahead based on our environmental climate. The key word is see.

Third Law of Motion and the Press

Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion

Fig 1. Sir Isaac Newton

Out of copyright reasons the picture was deleted by the editorial. (https://www.bing.com/images/search/view=isaac+newton)

Newton's Third Law of Motion states that “for every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction” (Newton, 1643). In scientific terms the Third Law is the notion that if an object is pushed or pulled, the object will “push or pull” equally in the opposite direction. Example, if someone lifts a heavy object, they use force to push it up. The object could be heavy because it is producing an equal force downward on the lifter’s arms. The weight is relocated through the lifter’s legs to the floor. The floor presses upward with an equal force. If the floor pushed back with less force, the person lifting the object would fall through the floor. If it pushed back with more force the lifter would fly into the air thus no gravitational pull. So why am I discussing this discovery? It is to connect the dots so that it may link our environment as to what we Project in problem solving.

There is a link between Newton’s Third Law of Motion as it pertains to Projection. Situation: You need to plan for an unexpected trip. You are short $500 and need to get to your destination in the next two days. So, what’s happening? You are the object feeling the press pushing in on you. At this point you work hard on a solution to get the money needed. This is you pushing against your press. In this instance, it’s the unexpected trip and the need for you to get to your destination in two days. This is your environment closing in on you as time progresses. I believe that our mind start Projecting pictures from start to finish, as a way to get to your destination.

Pictures project and flash through your mind as to where you see yourself. You are mentally traveling to your destination. Before this happens, your mind starts to put in motion pushes that help you find several ways to obtain the money to get to your destination. Your environment closes on you because of time and lack of resources.

Many times, with scenarios like this one, people get stuck and the press closes in. The person stays back inside his/her box where things are familiar, never striving for goals, dreams, and wishes. Your environment just dictated where you should be (inside the box) because you enabled the Press to push you in. In Creative Problem Solving, mental images are brought to light in a form of challenge statements. Here’s the question: In what ways, might I receive funding to go on an unexpected trip in the next two days? According to Newton if the environment pushes in on you, you have to push back. Projections are your push force. You are by default with Projection, exerting an equal and opposite reaction. The challenge statement is: In what ways, might I obtain funding to go on an unexpected trip in the next two days? The Third law of motion has to be realized in order to create problem solving techniques to the above challenge statement.

Prospection

Using Projection methods is a similar cousin of the term prospection. It requires a shift of perception from the immediate environment to the alternative, imagined future environment, and that the imagined event is referenced to oneself. Prospection involves first-person perspectives and third-person (observer) views in which one sees (D’Argembeau, & Linden, 2004). Prospection is the act of thinking about the future that can involve conceptual content and affective states. Although difficult to establish, I pose that prospection is common, adaptive, and is used during decision making, navigation plus shared reasoning. Decision making is the cognitive process ending up with the selection of a belief among other potentials. Decision making is a process that is a continuous process joined in the interaction with the environment/press. Every decision-making process produces a last choice. Decision making may or may not cause action.

Decision making is the process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision maker. Thus, prospection has been called sporadic future thinking (Randy, 2007), memory for the future, pre-experiencing, mental time travel and imagination. Prospection shares similar processes with other cognitive acts that require Projection of oneself from the immediate environment to alternative perspectives. I call this process re-creation. Re-creation is the state of creating again or anew. Projection is a simulation of a scene, place, and time. It is reasonable to ask that if, based on our environmental factors like press (environment), attitudes, and emotions, do we Project or re-create mental pictures in our minds that help move us forward whereby we solve problems deliberately to overcome our environment beforehand? Furthermore, prospection is the act of thinking about the future and is the ideal example of Projection. The thought of planning shortfalls in patients who had frontal lobe lesions led to an understanding of the foundation of prospection. In the mid-19th century, Phineas Gage, (a man whose frontal lobe was injured during an accident with a tamping iron), discovered that there were constructions in the human brain involving the development and implementation of personally and informally actions of behavior (Damasio, 1994).

Brain Functions While Projecting

The illustration below shows four parts of brain activity (Randy, 2007). Fig.1 (A) Remembering the past, Fig. 2 (B) Conceiving the viewpoint of others. Fig. 3 (C) Theory of mind. These abilities emerge and share a common structure that includes the frontal and medial temporal Fig. 4 (C) systems, that are associated with development and intermittent memory. Projection in illustration two shows activity in the brain when we project. This reign of the brain lights up. This activity happens when we are trying to find alternatives to events in the immediate environment (also dreams, meditation, and yoga). We can shift our perspective from the present to vivid memories (projected pictures) of our personal past, conceive what others are thinking and imagine ourselves in situations before they happen (Vincent, 2006). I refer to the ability to shift perspective from the immediate present to alternative perspectives is Projection.

Each image displays the midline of the left hemisphere with brighter colors, indicating regions of increased activation. There is a remarkable correspondence in activation during remembering

(A) Development & intermittent memory.
(B) Prospection.
(C) Theory-of-mind.
(D) Tasks.

Projection has many uses and underlies the flexibility of human cognition and behavior. This equips us with abilities to make social implications and anticipate the beliefs and actions of others. In this instance, Projecting prepares us to look at several different alternatives at moment’s notice plus be socially sound and listen to others perspectives, attitudes and actions of what they do to project (communication, mood, problem etc.).

Fig 2 Brain Functions while Projecting

Fig. 2 (A)Remembering

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Fig.2 (B) Prospection

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Fig. 2 (C)Theory of mind

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Fig. 2 (D)MTL Network

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Randy (2007)

Moreover while concluding this method or convergence during Projection, it extends to lateral parietal regions (not shown), located within the inferior parietal lobule near the temporal-parietal connection. Within subject studies there is a requirement to determine the extent of the overlap. Data in Fig 2 (A) Remembering and Fig 2 (B) Prospection, (Addis, 2007), Data in Fig 2. (C) Theory of mind, (Saxe, 2003), Fig 2. (D) MTL Network is the cortical areas that functionally correlates with the medial temporal lobe (MTL). MTL network overlaps the regions that are recruited during the multiple forms of Projection. Fig 2. (D) (Vincent, 2006).

This network involves frontal and medial temporal parietal lobe systems that are related to planning and sporadic memory. I hypothesize that Projection at its core, brain function enables mental exploration of alternative perspectives based on our past and present experiences. It helps us solve problems based on environmental factors. The processes of the network are characterized by a personal, interior mode of mental simulation difference to insights and visions.

Dr. Goran Ekvall Ten Dimensions of the Creative Climate Questionnaire

Professor Emeritus, Industrial and Organizational Psychology University of Lund-Sweden

Dr. Ekvall was an academic researcher in the area of climate for creativity and change as well as leadership behavior and values that encourage creative productivity. His unique research background as an industrial psychologist started with his extensive work in employee suggestion systems in the early 1960's. He is widely published and has worked with a variety of international organizations.

Dr. Ekvall (1987) identified 10 dimensions of the creative climate. Nine are them are positively correlated and one negatively correlated that distress creativity in administrations. This is a ten-numbered questioner that is scored and measured. Ekvall’s conceptions have been validated by frequent studies in the United States and worldwide.

What are the ten dimensions of a creative climate?

A. Challenge
B. Dynamism
C. Playfulness & Humor
D. Freedom
E. Risk-Taking
F. Idea time
G. Idea support
H. Trustfulness & Openness
I. Debate
J. Conflict (negatively correlated)

(Ekvall, 1996)

I will only elaborate on two dimensions. One is Trust and Openness. This means focusing on the safety of the emotional and trusting environment. Example, if your boss praises the work that you do and others on a continuum bases, then you and staff will feel comfortable in generating new ideas for the company. The person will not feel fear or ridicule because the lines of communication have been open (thus the term openness). If trust is established, the workers do not feel stress or negative vibes from the environment (work place). In addition, emotionally, everyone feels appreciated and significant. The attitudes become more pleasant and the workers create a happy environment. This is where team work thrives. On the other hand, if trust and praise are missing then feelings of fear, exploitation, and being made fun of, happens. Ideas get put on the back burner, and employees start to feel that their safety is in jeopardy. The point is that when these two environmental factors prevail, we Project positive images that show imaginative ideas, feelings and emotions. When the opposite occurs then we Project negative images that causes us to react to the situation(s). We in turn push against the negativity within the environment to go back to what the safest emotional state is (inside the box).

Emotions are a complex marvel consisting of a reliable purpose of the state of affairs in relation to the state of the subject and points of adaptation. Apart from the cognitive aspect, this phenomenon includes behavior, physiological changes and expressions (facial expression, voice, attitude, feelings), and implementation of emotions in the nervous system. Emotions fulfill useful, regulating, classifying, existential, and inspiring functions.

Emotions capture the world as either positive or negative, important or unimportant, and are used to determine and assign allowances. They emerge routinely and are difficult to control. To some extent, they are influenced by our environment. If our emotions react to our press, how is it accomplished? Our inner emotions play a part in the mental pictures we Project. If we are feeling sad we could vision pictures of disparity in our minds that may be gloomy and display a dark overcast. If a person is happy images that may come to focus maybe bright colors, happy people, or a vision of a past happy occasion.

Another dimension is Idea Time (think time) . When we think usually what happens is some humans visualize thoughts in visual format that raises questions or figures out how to solve a problem with many options. Example, in the environment of high idea time, we challenge and address solutions to problems more effectively.

Mental images of challenges formulate (from data) in our mind’s eye that clearly shows different scenarios on how to create a solution. Idea time can be used in every facet of our environment to help us stop and think before making decisions that block ideas that are overlooked.

In time, many ideas come into play before the developmental and implementation stages of Creative Problem Solving. This method is a surely pushes out the press in a most effective way.

Fig 3 Alex F. Osborn

Out of copyright reasons the picture was deleted by the editorial.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=alex+f+osborn

Alex F. Osborn & “Applied Imagination”

Alex F. Osborn (1953) was the father of brainstorming. In his 1953 edition of Applied

Imagination, he discovers that our imaginations are images we see in our mind’s eye. In chapte three, titled “Creative and Non-creative forms of Imagination”, he covers three types of imaginations and its application to problem solving. He explains the dream state as being a form of uncontrollable imagination. What he conveys is that when we dream we vision solutions to problems in the present and future without any control over it (Osborn, 1953, p. 28).

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