132 PSYCHOLOGY
tally retarded because his answers to questions were so odd, deviant, and unex-
pected. He is well known for improving the electric light bulb. However, he also
invented wax paper and the phonograph. When he died he had patented 1,150
inventions, a record for American inventors that still stands.
Divergent thinking often involves breaking mental sets. The example of the
Wright brothers realizing that wings don’t have to flap has already been given.
Divergent thinking also involves combining familiar elements in new combina-
tions. Dumbo the flying elephant combines the familiar image of an elephant and
its large ears with the also familiar image of a bird flying and flapping its wings.
The cartoon character that results doesn’t exist in the real world, but has enter-
tained both adults and children for years.(a) The core feature of the creative process is.
(b) Divergent thinking often involves breaking.(c) Dumbo the flying elephant combines familiar elements in.
Answers: (a) divergent thinking; (b) mental sets; (c) new combinations.Convergent thinking,in contrast to divergent thinking, follows conven-
tional thought pathways. It is the core feature in rational thought, thought that
employs both inductive and deductive logic. Intelligence (see chapter 10) requires
convergent thinking. When a student is asked to answer a multiple-choice test, he
or she employs convergent thinking. There is thought to be one and only one best
answer to a given question.
The Gestalt psychologist Max Wertheimer asserted that productive thinking,
high-quality creative thinking, combines both divergent and convergent thinking
in a functional way. Wertheimer and Albert Einstein were personal friends. In his
book Productive Thinking,Wertheimer explores how Einstein arrived at the Special
Theory of Relativity. It is clear that divergent thinking was required, because in the
theory it is possible for space to warp and time to slow down. Both of these con-
cepts were radical departures from standard concepts of physics held in the early
part of the twentieth century. On the other hand, convergent thinking was also
required, because Einstein employed a large base of theory and knowledge that
made his own theory both reasonable and acceptable to scientists in general.(a) What kind of thinking follows conventional thought pathways?(b) Wertheimer said that what kind of thinking combines both divergent and convergent
thinking in a functional way?
Answers: (a) Convergent thinking; (b) Productive thinking.It is possible to evaluate the quality of creative thinking by three criteria: