228 A CREATIVE COGNITIONprob ably just such random activations through the attractor landscape
during sleep—or even daydreaming). On the other hand is motivated
searching that recruits attention and turns thinking into prob lem
solving.
For example, hunger may initiate a planned search for food. Dissonant
or contradictory current attractors may need to be resolved (as in mak-
ing choices). Or a means of escape from danger rapidly devised. Th ese all
demand thinking. Responses may then emerge as reinstatements of activ-
ity patterns from memory, novel patterns of motor action, some retuning
of networks, and gain in knowledge, or some other resolution of the per-
turbation. Most likely, each immediate response guides activity to the
next attractor basin in a series of activations that lead to a fi nal resolution.
Such pro cessing is achieved with amazing speed and productivity. Un-
like the relative slowness and irreversibility of ge ne tic se lection or even
developmental plasticity and physiology, dynamic cognitive systems can
respond quickly and adaptively to deal with rapid environmental change.
Th ese are adaptations (or “species”) arising on scales of milliseconds
rather than centuries or epochs.
In contrast, some decisions can be deliberately delayed by interactions
among centers. Th is allows responses to emerge over longer time periods,
as in stalking and hunting in animals, or most impor tant decisions in
humans. Th inking activity may involve gradual retunings, as when we
slowly change our minds; or sudden resolutions, as when we gain insight
into a situation, understand the meaning of a novel signal from context,
or classify an object or event. Activity can also oscillate between rival
states in situations of uncertainty, distraction, or weak motivation.
A crucial aspect of thinking with dynamic systems is its creativity.
By defi nition, changeable environments demand creativity of responses
from living systems. But fl exibility based only on innate knowledge or
pro cessing, or shallow associations, would inevitably be rather limited.
As mentioned above, constantly changing environments demand con-
stantly novel responses. Th at challenge can only be met by a special kind
of chaotic dynamics, so that thinking is almost invariably a kind of
constructive imagination.
Creativity is also enriched by attractor co ali tions that involve aff ective
states, or feelings (see chapter 6). Th inking, as Jerome Bruner once said,
This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Tue, 17 Oct 2017 13:54:24 UTChttp://www.ebook3000.com