Cognitive approach

This approach "seeks to understand the mental representations and processes underlying creative thought" using both human subjects and computer stimulations of creativity (Sternberg and Lubart, 1999: 7). Taylor (1947) isolated two factors, fluency of ideas and fluency of expression, which appeared to be related to creativity and were reflected in subsequent books on divergent thinking. Finke and his colleagues (Finke, 1990; Finke, Ward, and Finke, 1992) suggested that there are two main processing phases of creative invention - generative and explanatory ones. In the first phase, the individual constructs mental representations referred to preinventive structures, and in the second, these properties are used for generation of creative ideas. A number of mental processes involved in these phases have been described, including the processes of retrieval, association, synthesis, transformation, analogical transfer, and categorical reduction. Weisberg (1986, 1993, 1999) suggested that creativity is based on quite ordinary cognitive processes and the decisive factor of creative achievement is large domain-specific knowledge and persistence in practice. Computer stimulation of creativity (Wessells, 1990; Boden, 1991, 1999; Partridge and Rowe, 1994) have attempt to simulate creative processes such as problem solving or improvisation using the computer and tried to build up computational models of creativity.