THINKING PROCESSES

Problem Solving, Critical thinking

and Creativity
 This lecture answers questions
such as:
ƒ Is thinking skill inborn or can I develop it ?

ƒ In how many different ways can I think ?

ƒ How can I develop my thinking and generate ideas ?

Is thinking skill inborn or can I
develop it ?
GIFT OR SKILL ?

• “That “creativity” is beyond analysis is a romantic

illusion we must now outgrow” – Peter Medawar.

• Creativity is a skill which can be developed by practice.

Conscious application is needed, not the vagaries of
“inspiration”, in order to achieve a creative output.

• Creativity is a matter of organizing one’s basic skills,

not regretting that one was not born with a “quick”
or “logical” mind.
Motivation is recognized as a crucial factor in the
development of talent and the application of
creativity. The importance of Intrinsic Motivation
in driving an individual to practice and work hard
to master a specific domain, is undisputed. Cox
(1926), in his study of 301 geniuses, wrote: 'high
but not the highest intelligence, combined with the
greatest degrees of persistence, will achieve
greater eminence than the highest degree of
intelligence with somewhat less persistence'.
 In how many different ways
can I think ?

Education is not about learning diverse subjects but about

learning diverse ways to the same subject - Aurobindo
LEVELS OF THINKING

Low
ƒ Knowing

ƒ Comprehension

ƒ Application or Problem solving

ƒ Evaluation or Critical thinking

High ƒ Creativity
Let us begin with an exercise ……….

Make 5 squares of equal size out of a single

large square. You are allowed to cut and paste.

LEVELS OF THINKING

Low
ƒ Knowing

ƒ Comprehension

ƒ Application or Problem solving

ƒ Evaluation or Critical thinking

High ƒ Creativity
STYLES OF THINKING

• Reproductive: based on similar problems encountered

in the past, or taught to solve
Productive: generates as many alternative approaches
as possible

• Fluent: generates large quantity of ideas

Flexible: goes beyond the ordinary and conventional
nature of things.
STRATEGIES OF PROBLEM SOLVING

ƒ Representation

ƒ Logical thinking

ƒ Division into sub-problems

ƒ Stretch to the extreme

ƒ Verbalization
REPRESENTATION
Well begun is half-done

Because of the uncertainties involved in ill-

defined problems, the problem solver must
often devote a great deal of time to both the
step of forming an initial representation of
the problem and the step of reformulating it.

A picture is worth a thousand words

TECHNIQUES OF REPRESENTATION

• Symbolic representation

• Reformulation

• Table: list, matrix

• Graph

• Venn diagram

• Drawing diagram to scale

Problem:
Represent the following symbolically
The first term is the product of the given sine and radius of the
desired arc divided by the cosine of the arc. The succeeding
terms are obtained by a process of iteration when the first
term is repeatedly multiplied by the square of the sine and
divided by the square of the cosine. All the terms are then
divided by the odd numbers 1, 3, 5, .... The arc is obtained by
adding and subtracting respectively the terms of odd rank and
those of even rank. It is laid down that the sine of the arc or
that of its complement whichever is the smaller should be
taken here as the given sine. Otherwise the terms obtained by
this above iteration will not tend to the vanishing magnitude.
Problem:
How can you become more productive ?

Solution by reformulation:
How can you make your job easier ?
Powerful Reformulation or
Transformation Techniques

• Binary number system

• Logarithm
Problem: The Tirupati Temple Problem

Exactly at sunrise one morning, you set out to climb the

Thirupati temple. The path wound round the mountain.
You climbed the path at varying rates of speed. You
stopped many times along the way to rest and to eat the
fruit you carried with you. You reached the temple just
before sunset.

Continued …..
Tirupati temple problem…..

After fasting and meditating for several days, you began

your journey down along the same winding path, starting at
sunrise and walking, as before, at variable speeds. Your
average speed down the hill was more than your average
climbing speed.

Prove that there must be a spot along the path that you will
pass on both trips at exactly the same time of the day.
PROBLEM

Derive the trend in the behavior of plating adhesion

on a silicon substrate from the measured data as a
function of substrate area and doping level. The
adhesion is measured for 0.5, 1 and 2 cm2 area, and
P+, P, N and N+ doping levels. Each measurement
is repeated twice.
TABLE Doping Area
(cm2)
Expt 1 Expt 2
(LIST) 0.5 10 10.2
P+ 1 7 7.2
2 5 6
Adhesion
Strength 0.5 8 9
(106 N / m2) P 1 4.3 4.7
2 3 3.1
0.5 4.1 4.8
N 1 4.1 5
2 3.9 5.8
0.5 - -
N+ 1 3 3.2
2 2.9 6.1
TABLE (MATRIX)

Area 0.5 cm2 1 cm2 2 cm2

Doping
P+ 10 10.2 7 7.2 5 6
P 8 9 4.3 4.7 3 3.1
N 4.1 4.8 4.1 5 3.9 5.8
N+ - - 3 3.2 2.9 6.1

Adhesion strength ( 106 N / m2)

GRAPH

10
Adhesion strength

8 1 cm2
(106 N / m2)

0.5 cm2
6

4
2 cm2
2

0
N+ N P P+
PROBLEM

Solve the equation: X = e-X

TABLE (LIST)

X LHS RHS
0 0 1
0.4 0.4 0.67
0.5 0.5 0.61
0.6 0.6 0.55
0.55 0.55 0.577
0.57 0.57 0.566
 y=x

y = e-x

x
TABULAR SOLUTION
y=x

RHS
LHS
RHS
LHS
y = e-x

x
0 0.4 0.5 0.6
ITERATIVE SOLUTION Xn+1 = e-Xn
y=x
x1

x3
x5

x4
y = e-x
x2
x
x0
PROBLEM

How good is a particular classroom teaching –

learning process ?
 TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS

Student action
Student question
Student response
Teacher question
Teacher response
Teacher talk
Using chalkboard
Time
Using charts
Using projections
Using multimedia
Venn Diagram

SS

E
I
S
Drawing diagrams to Scale

11

8
0.11
PROBLEM

How many matches should be played on a knock-out

basis, to decide the winner from among ten teams ?

Graph

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Teams

1 2 3 4 5

6 7

9
Winner
LOGICAL THINKING

All men are mortal.

Rama is a man.

So, Rama is a mortal.

LOGICAL THINKING

To decide a winner from among 10 teams, 9 teams

have to be eliminated.

Every match eliminates 1 team.

Hence, 9 matches need be played for eliminating

9 teams.
LOGICAL THINKING IS EXTENDABLE

To decide a winner from among n teams, n-1 teams

have to be eliminated.

Every match eliminates 1 team.

Hence, n-1 matches need be played for eliminating

n-1 teams.
Problem:

The human figures painted by El Greco seem unnaturally

tall and thin.

An optholmologist surmised that, this is because El Greco

suffered a defect of vision that made him see people that
way.

Is this explanation correct ?

PROBLEM

Why is the computer down ?

ANALYSIS

UPS
PROBLEM

Consider a Wheatstone bridge with three resistors of

value R and one resistor of value (R + ∆R). Which of
the following two formulae are correct ?

V0 ⎛ ∆R / 4 R ⎞ V0 ⎛ ∆R / 2 R ⎞
=⎜ ⎟ =⎜ ⎟
Vi ⎝ 1 + ∆R / 2 R ⎠ Vi ⎝ 1 + ∆R / 2 R ⎠

Solution by limiting approach or stretching to the extreme.

SUMMARY
STRATEGIES OF PROBLEM SOLVING

ƒ Representation

ƒ Logical thinking

ƒ Division into sub-problems

ƒ Stretch to the extreme

ƒ Verbalization
TECHNIQUES OF REPRESENTATION

• Symbolic representation

• Reformulation

• Table: list, matrix

• Graph

• Venn diagram

• Drawing diagram to scale

How can I generate ideas ?
Reason can answer questions, but imagination has
to ask them

Imagination is more important than knowledge

INTELLIGENCE versus CREATIVITY

• Marilyn vos Savant (IQ 228 – highest ever) is

merely a question and answer columnist for
Parade magazine.
• Richard Feynman (IQ 122 - less than many run-
of-the-mill physicists) is a Nobel prize winner
and recognized as the last American Genius.
INTELLIGENCE versus CREATIVITY

Intelligence and creativity are not the same things.

Intelligence in a domain means the ability to
function at a high level in that domain, but
creativity involves asking new questions and
altering the domain. One can be highly intelligent
but rigid, noncreative, or lacking in the kind of
single-minded passion that drives creators.
WHAT IS CREATIVITY

• Ability to look at the same thing as everyone

else and think something different.

• Ability to take a fresh look at familiar objects and

situations, enriched by past experience, but not
constrained by it.
EXAMPLES

Creativity in expression:

Warmth During the coming winter, our vivid memories

of India will warm us, as we face the snows.

Humour Capitalism is the exploitation of man by

man. Communism is exactly its opposite.

Disgust What is mind, does not matter;

what is matter, never mind !!
Description of attitudes with the help of “roses” and “thorns”

Optimistic Roses
Pessimistic Thorns

Realistic Roses and thorns

Stoic Roses or thorns

Humane Roses for you and Roses for me

Selfish Roses for me and thorns for you

Sadistic Thorns for you and your blood for me

Love Roses for you and your smile for me

Divine Roses for you and your thorns for me

WHAT IS CREATIVITY

• A creative product is a new and useful combination.

Creativity in Indian classical music.

Random tapping of a piano by a monkey generates a
new pattern, which is not necessarily melodious, and
so cannot be regarded as creative.
WHAT IS CREATIVITY

• Creativity can exist in social relationships, even in

planning one’s life, apart from art and science.

Creativity in naming of individuals:

Na-ma-shi-va-ya-Na-ma-shi-va-ya-Na-ma-shi-va-ya
 CREATIVE PROCESS

Mind
• Preparation
Conscious
• Incubation

• Illumination Sub-conscious

• Exposition

Ideas strike by chance, but only to a prepared mind.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CREATIVITY

• Above-average intelligence:

e.g. Darwin “virtually innumerate”.

• Strong motivation

• Hard work

• Discipline

• Organization

• Open and flexible mind

AN OPEN MIND…….

- is receptive to alternate points of view, regardless

of the present level of commitment to a belief.

- acknowledges areas of common ground with those

who hold alternate beliefs, and allows dialogue with
someone with opposing views without attacking the
proponent of those views.

Nothing dies faster than a new idea in a closed-mind !

A FLEXIBLE MIND…….

- is capable of leaping sideways, upwards and downwards

around a problem before reaching a solution.
AN OPEN AND FLEXIBLE MIND HAS…..

• Keen observation

• Wide information base

• A habit of analyzing other creative works.

• Ability to criticize and judge the worth of one’s own ideas.

 PRESCRIPTIONS FOR
IMPROVING MY THINKING
• Do mental exercises

• Maintain a note book

• Look at the world in terms of analogies

• Learn different approaches to the same problem

MENTAL EXERCISES

Plant 10 trees in 5 rows with 4 trees in each row.

Connect the nine dots by drawing just four lines, and

without lifting the pen from paper.
NOTE KEEPING

• Noting ideas as they occur

- helps you to remember them
- speeds up your thinking
- focuses attention on your subject
- stimulates cross-fertilization of ideas

• If you do not record your ideas you will spend all

your metal energy trying to resurrect old ones.
NOTE KEEPING

• Record ideas thematically

• Review your notebooks when

- you face a problem
- you found a solution !

• Sources of ideas
- yourself
- others
Look for ideas in other fields as well, not just
your own.
ANALOGIES

• An analogy enables a look at a situation as an

inter-related whole.

• Analytical approach on the other hand dismembers

a whole into parts, and may destroy the attributes
which may pertain to the phenomenon as a whole.

• Problems are solved and creative works are generated

by transfer of existing ideas to new surroundings

• The active process leading to creativity is metaphorical

in nature
ANALOGIES IN SCIENCE

• Electromagnetic wave ⇔ Matter wave

• Solar system ⇔ Atomic structure

• Brownian motion of dust particles

⇔ Electrons in a crystal

• Flow of electrons in a crystal

⇔ movement of a ball in a viscous medium

• Energy quantization ⇔ pouring of sand

ANALOGIES IN PHILOSOPHY

East : west ⇔ Mahaveer : Superman

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE
SAME PROBLEM

Example: calculation of π

• π = 2√2

• 2√2 < π < 4 (square), 3 < π < 2√3 (hexagon)

• π / 4 = Tan-1 1 = (x – x3/3 + x5/5 – x7/7 + ….) at x = 1

• Buffon’s needle experiment

π = 2 x (total drops) / (no. of hits)
MORE PRESCRIPTIONS …..

• Arrange and rearrange what you read or hear, from

different points of view.

• Allow opportunities for cross-fertilization of ideas

so as to generate new problems.
- interact: discuss, answer doubts, teach, explain.
- Set aside time to read in other disciplines, keeping
track of what others are doing that seems original.
- if possible, work in areas outside of areas we are
currently learning about
SUMMARY

As per psychology, creativity is an ability to see

things differently than others. It is a skill that can
be taught and developed through practice.
The requirements for creativity are – a strong
motivation and an open mind, not high intelligence.

Creativity can be nurtured by learning about different

ways to a problem, visualizing the world in terms of
analogies, doing mental exercises, and note keeping.