Creativity and Information Encoding Notes

Information for Creativity

Why Information is Needed for Creativity

• To solve an issue or create a new idea, it is necessary to acquire a lot of information by connecting internal and external sources.
• The information needed for a creative solution is obtained through two basic processes:
  • Searching for existing concepts.
  • Creating new concepts.
• Without search and encoding, new ideas might seem old.
• Information is encoded to solve problems or generate new ideas.

The Two Key Parts of Memory

• Encoding
• Information

What is Encoding Information?

• The brain labels or codes environmental sensory information.
• Data can be encoded through automatic and manual processing.
• Similar information can be structured and linked to existing concepts.
• Encoding inserts information into the memory system.

Encoding Processing

• Automatic
• Effortful

Automatic Processing of Encoding

• Encoding information unconsciously includes:
  • Space: Location of items.
  • Time: Sequence of day’s events.
  • Frequency: How many times things have happened.
• Example: Recalling what you ate for lunch today.
• Example: Recalling the last time you studied.

Effortful Processing of Encoding

• Effortful encoding requires conscious effort and attention, such as rehearsal or conscious repetition.
• Committing novel information to memory requires effort, like learning a concept from a textbook.
• Increasing rehearsal time leads to decreased relearning time.

Types of Encoding

• Semantic encoding
• Visual encoding
• Acoustic encoding
• Tactile encoding
• Elaborative encoding

Semantic Encoding

• Semantic encoding encodes words' meanings.
• It helps us understand the meaning of ordinary objects.
• It gives items meaning, which is stored in the brain for later use.

Visual Encoding

• Visual encoding converts data into charts, maps, etc.
• It maps data into visual structures for screen visuals.
• Two types of visual encoding variables:
  • Planar
  • Retinal

Planar Visual Encoding

• Graphs across the X- and Y-axis are used to present quantitative data.

Retinal Visual Encoding

• Retinal variables include size (length and area), shape, texture, color, orientation (or slope), and value.
• Each variable can be classified using points, lines, and areas.
• Humans are sensitive to retinal variables.

Acoustic Encoding

• Acoustic encoding stores and retrieves sound, speech, and other auditory data, like the alphabet or multiplication tables.
• Associating information with sounds, by sounding out the words, strengthens brain connections and aids recall.

Tactile Encoding

• Touch encodes how something feels.
• Touch-based tactile encoding isn't useful in eLearning.
• It can be used in collaborative learning for "face-to-face training."
• In medicine, training and examination rely heavily on touch.

Elaborative Encoding

• Elaborative encoding links information to other memories; all information is relevant to the experience.
• When you encounter a red ball, your brain encodes the color, location, sounds, smells, etc.
• The brain also scans existing memories to see if anything stands out.

Role of Encoding Information in the Creativity Process

• Information is encoded during the creative process.
• This helps people generate creative solutions or ideas.
• It also aids learning and memory.

What is Storage?

• Where is information stored (location)?
• How long does it last (duration)?
• How much can be stored at once (capacity)?
• What kind of information is held (type)?
• Information storage impacts retrieval.
• Two main parts of memory:
  • Short-Term Memory (STM)
  • Long-Term Memory (LTM).

Type of Storage Memory

• Sensory Memory: The first phase of memory storage, lasting less than a few seconds.
• Short-Term Memory (STM): Activated memory that holds a few items briefly.
  • Example: Looking up a phone number and quickly dialing before forgetting.
• Long-Term Memory (LTM): Data that can be stored for long periods of time, broken down into episodic, semantic, autobiographical, and implicit memory.

What is Retrieving?

• Getting information out of storage.
• If we can't remember something, it may be because we are unable to retrieve it.
• The differences between STM and LTM become clear when retrieving information.

The Retrieving Process

• STM: Sequentially storing and retrieving.
  • Example: Recalling the fourth word on a list requires going through the list in order.
• LTM: Associations store and retrieve.
  • Example: Returning to a room where you first thought about going upstairs helps you recall why.
• Organization helps retrieval of sequence information (alphabetically, by size, or by time).
  • Example: A hospitalized patient's therapy includes taking medicines, changing clothes, and exercising.

Exercise Branding - Slogan

• Exercise one – Branding - Slogan The Amazon logo is a prime example. The yellow arrow underneath the company name serves two purposes.
• First, it demonstrates the idea of getting things from a to z; second, it looks like a smile.The end of the arrow is drawn to look like the corner of a smiling mouth.
• Looking at it, your brain can’t fail to conjure up the notion of happiness.
• Amazon has said that the smile was the original intention – to suggest that "we're happy to deliver anything, anywhere". It later changed the logo to focus on the a to z idea.
• This creative game asks a group to sum up their ideas in a statement with the minimum number of words, which cuts out filler, and helps uncover and improve an idea.

Exercise Two – Branding - Logo

• The Toblerone logo has been talked about in major publications around the world because of the image of the bear hidden in the negative space of Matterhorn mountain.
• Toblerone comes from Bern, the capital of Switzerland, and the Matterhorn mountain is part of the Bern landscape with the bear being a key feature of the city’s coat of arms.
• This creative game asks a group to draw an illustration of a brand that reflects a certain quality or feature of their product or business.

Creativity

• “Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.” George Lois, 1931, Art Director and Author