Study on Conceptual Synthesis in Design Creation

-Role of Thematic Relation in Creativity-

J unichi Harakawa*, Yukari Nagai** and Toshiharu Taura***


* School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan,
j-haraka@jaist.ac.jp
** School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Japan
ynagai@jaist.ac.jp
*** Graduate School of Science and Technology ,Kobe University, Japan
taura@mech.kobe-u.ac.jp


Abstract: In general, it is thought that conceptual synthesis is effective for the generation of a new design
idea. However, the problem of how to combine which concepts in order to achieve high creativity is
unsolved. The authors have conducted experiments and clarified that the similarity between synthesized
concepts (entities concepts) and the abstraction level of an idea are related to creativity. On the other hand,
in the research on similarity in cognitive science, it is said that there are two kinds of similarities (a
taxonomical relation and a thematic relation) that represent the relations between two concepts. In this
research, how the taxonomical relation and the thematic relation are affected in an actual design was
clarified. Protocol analysis was adopted for accumulating utterances as protocol data for designing. In this
method, the subjects were requested to verbalize what they were thinking while performing a task. The
utterances were recorded and the data were analyzed. In order to identify which relationship between two
concepts the subject considered, the reason behind the design idea was examined. In the design
experiment, the subject was asked to perform two kinds of design tasks. One was to synthesize two
concepts in a taxonomical relation. The other was to synthesize two concepts in a thematic relation. The
design results (design concepts) were evaluated on the basis of the two viewpoints of practicality and
originality, on a five-point scale by 8 people. As a result, it was found said that the difference in the
design task does not affect to creativity. Next, the extension of the design space was examined, focusing
attention on the distance between concepts. It was shown that there is a strong correlation between the
extension of design space and design results with high creativity. Furthermore, the nouns judged to be the
farthest distance apart were examined to determine what was associated with these nouns. It was found
that a noun judged to be far from the two axes was thought up when the subject recollected various scenes
and situations.
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Key Words: Creativity, Similarity, Thematic Relation

1. Background
In general, it is thought that conceptual synthesis is effective for the generation of a new design idea.
However, the problem of how to combine which concepts in order to achieve high creativity is unsolved.
Finke et al. performed an experiment of conceptual synthesis in a mental image [1]. However, the
experiment did not permit the transformation of shape, and this restriction is considered to be too severe
for a design experiment. The authors have conducted experiments on design idea generation on the basis
of the similarity of conceptual synthesis to an actual design process [2]. As a result, it is understood that
the similarity between synthesized concepts and the abstraction level of the idea are related to creativity.
On the other hand, in the research on similarity in cognitive science, it is said that there are two kinds of
similarities (a taxonomical relation and a thematic relation) that represent the relations between two
concepts [3].
In this research, how a taxonomical relation and a thematic relation affect an actual design is clarified.

2. Aims
In this research, the relations between creativity and similarity are clarified using both the design
results and the thought process. In particular, the difference in the design space (idea space) in the concept
synthesizing process between a taxonomical relation and a thematic relation is focused on.

3. Methods
In this research, the design experiment is performed, and the thought process is analyzed.

3.1 Taxonomical relation and thematic relation
There are two kinds of similarities: a taxonomical relation and a thematic relation. Wisniewski and
Bassok studied the relative tendency to use comparison versus integration in making similarity judgments
by orthogonally varying pairs of objects to be taxonomically related or functionally related [4]. As a result,
it is shown that not only a taxonomical relation but also a thematic relation is important in recognizing the
two objects. The former is a similarity that represents the physical resemblance of the two objects, for
example, "milk and coffee are drinks." The later is a similarity that represents their relation by
recollecting a thematic scene between the two concepts. For example, a scene of milking a cow is
recollected by the two concepts of milk and cow; in such a sense, milk and cow are similar.

3.2 Hypothesis
Analysis is progressed, paying attention to the kind of similarity between the concepts being
synthesized. In this research, it is thought that creativity and the kind of similarity between two concepts
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(a taxonomical relation or a thematic relation) are related. The hypothesis is that for thematically related
concepts, a higher creative design result is generated than for taxonomically related ones.

3.3 Analysis of design process
In this research, protocol analysis is adopted for accumulating utterances as protocol data for designing.
In this method, the subjects are requested to verbalize what they are thinking while performing a task [5].
The utterances are recorded and the data are analyzed in order to identify which relationship between two
concepts the subject considered. The reason behind the design idea was examined. However, it is difficult
to obtain data on this reason, because the subjects do not always state the reasons behind their thinking.
Therefore, in this research, the method of protocol analysis based on the explanation of design activities is
adopted.

3.4 Creativity evaluation of design result
The design results are evaluated based on the method of Finke et al. [1], that is, from the two
viewpoints of practicality and originality, on a five-point scale.

4. Method of Experiments
In this research, to verify our hypothesis, the design experiment is conducted. The experiment is
composed of two parts, the design session and the interview session.

4.1 Design task
The subject was asked to perform two kinds of design tasks. One is to synthesize two concepts in a
taxonomical relation (Task A). The other is to synthesize two concepts in a thematic relation (Task B).
Task A: Design new furniture starting from the word Cat-hamster
Task B: Design new furniture starting from the word Cat-fish

These concepts were selected based on the research of Wisniewski and Bassok [4].
The reason for showing the synthesized word as Cat-hamster and Cat-fish is that the subject will
be able to understand the idea of conceptual blending easily.

4.2 Method of experiment
1) Design session (10 minutes)
The subject is made to perform the design task by the think-aloud method [5], and the design sketch is
recorded with a video camera. The purpose of this session is to obtain the protocol data and the sketch.

2) Interview session (30 minutes)
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The subject is asked to explain the reason for each design activity while playing the video recorded
during the design session. The purpose of this session is to determine why a new concept was conceived
where it came from.

3) Creativity evaluation
The design results are evaluated based on the two viewpoints of practicality and originality on a
five-point scale. The judging standard is as follows.
Only the design results awarded more than 3.0 practicality points are evaluated from the viewpoint of
originality.

5. Results of Experiments
The design experiments were conducted with three subjects. In task A, three design ideas, four design
ideas and one design idea were presented as design results by subject #1, subject #2 and subject #3,
respectively. In task B, two design ideas, four design ideas and one design idea were presented as design
results by subject #1, subject #2 and subject #3, respectively.
The success or failure of the sketch was not relevant because creativity was evaluated on the basis of the
design concept. The experimenter summarized the design concept from the design idea and the interview
of the subject. Fifteen design concepts are presented below as the design results.

Task A: Design new furniture starting from the word Cat-hamster
Design result 1 (Design concept A1)
A wardrobe with pet rooms.
There are rooms for the cat and hamster in the lower drawers of the wardrobe. When the higher drawer
is opened, the cats meow is heard. When the second drawer is opened, the hamster begins to play.
Design result 2 (Design concept A2)
A wardrobe shape like a cat.
The wardrobe can move like a cat. The person orders the hamster to bring a suit. The hamster goes to
touch the cats tail, and then the cat delivers the suit.
Design result 3 (Design concept A3)
Traveling bag that cares for the pet during travel.
A panel is attached on the side, and an image of the pet is displayed when the panel is opened. Some
buttons on the panel enable food to be given to the pet or the pet to be fondled.
Design result 4 (Design concept A4)
Chest of drawers-ball
This chest of drawers is ball-shaped and it moves restlessly. It can enter narrow spaces. Because it is a
ball that moves about freely, the chest of drawers can be repositioned easily.
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Design result 5 (Design concept A5)
Desk-chair
This chair is like a desk. In a word, it is the size of a desk although its appearance is that of a chair. We
use it as a chair.
Design result 6 (Design concept A6)
Chair that can be folded like an umbrella
A chair that can be folded by the mechanism of a folding umbrella can be stored in a narrow space. It is
possible to store it in an underground compartment after use.
Design result 7 (Design concept A7)
Chair which runs about trying to escape
This chair runs away when a desk approaches. It resembles a rat being chased by a cat.
Design result 8 (Design concept A8)
A revolving shoebox
This rotary shoebox is doughnut-shaped and the size of a person. It rotates when the user stands in front
of it, and shoes can be chosen. It is easy to choose shoes appropriate for the outfit because the section
for the feet is transparent.

Task B: Design new furniture starting from the word Cat-fish
Design result 9 (Design concept B1)
A sideboard with a monitor.
Usually an image of fish in an aquarium is displayed on the monitor. However, it is also a television
that can be operated by remote control. The monitor is at eye level when the viewer is sitting on a chair.
Design result 10 (Design concept B2)
A case for marine sports.
It has a heater so items such as a wet suit can be dried. Part of the case is a water tank in which fish can
be kept.
Design result 11 (Design concept B3)
Water tank with casters
There are legs like those of a chair attached to the bottom of the water tank. Because they have casters,
it is possible to move the tank easily.
Design result 12 (Design concept B4)
A coat hanger that refuses to hang clothes
This coat hanger will not hang clothes. The clothes will be dropped when hung on this hanger.
Design result 13 (Design concept B5)
Chest of drawers that eats oneself
This is a nested chest of drawers behind a door. There are more drawers inside the drawers.
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Design result 14 (Design concept B6)
Water tank table
This is a table of a hollow structure made of glass. It is possible to saving water inside it like a water
tank. Fish appeas to be swimming in the table.
Design result 15 (Design concept B7)
Sea cushion
This cushion can float in the sea. It is possible to sit and to sleep on it. It is possible to join many of
them to form a lounger.

5.1 Creativity evaluation of design result
The design results (design concepts) are evaluated based on the two viewpoints of practicality and
originality, on a five-point scale by 8 people (4 people experienced in design). Table 1 shows the average
rate for each design concept.
Table 1 Creativity evaluation
Subject #1 #2 #3
Concept A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8
Practicality 2.250 2.175 3.750 2.625 3.000 4.125 2.000 3.000
Originality 2.625 3.000 2.875 3.625 2.375 3.875 3.000 3.625

Subject #1 #2 #3
Concept B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7
Practicality 4.250 3.750 4.125 1.500 2.750 4.250 4.125
Originality 2.625 3.500 2.000 2.875 2.625 3.000 3.000

According to the judging standard, the practicality ratings of A1, A2, A4, A7, B4 and B5 are under 3
points, whereas A3, A5, A6, A8, B1, B2, B3, B6 and B7 satisfy the required practicality score. Originality
is high in the order of A6, A8, B2, B6, B7, A3, B1, A5 and B3. It is said that creativity is also high in this
order. As a result, it can be said that the difference between the design tasks (taxonomical relation or
thematic relation) does not affect the creativity.

5.2 Extension of idea space
To identify the extension of the design space, new nouns have been extracted from the utterances
recorded during the design task and in the interview by the protocol analysis. The numbers of new nouns
are listed in Table 2.


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Table 2 New nouns
Subject #1 #2 #3
Concept A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8
Number of new nouns 6 5 12 5 5 7 3 11

Subject #1 #2 #3
Concept B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7
Number of new nouns 13 11 5 7 5 9 21

There are many new nouns in the concepts given high creativity scores, as shown in Table 2
(bold-faced type). This result reveals that there is a relationship between the number of new nouns and
high creativity.

Next, focusing attention on the distance between concepts, we examine the relationship between the
new nouns arising during the experiment and the terms Cat, Hamster, Fish and Furniture. The distance of
the new nouns from Cat, Hamster (Fish) and Furniture are measured using the concept dictionary (EDR
electric dictionary) [6]. The scatter charts are shown in Figures 1-9. The abscissa indicates the distance
from Cat or Hamster. The ordinate indicates the distance from Furniture.

Fig.3 Distance between concepts(B2)
B2
Fish
Piranha
Cat
Funiture
Glass
Water Cylinder
Oxygen
Marin sports
Air
Afoodchain
Wet suit
The sea
Heating
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Fish
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.1 Distance between concepts (A6)
A6
Cat
Hamster
Funiture
Chair
Umbrela
Pipe
Storage
Hole
Narrow
Ground
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Hamster
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.2 Distancebetweenconcepts(A8)
A8
Cat
Humster
Funiture
Closet
Human
BoxWheel
Hanger
Shoes Suit
The entrance
Style
Choice
Storage
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Humster
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.5 Distancebetweenconcepts(B7)
B7
Fish
Cat
Funiture
Human
Chair
Baggage
Parent and child
Water

Cushion
Vessel
Rubber ring
Boat Kotatsu
Seimming pool
Group
Sunburn
The sunds
The sea
Nap At sea
Peace of mind
Posture
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Fish
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.4 Distance between concepts (B6)
B6
Fish
Cat
Funiture
Material
Fish tank
Scale
Water Glass
Table
Leg
Chink
The surface
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Fish
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.6 Distance between concepts(A3)
A3
Train
Traveling bag
Animals of
small size
Animal
Funiture
Hamster
Cat
Pet
Feed
Camera
Doll
Robot
Suit
Picture
Bag
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Hamster
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
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Fig.9 Distance between concepts(B3)
B3
Fish
Cat
Funiture
Chair
Caster
Foot
Fish tank
Leg
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Fish
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.7 Distance between concepts (B1)
B1
Remote control
Monitor
Table
Tableware
Afoodchain
Glass
Fish tank
Shelf
Funiture
Saury
Cat
Fish
Television
Plate Aglass
Dining table
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Fish
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e
Fig.8 Distancebetweenconcepts(A5)
A5
Cat
Hamster
Funiture
Chair
Table
Wheel
Use
Size
0
5
10
15
20
0 5 10 15 20
Cat or Hamster
F
u
r
n
i
t
u
r
e

It is understood from the scatter chart that A6, A8, B2, A3, B6 and B7 are evaluated to have high
creativity since many new nouns are concentrated away from the two axes.
We examine the extension of design space on the basis of distance between the concepts. The extension
of design space is defined as follows.

If ) (
y
x n
i
i i
, is a new noun in design result , D
then

=
+ N
N i
i
i
N
y
x
2
2
(N =number of new nouns) is the extension of idea space.
Creativity Extension of idea space
X
2.986 13.862
SD 0.573 1.148
Table 3 The mean and the standard deviation
B3
B1
B6
A5
A3
B7
B2
A8 A6
0
1
2
3
4
5
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Extension of idea space
C
r
e
a
t
i
v
i
t
y

Fig.10 The scatter chart

Table 3 shows the mean and the standard deviation of creativity and the extension of idea space. Figure
10 shows the scatter chart. The correlation coefficient is 0.73087F8.02713.05, and it is
significant. It is understood that there is a strong correlation between creativity and the extension of idea
space. It is shown that there is a strong correlation between the extension of design space and design
results with high creativity.

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The nouns that have the farthest distance from the axes were examined to determine what was
associated with these nouns. In the analysis of the protocol data, we examined the design activities for
clues on the design process up to the time of noun utterance.

A3) Train, Bag and Traveling bag
Person taking a cat on a train., Go on a trip.
Camera, Picture, Doll and Robot
Monitoring a pet left at home.
A6) Ground, Hole, Narrow, Folding and Store
The hamster (or Cat) enters narrow spaces.
A8) Wheels, Run around, Revolution, Choice and Store
The hamster is playing with the wheels.
B1) A food chain
The cat is holding a fish in its mouth.
Water tank, Monitor, Television and Remote control
Fish are swimming in the water tank.
B2) The sea, Marine sports, Wet suit and Cylinder
Fish are swimming in the sea.
Heating
When coming home from the sea, the wet suit can be dried.
B3) Water tank
Fish are swimming in the water tank.
B6) Water tank, Surface and Glass
Fish are swimming.
B7) Water, The Sea, Sunburn, Beach and On the sea
A fish is floating in water.
Cushion, Kotatsu and Nap
The cat arches its back on the cushion (kotatsu).
Parent and child
The fish are swimming in a school.
As described above, a noun judged to be far from the two axes was thought up when the subject
recollected various scenes and situations. This is similar to a thematic relation in which scenes and
situations are recollected. Therefore, the cause of the extension of an idea is similarity of a thematic
relation.
It is thought that the new nouns leading to the extension of an idea space were uttered under the
influence of the relationship between cat or fish and the new concept that the subject conceives in the
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design process, as well as the type of relationship in the new concept, rather than the differences between
the design tasks (taxonomical relation or thematic relation). It is thought that the extension of idea space
to the starting point of the new nouns thought up by the subject on the basis of similarity through a
thematic relation results in high creativity.
It will be necessary to further consider the relationship between the extension of idea space and high
creativity in the future.

6. Conclusions
In this research, the relationship between two kinds of similarities (a taxonomical relation and a
thematic relation) and creativity was clarified.
It was found that the difference between the design tasks (a taxonomical relation or a thematic relation)
at the beginning does not affect creativity. However, it was clarified that there is a strong relationship
between the extension of design space and higher creativity in the design results. We inferred that people
think up new nouns in thematic relations with the keyword (cat, hamster or fish, furniture) by recollecting
various scenes during the design process, and this affects the design creativity. In future studies, we will
develop this research question into investigations on the role of the integration process, focusing on the
thematic relations in conceptual synthesis in the design creation process.

References
[1] Finke, R. A. Ward, T. B. and Smith, S. M., 1992, Creative Cognition: Theory, Research, and
Applications, Cambridge, Massachusetts, The MIT Press
[2] Taura, T., Nagai, Y. and Tanaka, S., 2005, Design Space Blending A Key for Creative Design,
Proceedings of International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED05)
[3] Ohnishi, H. and Suzuki, H. 2001Similarity-Based Approach to Mind (in J apanese), Kyoritu Shuppan
[4] Wisniewski, E. J . and Bassok, M., 1999What Makes a Man Similar to a Tie? Stimulus Compatibility
with Comparison and Integration, Cognitive Psychology, Vol. 39, pp. 208-238
[5] Ericsson, K. A. and Simon, H. A., 1993, Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, The MIT Press
[6] Concept Dictionary, CPD-V030, 2005, EDR Electronic Dictionary, National Institute of Information
and Communications Technology

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