Assignment 1: Creativity Assignment

Course: Creative Thinking: Theory&

Practice

Philip Xia

Professor: Jennifer Phenix

May 25th, 2023

Part A: The Torrance Test for Creative

Thinking (TTCT)
The Torrance Test for Creative Thinking
In ancient India, there lived an old man named Singh. There was

a hill next to the village he lived. The villagers need to climb

over this hill to go out of the village. So Singh took a shovel and

hoped to level the hill. The villagers all thought he was stupid.

He might not be able to complete it until he died. The efforts of

Singh and his children moved the God, and God ordered the

mountain god to remove it. Since then, the village has never

been blocked again.

 Part B: Activity, Reading, Questions &

Answers on”18 Things Highly Creative

People Do Differently”

This photo was taken while I was taking a walk a few days

ago at Kariya Park. I spent my time alone there looking at the

cherry blossoms and getting closer to nature. Smelling the

fragrance of flowers and breathing the fresh air. l naturally feel

very comfortable and make me realize how lucky we are. People

nowadays are generally under a lot of pressure no matter what

age they are. Solitude can let you temporarily forget the troubles

and pressures in your heart. It is very necessary for people to

spend time alone in this impetuous society.

Solitude can be used as a tool for self-reflection and personal

growth. Research also indicates that people are better at problem

solving when they are able to think alone at their own pace.

(Hawkins, 2021)

Research shows that creativity involves bringing together a

person’s multiple traits, behaviors, and social influences.

(Gregoire, 2017) I have done daydream in my life.

Daydreaming contains one’s own expectations or fantasies about

something. For example, I used to daydream about being a

scientist or entrepreneur admired by everyone. Although I know

this is difficult to accomplish, but through daydreaming, it gave

me motivation. And also as neuroscientists have found,

daydreaming involves the same brain processes associated with

imagination and creativity.(Gregoire, 2017)

I have met a lot of obstacles in my life such as dropping out

of school or not being admitted to the school I wanted. At first, I

would feel depressed or lost. However, I figured out that those

traumas or unsatisfactory are part of life. As Kaufman said, “A

lot of people are able to use that as the fuel they need to come

up with a different perspective on reality.” (Gregoire, 2017)

Now I become more confident in overcoming obstacles or

difficulties.

I am not an observant person so I am not a careful observer.

To be honest, under-observation can constitute a huge loss for

myself. Many famous writers were great observers such as Mark

Twain and Borges. The writer Joan Didion kept a notebook with

her all the times, and said that she wrote down observations

about people and events as, ultimately, a way to better

understand the complexities and contradictions of her own

mind. (Gregoire, 2017) Their work is critically acclaimed for

observing phenomena in society. And ordinary people like us

can avoid mistakes or point them out by observing.

 Reference:

Hawkins, J. (2021, August 12). Effective ways to use your

alone time. Medium. https://medium.com/publishous/effective-

ways-to-use-your-alone-time-e3cda3c8ec3b

Gregoire, C. (2017, December 6). 18 things highly creative

people do differently. HuffPost.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/creativity-habits_n_4859769