How the mind

works
MECHANISM OF THE
MIND?
 Four basic types

1. Natural Thinking
2. Logical Thinking
3. Mathematical Thinking
4. Literal Thinking
Basic process underlying the
Operation of the Mind
1903 Pierre Janet described two types of mental
operations:
1. Reality Operation
2. Disinterested Operation
O Logical View
According to most logicians, the three primary
mental operations.
1. Apprehension
2. Judgement
3. Inference
O Developmental View
Mental operations according to Jean Piaget.
1. Seriation
2. Transitivity
3. Classification
4. Decentering
5. Reversibility
6. Conservation
Piaget also describes a formal operational stage, with
formal operations of abstract thinking.
O Psychometric View
Guilford’s structure of intellect
1. Operations Dimension
2. Content Dimension
3. Product Dimension
O Cognitive View
Following on footsteps of Silvio Ceccato, Guilio
Benedetti describes several types of mental
operations.
1. Attentional Focalization
2. Attentional Discarding
3. Spatial basic operating scheme (attentional
movement)
4. Operation of Representation
5. Operation of Comparison
6. Operations of Memory
7. Temporal basic operating scheme
O System’s View
Taking into account all mental processes, the
following types of mental operations have
been described.
1. Cognitive Operations
2. Practical Operations
3. Affective Operations
4. Expressive Operations
5. Perceptual motor Operations
6. Regulative Operations
O Perception – is responsible for us having an
“image” of the reality that surrounds us.
O Learning – this is how we modify and
acquire knowledge, abilities, skill and
behaviors.
O Language – the human being is a social
being. That’s why language is such an
important process. It gives us the ability to
communicate with others.
O Thought – this is a complex process that
psychology defines as the process in charge
of transforming information to organize it
and give it meaning.
O Attention – focuses our resources on a
series of stimuli while ignoring the rest.
O Memory – allows us to encode information
for future storage and retrieval.
O Motivation – is responsible for providing the
body with resources to perform a behavior.
O Emotion – are reactions to external stimuli.
They allow us to guide our behavior and act
quickly in response to the demands of our
environment.
Operating mechanism of
the mind
O Consciousness – is best understood as
having an awareness of something, being
able to call it to mind.
O Subconscious mind – is the storage point for
any recent memories needed for quick
recall. It also holds current information that
you use everyday
O Unconscious – is a state which occurs when
the ability to maintain an awareness of self
and environment is lost.
Research studies on
creativity and Human mind
O Developing an original and creative idea requires the
simultaneous activation of two completely different
networks in the brain: the associative –
“spontaneous” network, along side the more
normative – “conservative” network (according to
new research conducted at the University of Haifa)
O According to the researchers, creativity is our ability
to think in new and original ways to solve problems.
But not every original solution is considered a
creative one. If the idea is not fully applicable it is not
considered creative, but simply one which is
unreasonable.
O Big Three:
Default Network – is the brain’s inactive mode.
Executive Network – is the decision and emotion
center.
Salience Network – determines what things you
will always notice and what things you don’t.
O Creativity is both a result of genetics and
experience.
O Creativity is a state of mind – and one that you
can train. (Lopata’s doctoral research published
in journal Neuropsychologia) “Creative thinking
can be boosted through play practice, and
experience” Valerie Van Mulukom
Studies show that watching someone engaged in
everyday creativity boosts your own creativity.
Studies of children, in particular, show that watching
someone else be creative, viewing of fantasy film and
unstructured play encourages new insights, analytical
thinking, and creativity.
Further studies explore the connection to getting
enough sleep, spending time outdoors or holding
brainstorming sessions at work as ways to boost
creativity.
O The science of creativity suggest some choices can
dampen creative thinking
- Stress and Time constraints dampen innovation.
- Lack of sleep, perfectionism and fear of failing.
“By taking a break, and allowing yourself to hit your
mental reset button, you give your brain its best chance
to float toward the creative flash you’ve been hunting,
its simple, really: just let your mind wander.”
Survey of studies on How
the mind works
By: Carlo Magno of De La Salle University-Manila
Humans ability to create is considered a psychological
function. Creativity is explained in the different perspective
of psychology as a mental and social process.
O Creativity – is an extrinsic and intrinsic response in
which humans value an object and an event for its sake
and consequences(Lanier 1991).
O Development of creativity – the field of developmental
psychology also explains how creativity is developed in
individuals as they mature in life.
- developed as a feeling of individuality and identify that
has a favorable effect on a persons self-
concept(Bronfrenbrenner, 1979; Hurlock, 1982)
Studies show that the forms of creativity depend upon individual
interests and abilities, opportunities to do what they want to do,
and activities that give the greatest satisfaction(Eisenstadt,
1978; Goertzel, 1978; Simonton, 1984).
O Cognition and Creative
- Most psychologist and educators generally recognized that
creative talent is not synonymous with academic intelligence
and is rarely covered by test yielding an IQ (Anastasia, 1998)
O Attributes of Creativity
- There are seven attributes of creativity identified. This
attributes involved:
- Development
- Expression
- Generation
- Transformation
- Uniqueness
- Utility
- Value.
Significant result of
research studies on
creativity and the working
mind
O The study of Reger Beaty at Harvard
University “New study reveals why some
people are more creative”
- The attetional control network
- The imagination network
- The attentional flexibility network
Conceptual
Framework:

How the creative mind

work?
 The Right Brain
 Recognizing faces
 Expressing emotions
 Music
 Reading emotions
 Color
 Imagination
 Intuition
 Creativity
 The Left Brain

Language
Logic
Critical
thinking
Numbers
Reasoning