Cognitive Styles in the Creative Process

Abstract

This research aims at understanding the creative process of product designers in terms of exploration and utilization of prior knowledge. A protocol study was conducted with 24 master students who majored in industrial design. For the design experiment, two different design briefs were utilized to investigate the effect of constraints on the creative process. 24 verbal protocols were firstly segmented into think flows, and then encoded. The encoding results suggested the significant effect of constraints on the utilization of precedents. For further interpretation of verbal protocols, I devised a new way of representing the cognitive process – a cognitive map. A cognitive map visualized the entire cognitive activities of participants, and provided a comprehensive view of a cognitive process. The cognitive maps suggested three phases of the creative process - exploration, generation, and development. Each phase represented different cognitive activities which were related to the exploration of precedents and generation of ideas. The cognitive styles of each phase were defined, and integrated. As a result, four different cognitive styles were identified – Focused Probers, Treasure Hunters, Selectors, and Explorers. The differences among the styles were compared in terms of utilization of prior knowledge, and the results showed that non-significant differences among four cognitive styles. Finally, this paper concluded with a discussion about implications on design education and practice.