Ideas are often generated from inspiration sources (e.g., prior experiences with the world, solutions to analogous problems). These sources may have benefits but also pitfalls (e.g., difficulty thinking of alternative approaches). In this paper, we investigate whether and how features of inspiration sources predict their impact on creative outcomes. In particular, we examine the popular but une...

ion level: SIT operators operate on a consistent, content-transcending abstraction level. TRIZ’s techniques operate both on a high, content free, abstraction level and on a content expert-system like level. For example one of TRIZ’ techniques is the following “If you need to separate a mixture of two materials in a powder form, CHAPTER 4: THE SIT METHOD 113 use vibration”. Table 4-2 summarizes ...

This paper introduces TRIZ-based problem definition process for developing students’ creative problem solving ability in engineering education. TRIZ is the theory of inventive problem solving and was developed by a Soviet engineer and researcher Genrich Altshuller and its effectiveness was already proved by lots of real problem solving in various areas. Main obstructive elements of creativity a...