Ronald Hamel

Sketching and creative discovery

Abstract In the search for helpful computer tools for sketching in the early phases of design, the approach was taken to experimentally study sketching behaviour. In two series of experiments two mental processes revealed themselves as essential in the creative process: Restructuring and Combining. These two processes are in turn influenced by expertise in sketching and individual creativity. In this article each of the factors: Combining, Restructuring, Expertise and Creativity, will be separately highlighted with respect to their impact on sketching behavior. Finally, on the basis of these results conclusions are drawn for computerized sketching aids.

Creative discovery in imagery and perception: Combining is relatively easy, restructuring takes a sketch

A figure combination task, in which three components are combined into an object, was administered under imagery-alone and externalization conditions to subjects with different levels of sketching expertise. In externalization conditions the imaged combinations were sketched. In accordance with earlier studies, the combinations were rated equally creative across conditions. The combinations were scored with regard to the novelty of their spatial configurations of the components (combining score), and with regard to the novelty of the structure of the components (restructuring score). For expert sketchers the latter score was found to be increased by sketching. Creativity ratings correlated with both combining and restructuring scores in the sketching condition, but only with combining scores in the imagery condition. The results are interpreted in terms of a model in which creative processes use combining and restructuring strategies in a flexible way. Whereas restructuring draws heavily on both externalization and expertise in externalization, combining can be used independently of externalization and expertise.

Solving and creating Raven Progressive Matrices: reasoning in well- and ill-defined problem spaces

We studied the development of creative cognition in children ranging from nursery school to Grade 6 (4–12 yr old, N = 511), performing a problem generation task. The task involved inventing a novel item for a classical problem solving task they had completed beforehand: the Raven Progressive Matrices (RPM). This task and the generating task both comprise matrixes of components, to which a set of transformational relations are applied; only in the first case these are inferred to solve a puzzle, but in the second they are invented to create one. We analyzed the matrixes invented in the generation task and compared them to those of the original solving task. We observed that (a) both in solving and generation, the ability to combine more than 1 relation increased with grade level, (b) within all 8 grades, except Grades 3 and 6, performance was uncorrelated between both tasks, (c) relations that were applied in the generation task often did feature in the solving task, and (d) relations occurring in both tasks were applied with different frequencies. Overall, we conclude that standard problem solving ability is not a precondition for creative reasoning and that the comprehension of relations between components featured in solving task differs from that applied in generation.

What Imagery Can't do and why Sketching Might Help

The utility of enactment to overcome the limitations of imagery was investigated in three experiments using a paper- and pencil-sketching task. Novice sketchers were compared to experts. Subjects were briefly presented a configuration of several overlapping simple geometrical components and decided whether a succeeding figure formed part of it. Succeeding figures included novel parts, produced incidentally as a result of overlapping components. The ability to detect these novel parts by imagery alone was expected to be restricted. In the first experiment, forced sketching was compared to imagery-alone conditions. Forced sketching led to enhanced detection of the novel parts in expert-sketchers. By comparison, sketching had no influence on performance in novices. In the second experiment, subjects were given the option to sketch. Both novices and experts turned to spontaneous sketching in the case of novel parts, but only for experts detection of these parts was raised by it. The third experiment controlled for effects of memory load. Implications for the controversy about discovery in imagery are discussed.

Considerations for electronic idea-creation tools

Recent research into the psychology of paper-and-pencil sketching reveals two ongoing interacting processes during a creative process. The first of these processes can easily be performed in mental imagery and hence is not supported by sketching, the second is hard to perform before the mental eye, and hence is supported by sketching. It is argued that, in order to be intuitive, electronic sketching tools must meet the requirements of firstly not impeding the first of the two processes and secondly support and enhance the second process.

Evaluations of design gardens by students of landscape architecture and non-design students: a comparative study

Abstract In our study we explore similarities and differences in the evaluations of 12 design gardens by students of landscape architecture and psychology students. The participants in our study visited the gardens and judged them on location. We used a questionnaire to assess similarities and differences in the evaluations of gardens by the two groups. We also provided the participants with the opportunity to describe their experience of the gardens in their own words, using their own evaluative criteria. We found significant differences between the two groups on the evaluation of four gardens. The analysis of the physical properties of the four gardens gives some clues as to what may have caused the differences, as they were ‘minimalist’, ‘art-like’, ‘experimental’, and ‘traditional’ gardens. In contrast, in spite of the large variation in the design of the gardens, no differences in evaluation were found on eight out of 12 gardens. The results of our study suggest that a high level of appreciation may be expected from the public for unusual formal designs of gardens while alerting the experts to the physical and formal properties of gardens most likely to raise conflict.