Immersive Technologies to Accelerate Innovation

2Creativity and Cognition: Factors and Biases of Mental Processes Involved in Creative Activities

Creativity is intelligence having fun. ALBERT EINSTEIN

2.1. The creativity process

2.1.1 The Wallas model (1926)

While creativity has long been considered as a mystical phenomenon, taking different forms according to the times and culture, it has been studied for several decades as an intellectual process. Wallas (1926) was the first to formalize the creativity process.

The first step is preparation. It consists of analyzing the problem, collecting information and building knowledge about the problem. This stage is carried out consciously. The second step is incubation. The individual may be consciously working on the problem, or may have moved on to something else. However, incubation refers to the fact that consciously or unconsciously, the brain is still working on the problem by associating ideas. The third stage is illumination. This refers to the fact that suddenly a suitable idea comes to the individual’s consciousness. It may emerge spontaneously from mental associations made unconsciously, or it may have been triggered by an external stimulus. The last step, verification, is conscious and deliberate, since it involves evaluating the validity of the idea in order to develop it. These four steps can take place in a linear way, but they can also go back and forth. For example, I may do several preparation/incubation loops before reaching illumination. Thus, the organization ...