Imagination and creativity. General ideas and theories of imagination. Recreative and creative imagination

Question 46 The role of imagination in solving cognitive and personal problems. The development of the imagination. Imagination and creativity.

Imagination- this is a mental process of creating new images, ideas and thoughts based on existing experience, by restructuring a person's ideas.

Imagination is closely connected with all other cognitive processes and occupies a special place in human cognitive activity. Thanks to this process, a person can anticipate the course of events, foresee the results of his actions and deeds. It allows you to create programs of behavior in situations characterized by uncertainty.

From a physiological point of view, imagination is the process of the formation of new systems of temporary connections as a result of the complex analytical and synthetic activity of the brain.

In the process of imagination, the systems of temporary nerve connections, as it were, disintegrate and unite into new complexes, groups of nerve cells are connected in a new way.

The physiological mechanisms of imagination are located in the cortex and deeper parts of the brain.

Imagination - this is the process of mental transformation of reality, the ability to build new integral images of reality by processing the content of the existing practical, sensual, intellectual and emotional-semantic experience.

Types of imagination

By subject - emotional, figurative, verbal-logical

According to the methods of activity - active and passive, intentional and unintentional

By the nature of the images - abstract and concrete

According to the results - recreative (mental reproduction of the images of objects that actually exist) and creative (creation of images of objects that do not currently exist).

Types of imagination:

- active - when a person, by an effort of will, causes in himself the corresponding images. Active imagination is a creative, recreative phenomenon. Creative active imagination arises as a result of labor, independently creates images expressed in original and valuable products of activity. This is the basis of any creativity;

- passive - when images arise by themselves, do not depend on desires and will, and do not materialize.

Passive imagination happens:

- involuntary imagination . The simplest form of imagination is those images that arise without special intention and effort on our part (floating clouds, reading an interesting book). Any interesting, fascinating teaching usually causes a vivid involuntary imagination. One of the types of involuntary imagination are dreams . N. M. Sechenov believed that dreams are an unprecedented combination of experienced impressions.

- arbitrary imagination manifests itself in cases where new images or ideas arise as a result of a person’s special intention to imagine something specific, concrete.

Among the various types and forms of arbitrary imagination, one can distinguish recreating imagination, creative imagination and dream. Recreative imagination occurs when a person needs to recreate a representation of an object that corresponds as closely as possible to its description. For example, when reading books, we imagine characters, events, and so on. Creative imagination is characterized by the fact that a person transforms ideas and creates new ones not according to the existing model, but independently outlining the contours of the created image and choosing the necessary materials for it. Creative imagination, as well as recreative one, is closely connected with memory, since in all cases of its manifestation a person uses his previous experience. A dream is a kind of imagination, which consists in the independent creation of new images. At the same time, the dream has a number of differences from the creative imagination. 1) in a dream, a person always recreates the image of what he wants, in a creative one, not always; 2) a dream is a process of imagination that is not included in creative activity, i.e. which does not immediately and directly give an objective product in the form of a work of art, a scientific discovery, etc. 3) the dream is always aimed at future activities, i.e. a dream is an imagination aimed at a desired future.

Imagination functions.

In human life, imagination performs a number of specific functions. First one of them is to represent reality in images and be able to use them when solving problems. This function of imagination is connected with thinking and is organically included in it. Second the function of the imagination is to regulate emotional states. With the help of his imagination, a person is able to at least partially satisfy many needs, to relieve the tension generated by them. This vital function is especially emphasized and developed in psychoanalysis. Third the function of the imagination is associated with its participation in the arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and human states, in particular, perception, attention, memory, speech, and emotions. With the help of skillfully evoked images, a person can pay attention to the necessary events. Through images, he gets the opportunity to control perception, memories, statements. Fourth the function of the imagination is to form an internal plan of action - the ability to perform them in the mind, manipulating images. Finally, fifth function is the planning and programming of activities, the preparation of such programs, the assessment of their correctness, the implementation process. With the help of imagination, we can control many psycho-physiological states of the body, tune it to the upcoming activity. There are also known facts indicating that with the help of imagination, by a purely volitional way, a person can influence organic processes: change the rhythm of breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature.

Imagination carries the following functions (as defined by R. S. Nemov):

- representation of reality in images;

- regulation of emotional states;

Arbitrary regulation of cognitive processes and human states:

- formation of internal action plan;

- planning and programming activities;

- management of psychophysiological state of the body.

The role of imagination in solving cognitive and personal problems.

Imagination is closely related to thinking:

Like thinking, it allows one to foresee the future;

Imagination and thinking arise in a problem situation;

Imagination and thinking are motivated by the needs of the individual;

In the process of activity, imagination appears in unity with thinking;

Imagination is based on the possibility of choosing an image; at the heart of thinking is the possibility of a new combination of concepts.

The main purpose of fantasy is to present an alternative to reality. As such, fantasy serves two main purposes:

It stimulates creativity, allowing you to create something that does not exist (yet), and

It acts as a soul balancing mechanism, offering the individual a means of self-help to achieve emotional balance (self-healing). Fantasy is also used clinically; the results of projective psychological tests and techniques are based on projections of fantasies (as is the case in TAT). In addition, in various psychotherapeutic approaches, fantasy is assigned the role of an exploratory or therapeutic tool.

Development of the imagination

It is very difficult to determine any specific age limits that characterize the dynamics of the development of the imagination. There are examples of extremely early development of the imagination. For example, Mozart began composing music at the age of four, Repin and Serov were good at drawing at the age of six. On the other hand, the late development of the imagination does not mean that this process will be at a low level in more mature years. There are cases in history when great people, such as Einstein, did not have a developed imagination in childhood, but over time they began to talk about them as geniuses.

Despite the complexity of determining the stages of development of a person's imagination, certain patterns in its formation can be distinguished. Thus, the first manifestations of imagination are closely connected with the process of perception. For example, children at the age of one and a half years are not yet able to listen to even the simplest stories or fairy tales, they are constantly distracted or fall asleep, but listen with pleasure to stories about what they themselves have experienced. In this phenomenon, the connection between imagination and perception is quite clearly visible. The child listens to the story of his experiences because he clearly understands what is being said. The connection between perception and imagination is preserved at the next stage of development, when the child in his games begins to process the impressions received, modifying previously perceived objects in his imagination. The chair turns into a cave or an airplane, a box into a car. However, it should be noted that the first images of the child's imagination are always associated with activity. The child does not dream, but embodies the reworked image in his activity, even despite the fact that this activity is a game.

An important stage in the development of imagination is associated with the age when the child masters speech. Speech allows the child to include in the imagination not only specific images, but also more abstract ideas and concepts. Moreover, speech allows the child to move from expressing images of the imagination in activity to their direct expression in speech.

The stage of mastering speech is accompanied by an increase in practical experience and the development of attention, which makes it easier for the child to single out individual parts of the subject, which he already perceives as independent and which he increasingly operates in his imagination. However, the synthesis occurs with significant distortions of reality. Due to the lack of sufficient experience and insufficient critical thinking, the child cannot create an image that is close to reality. The main feature of this stage is the involuntary nature of the emergence of images of the imagination. Most often, images of the imagination are formed in a child of this age involuntarily, in accordance with with the situation he is in.

The next stage in the development of the imagination is associated with the appearance of its active forms. At this stage, the process of imagination becomes arbitrary. The emergence of active forms of imagination is initially associated with a stimulating initiative on the part of an adult. For example, when an adult asks a child to do something (draw a tree, build a house out of blocks, etc.), he activates the process of imagination. In order to fulfill the request of an adult, the child must first create, or recreate, a certain image in his imagination. Moreover, this process of imagination by its nature is already arbitrary, since the child tries to control it. Later, the child begins to use arbitrary imagination without any adult participation. This leap in the development of the imagination finds its reflection, first of all, in the nature of the child's games. They become purposeful and plot-driven. The things surrounding the child become not just stimuli for the development of objective activity, but act as material for the embodiment of images of his imagination. A child at the age of four or five begins to draw, build, sculpt, rearrange things and combine them in accordance with his plan.

Another major shift in imagination occurs during school age. The need to understand the educational material determines the activation of the process of recreating the imagination. In order to assimilate the knowledge that is given at school, the child actively uses his imagination, which causes the progressive development of the ability to process images of perception into images of imagination.

Another reason for the rapid development of imagination during school years is that in the process of learning the child actively receives new and versatile ideas about objects and phenomena of the real world. These representations serve as a necessary basis for the imagination and stimulate the creative activity of the student.

The degree of development of the imagination is characterized by the brightness of the images and the depth with which the data of past experience are processed, as well as the novelty and meaningfulness of the results of this processing. The strength and vivacity of the imagination is easily appreciated when the products of the imagination are implausible and bizarre images, for example, in the authors of fairy tales. Weak development of the imagination is expressed in a low level of processing ideas. Weak imagination entails difficulties in solving mental problems that require the ability to visualize a specific situation. With an insufficient level of development of the imagination, a rich and emotionally diverse life is impossible.

Most clearly, people differ in the degree of brightness of images of the imagination. If we assume that there is a corresponding scale, then at one pole there will be people with extremely high indicators of the brightness of the images of the imagination that they experience as a vision, and at the other pole there will be people with extremely pale ideas. As a rule, we meet a high level of development of imagination in people engaged in creative work - writers, artists, musicians, scientists.

Significant differences between people are revealed in relation to the nature of the dominant type of imagination. Most often there are people with a predominance of visual, auditory or motor images of the imagination. But there are people who have a high development of all or most types of imagination. These people can be referred to the so-called mixed type. Belonging to one or another type of imagination is very significantly reflected in the individual psychological characteristics of a person. For example, people of the auditory or motor type very often dramatize the situation in their thoughts, imagining a non-existent opponent.

The development of the imagination in the human race, considered historically, follows the same path as that of the individual. Vico, whose name is well worth mentioning here because he was the first to see the use of myths for the study of the imagination, divided the historical path of mankind into three successive periods: divine or theocratic, heroic or fabulous, human or historical in the proper sense; moreover, after the passage of one such cycle, a new one begins

- vigorous activity (D. in general) stimulates the development of the imagination

Development of various types of creative activity and scientific activity

The use of special techniques for creating new products of the imagination as a solution to problems - agglutination, typing, hyperbolization, schematyping

- agglutination (from lat. agglutinatio - gluing) - a combination of separate parts or different objects into one image;

- emphasis, sharpening - underlining in the created image of some detail, highlighting the part;

- hyperbole - displacement of an object, a change in the number of its parts, a decrease or increase in its size;

- schematization - highlighting the characteristic, recurring in homogeneous phenomena and reflecting it in a specific image.

- typing - highlighting the similarity of objects, smoothing their differences;

Active connection of feelings and emotions.

Imagination and creativity.

The leading connection is the dependence of imagination on creativity: imagination is formed in the process of creative activity. The imagination necessary for the transformation of reality and creative activity was formed in the process of this creative activity. The development of the imagination took place as more and more perfect products of the imagination were created.

Imagination plays a particularly important role in scientific and artistic creativity. Creativity without the active participation of the imagination is generally impossible. The imagination allows the scientist to build hypotheses, mentally represent and play scientific experiments, search for and find non-trivial solutions to problems. Imagination plays an important role in the early stages of solving a scientific problem and often leads to wonderful guesses.

The study of the role of imagination in the processes of scientific and technical creativity is carried out by specialists in the psychology of scientific creativity.

Creativity is closely connected with all mental processes, including imagination. The degree of development of the imagination and its features are no less important for creativity than, say, the degree of development of thinking. The psychology of creativity is manifested in all its specific forms: inventive, scientific, literary, artistic, etc. What factors determine the possibility of human creativity? 1) human knowledge, which is supported by relevant abilities, and stimulated by purposefulness; 2) the presence of certain experiences that create the emotional tone of creative activity.

The English scientist G. Wallace made an attempt to investigate the creative process. As a result, he managed to distinguish 4 stages of the creative process: 1. Preparation (the birth of an idea). 2. Maturation (concentration, "pulling" of knowledge, directly and indirectly). 3. Illumination (intuitive grasp of the desired result). 4. Verification.

Thus, the creative transformation of reality in the imagination obeys its own laws and is carried out in certain ways. New ideas arise on the basis of what was already in the mind, thanks to the operations of synthesis and analysis. Ultimately, the processes of imagination consist in the mental decomposition of the original ideas into component parts (analysis) and their subsequent combination in new combinations (synthesis), i.e. are analytic and synthetic in nature. Consequently, the creative process relies on the same mechanisms that are involved in the formation of ordinary images of the imagination.

Through sensations, perception and thinking, a person reflects the real properties of the objects of the surrounding reality and acts in accordance with them in a particular situation. Through memory, he uses his past experience. However, human behavior can be determined not only by the current or past properties of the situation, but also by those that may be inherent in it in the future. Thanks to this ability, images of objects arise in the human mind that do not exist at the moment, but can later be embodied. In this sense, they are a reflection of the future, a form of transformative reflection of reality. The ability to reflect the future and act according to the expected, i.e. imaginary situation is unique to humans. Such an ability was formed along with labor and the development of consciousness, since labor activity always requires foreseeing its result, understanding what and how to do it.

Imagination is a cognitive process of reflecting the future by creating new images based on the processing of images of perception, thinking and ideas obtained in previous experience.

Through imagination, images are created that have never been generally perceived by a person in reality. The essence of imagination lies in the transformation of the world. This determines the most important role of imagination in human development as active subject.

SL Rubinshtein wrote: "In order to transform reality in practice, one must be able to transform it mentally. This need is satisfied by the imagination."

Imagination is inextricably linked with speech. Words can express what does not coincide with the exact combination of real objects or corresponding ideas, what a person has never seen. Only with the help of speech and other sounds does a person get the opportunity to free himself from the power of direct impressions.

With the advent of imagination, the cognitive possibilities and forms of human behavior have expanded significantly. Imagination is interconnected with all mental processes and aspects of personality. Interacting with perceptual processes, the imagination leaves its mark on them, making them purely individual. For example, admiring the clouds floating across the sky, each person perceives them differently, since the image of real clouds is completed by the image of imaginary pictures. Unique images arise in each of the people listening to a piece of music.

The processes of memory and imagination of the father-in-law are interconnected. The memory of any event is rarely accurate. A person most often distorts something, embellishes something, adds or changes some details. The richer a person's past experience, the more saturated he is with vivid ideas, impressions, the more significant is his role in creating images of the imagination.

Imagination and thinking are processes that are similar in structure and functions. L. S. Vygotsky called them "extremely related", noting the commonality of their origin and structure. He considered imagination as a necessary, integral moment of thinking, especially creative thinking, since the processes of forecasting and anticipation are always included in thinking. In problem situations, a person uses both thinking and imagination. The idea formed in the imagination of a possible solution strengthens the motivation of the search and determines its direction. The more uncertain the problem situation is, the more unknown it is, the more significant the role of the imagination. It can be carried out with incomplete initial data, since it supplements them with products of its own creativity.

L. S. Vygotsky formulated the importance of imagination in obtaining true knowledge about the world in the form of a scientific paradox: "Correct knowledge of reality is impossible without departing from it, from those direct concrete single impressions that this reality is represented in the elementary acts of our consciousness."

The imagination is the instrument by which such a "flight" becomes possible. In all types of cognitive activity, imagination allows a person to more freely relate to real objects of reality, transform them, find and establish new connections between them, which expands his possibilities as knowing subject.

A deep relationship also exists between imagination and emotional-volitional processes. One of its manifestations is that when an imaginary image appears in the mind of a person, he experiences true, real, and not imaginary emotions, which allows him to avoid unwanted influences and bring the desired images to life. L. S. Vygotsky called it the law of "emotional reality of imagination".

example

A person, for example, needs to cross a stormy river in a boat. Imagining that the boat might capsize, he experiences not an imaginary, but a real fear. This prompts him to choose a safer way of crossing.

Imagination can also influence the strength of emotions and feelings experienced by a person. For example, people often experience a feeling of anxiety, anxiety about only imaginary, and not real events. Changing the image of the imagination can reduce the level of anxiety, relieve tension. The representation of the experiences of another person helps to form and manifest feelings of empathy and empathy towards him. In volitional actions, the representation in the imagination of the final result of the activity encourages its implementation. The brighter the image of the imagination, the greater its motivating power, but at the same time, the realism of the image also matters.

Imagination is a significant factor influencing the development of personality. Ideals as an imaginary image that a person wants to imitate or strive for, serve as models for organizing his life, personal and moral development.

Types of imagination. According to the degree of activity, imagination can be passive and active.

passive imagination does not stimulate a person to active actions. He is satisfied with the created images and does not seek to realize them in reality or draws images that, in principle, cannot be realized. In life, such people are called utopians, fruitless dreamers. N.V. Gogol, having created the image of Manilov, made his name a household name for this type of people.

active imagination- creating images that are subsequently implemented in practical actions and products of activity. Sometimes this requires a lot of effort and a significant investment of time from a person. Active imagination increases the creative content and efficiency of labor and other activities.

Imagination is connected with the will of a person, on the basis of which they distinguish:

• involuntary imagination when images are created with a weakened activity of consciousness. It takes place in a semi-drowsy state or in a dream, as well as in some disorders of consciousness;
• arbitrary imagination- a conscious, directed activity, performing which a person is aware of its goals and motives. It is characterized by the deliberate creation of images.

The activity and arbitrariness of the imagination can be combined in various ways. An example of arbitrary passive imagination are dreams, when a person deliberately indulges in thoughts that are unlikely to ever come true. Arbitrary active imagination is manifested in a long, purposeful search for the desired image, which is typical, in particular, for the activities of writers, inventors, and artists.

In connection with past experience, there are:

• recreative imagination- the creation of images of objects that were not previously perceived in a finished form by a person, although he is familiar with similar objects or with their individual elements. Images are formed according to a verbal description, a schematic image - a drawing, a drawing, a geographical map. In this case, the knowledge available regarding these objects is used, which determines the predominantly reproductive nature of the created images. At the same time, they differ from the representations of memory in the great variety, flexibility and dynamism of the elements of the image;
• creative imagination- independent creation of new images that are embodied in original products of various activities with minimal indirect reliance on past experience.

By drawing various images in their imagination, people evaluate the possibility of their realization in reality. If a person believes (and this belief is solid) in the possibility of incarnating the created images, there is realistic imagination. If he does not see such an opportunity, it is fantastic imagination.

There is no hard line between realistic and fantastic imagination. There are many cases when an image born of a person's fantasy as completely unrealistic (for example, the hyperboloid invented by A. N. Tolstoy) later became a reality. Fantastic imagination is present in the role-playing games of children. It formed the basis of literary works of a certain genre - fairy tales, science fiction, fantasy genre (English, fantasy - fantasy).

The creation of images of strongly desired objects or events is characteristic of dreams as a special kind of imagination. A child dreams of a new toy, a teenager dreams of gaining prestige in the class, an actor dreams of a new role, an athlete dreams of winning competitions. Genetically, the dream grows out of the game. As in a game a child can try on any role - a hero, a rescuer, a space explorer, so any person in his dreams sees himself the way he wants to be - strong, smart, able to overcome all obstacles, happy. A person usually dreams about what is quite achievable, or about what is the limit of his desires, or about what is not feasible at all. Dreams embody the activity of the individual, therefore they are connected in various ways with real activity. In some cases, a dream replaces a real action with an imaginary one, reducing the activity of the individual. In others, it will create a model of the future, which becomes an incentive, a motive for vigorous activity. Dreams reflect the direction of the personality and influence its development. A person strives for what he dreams of, but everyone's dreams are different. Someone dreams of the happiness of all people on Earth, and someone only about personal well-being. In dreams, how a person sees the future and what he wants from the future is very clearly manifested.

Imagination functions. With all the variety of types of imagination, they are characterized by a common function that determines their main significance in human life - anticipation of the future ideal representation of the result of the activity before it is achieved. Other functions of the imagination are associated with it:

• but) stimulating. The images created in the imagination induce, stimulate a person to implement them in specific actions;
• b) planning. The transforming influence of the imagination extends not only to the future activity of a person, but also to his past experience. Imagination promotes selectivity in its structuring and reproduction in accordance with the goals of the present and future.

Basic processes of imagination. The creation of images of the imagination is carried out through complex processes of processing actual perceived information and memory representations. Just as it is in thinking, the basic processes or operations of the imagination are analysis And synthesis. But unlike thinking in the imagination, a person is more free to

handles the elements of objects, recreating new integral images. This is achieved through a complex of processes specific to the imagination. The main ones are:

• exaggeration(hyperbolization) and understatement real-life objects or their parts (for example, creating images of a giant, genie or Thumbelina);
• emphasis- emphasizing or exaggerating real-life objects or their parts (for example, Pinocchio's long nose, Malvina's blue hair);
• agglutination- the combination of various, real-life parts and properties of objects in unusual combinations (for example, the creation of fictional images of a centaur, a mermaid).

The connection between imagination and creativity. The specificity of the processes of imagination lies in the fact that they do not reproduce individual impressions in the same combinations and forms in which they were perceived and stored in the form of past experience, but build new combinations and forms from them. This shows a deep inner connection between imagination and creativity, which is always aimed at creating something new - material values, scientific ideas or artistic images.

There are various types of creativity: scientific, technical, literary, artistic, etc. None of them is possible without the participation of the imagination. In its main function - anticipation of what does not yet exist, imagination causes the emergence of intuition, conjecture, insight as a central link in the creative process. Imagination helps the scientist to see the phenomenon under study in a new light. In the history of science there are many examples of the emergence of images of the imagination, subsequently realized in new ideas, great discoveries and inventions.

example

The English physicist Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867), studying the interaction of conductors with current at a distance, imagined that they were surrounded by invisible lines like tentacles. This led him to the discovery of lines of force and the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. The German engineer Otto Lilienthal (1848–1896) observed and analyzed the soaring flight of birds for a long time. The image of an artificial bird that arose in his imagination served as the basis for the invention of the glider and the first flight on it.

Creating literary works, the writer realizes in the word the images of his aesthetic imagination. Their brightness, breadth and depth of the phenomena of reality covered by them are subsequently felt by readers and evoke in them a sense of co-creation. L. N. Tolstoy wrote in his diaries that "when perceiving truly works of art, the illusion arises that a person does not perceive, but creates, it seems to him that he produced such a beautiful thing."

example

The role of imagination in pedagogical creativity is also great. Its specificity lies in the fact that the results of pedagogical activity do not appear immediately, but after some, sometimes a long time. Their presentation in the form of a model of the child's personality being formed, the way of his behavior and thinking in the future determines the choice of teaching and upbringing methods, pedagogical requirements and influences.

All people have different creative abilities. Their formation is determined by a large number of factors. These include innate inclinations, human activity, environmental properties, conditions of training and education that affect the development of a person's features of mental processes and personality traits that contribute to creative achievements.

Chapter 4 Imagination (fantasy) as a creative process

4.1. Imagination and creativity

As S. L. Rubinshtein noted, imagination plays an essential role in every creative process, but its importance is especially great in artistic creativity. Any work of art expresses its content in a concrete-figurative form. In accordance with the traditions of socialist realism, S. L. Rubinshtein believed that “the special power of the artistic imagination lies in creating a new situation not by violating, but by maintaining the basic requirements of life reality” (1999, p. 301). However, artistic imagination also takes place in abstract painting, the main criterion of which is precisely the violation of reality. But such painting, according to S. L. Rubinshtein, requires less power of imagination: “The idea is fundamentally erroneous that the more bizarre and outlandish the work, the greater the power of imagination it testifies. In order to create new models and draw a broad picture on a large canvas, observing the conditions of objective reality as much as possible, special originality, plasticity and creative independence of the imagination are needed. The more realistic the work of art, the more strictly life reality is observed in it, the more powerful the imagination should be.

living” (p. 301).

This does not mean, writes S. L. Rubinshtein, that the observance of reality is connected with its photographic copying. The task of a work of art is to show others what the artist sees (and he sees differently than ordinary people). Even in a portrait, the artist does not reproduce, but transforms what is perceived, as a result of which a more true, deeper characterization of a person is given.

Imagination and creativity are closely related. The connection between them, however, is not such that it would be possible to start from imagination as a self-contained function and derive creativity from it as a product of its functioning. Leading is the inverse relationship; imagination is formed in the process of creative activity. The specialization of different types of imagination is not so much a prerequisite as the result of the development of various types of creative activity. Therefore, there are as many specific types of imagination as there are specific, unique types of human activity - constructive, technical, scientific, artistic, pictorial, musical, etc. All these types of imagination, which are formed and manifested in various types of creative activity, constitute a kind of higher level - creative imagination.

Rubinstein S. L., 1999, p. 300.

The painter Martini always saw the pictures he was painting in front of him, so one day when someone stood between him and the place where the image was presented to him, he asked this person to step aside, because it was impossible for him to continue

E. P. Ilyin. "Psychology of Creativity, Creativity, Giftedness"

copying, while the original that existed only in his imagination was closed.

Lombroso Ch., 2006, p. 32.

For creative people, the images presented can reach unprecedented brightness ... Levitan painted most of the summer landscapes in winter, recreating them visually from separate sketches.

Another landscape master, Nissky, says: “I like to work from memory, without resorting to sketches and drawings from nature. I try to “absorb” the landscape into myself, so that later, sometimes for a long time later, in silence and solitude, somewhere on the Senezh or in a Moscow workshop, I can embody it with a brush ... My piece “In the Far East” was noticed from the window of a fast moving train. The bristles of the forest on the ridge of the hill, the airfield with the planes quickly flashed by. I didn’t have time to draw anything, I didn’t have time to do an etude either. The rest is in the representation and vision from memory.

And when the artist realized that the quality of the correspondence recreation of the images of the surrounding reality was not sufficiently developed for him, he tried to correct the situation as best he could. Alexey Tolstoy, for example, said: “I began to learn to see - to hallucinate. Subsequently, I developed

in imagine this ability to such a brightness that often, remembering, he confused the former and the imaginary.

Moreover, the composer does not necessarily have to have auditory images, but the artist has visual ones. Here is what the playwright Legouwe, who lived in the 19th century, wrote to his partner Scribe: “When I write a scene, I hear, but you see. With every sentence I write, the voice of the character resounds in my ears. You have characters walking before your eyes. "I am the listener, you are the spectator." "Absolutely," replied Scribe. – Do you know where I am mentally when I write a play? In the middle of the parterre".

Rimsky-Korsakov, composing music, mentally saw pictures of nature

in full richness of colors and with all the subtlest shades of color. That is why his music is so picturesque. The visual images that arose in him were as vivid as the auditory ones.

Saparina E.V., 1967, p. 77–78.

F. I. Chaliapin said that nothing can save a singer who has no imagination from creative impotence - neither a good voice, nor stage practice, nor a spectacular figure. The imagination gives the role its very life and content.

Imagination is necessary not only in artistic creation, but also in science, for example, in such a seemingly strictly rule-bound science as mathematics. No wonder the German mathematician D. Hilbert said about one unlucky student: “He became a poet. For mathematics, he had too little imagination."

T. Ribot (1901) even argued that if we compare the expended imagination in the field of artistic creativity and in technical and mechanical inventions, then in the second case it turns out to be large. J. Priestley (1733–1804), the 18th-century English chemist who discovered oxygen, argued that only scientists who give full play to their imagination can make great discoveries. Participating along with thinking in the process of scientific creativity, the imagination performs a specific function: it transforms the figurative, visual content of the problem and thereby contributes to its resolution.

E. P. Ilyin. "Psychology of Creativity, Creativity, Giftedness"

People with above-average intelligence have little or no concrete imagination, while people with average intelligence do.

S. L. Rubinshtein wrote that “there is a piece of fantasy in every act of artistic creativity and in every genuine feeling; there is a piece of fantasy in every abstract thought that rises above the immediate given; there is a piece of fantasy in every action that at least to some extent transforms the world; there is a piece of fantasy in every person who, thinking, feeling and acting, brings into life at least a grain of something new, his own” (1999, p. 301).

Human thought without imagination is fruitless, just as imagination is fruitless without reality.

K. Paustovsky

In many works, fantasy is considered as the natural basis of any creative activity, it is called the "royal road to the subconscious", which works on the same principle (Getzels, Jackson, 1967; Jones, 1972; Lytton, 1971; Razik, 1972; Sinnot, 1959) .

Ermolaeva-Tomina L. B., 1977, p. 170.

But if imagination is inherent in every person, can it be considered as an ability that a priori indicates the differences in people in the level of manifestation of this function? Obviously, it is not only possible, but necessary. So, some people have the ability to imagine a complex whole in their imagination, while others do not or do it with great difficulty. For some, the images of the imagination are very bright, detailed, as if a person sees a real object, for others, the resulting image is very indistinct. K. Leonhard (2000), for example, notes that a demonstrative personality type “under certain circumstances can perfectly manifest itself in artistic creativity, as it has a rich imagination” (p. 17).

4.2. Essence of Imagination

As early as the beginning of the 20th century. Perky (1910) conducted an experiment by evoking images in subjects by pronouncing certain words. It turned out that some images of things were easily recognizable, certain, appearing in a certain spatial context, in certain circumstances, and associated with a specific person. Other images of things that arose in the subjects were not recognizable as any particular object. The author attributed the first images to the “imagination of memory”, and the second to the “imagination of the imagination”. From that time to the present day, in one case, the actualization of representations (memory images, i.e., representations) is taken for imagination, in the other, the creation of something new from them. In the "Dictionary ..." by S.I. Ozhegov (1985), imagination is interpreted this way and that - both as the ability to mentally represent something, and as a conjecture, a product of fantasy. However, in scientific definitions, the emphasis shifts to a different plane; L. S. Vygotsky (1950) wrote that the imagination “constructs some new rows from previously accumulated impressions. In other words, bringing something new into the very course of our impressions and changing these impressions so that as a result of this activity a certain new, previously non-existent image appears, constitutes. the very basis of that activity which we call imagination” (p. 328). The same understanding of imagination is given in modern dictionaries: “Imagination (fantasy) is a mental process consisting in creating new images(representations) by processing the material of perception and representations obtained in previous experience ”(Psychological Dictionary, 1983, p. 54); “Imagination is the ability to create new sensory or mental images in

E. P. Ilyin. "Psychology of Creativity, Creativity, Giftedness"

human consciousness based on the transformation of impressions received from reality” (Philosophical Dictionary, 1980, p. 57); “Imagination is a mental cognitive process, which consists in the transformation of ideas that reflect reality, and the creation of new ideas on this basis (“Chelovek.”, 2007, p. 97), etc.

However, the dual understanding of the imagination still exists. Therefore, in order to emphasize that we are talking about "true" imagination, many psychologists distinguish creative imagination in contrast to reproductive.

No fantasy, no art. Fantasy, from a stream of real experiences, observations, facts, weaves a creative pattern of fiction.

V. Shishkov, writer

The starting point of all creativity is the ease of forming unexpected associations; This, by the way, is where creativity comes into play.

Matejko A., 1970, p. nine.

Piaget (Piaget, 1945) believed that the child's imagination is an internalized imitation of the actions of another, and E. Jacobson (Jacobson, 1932) and Hull (Hull, 1933) believed that imagination is a "delayed imitation" (ideomotor act). Jacobson wrote that when we imagine a movement, functional currents similar to the actual movement arise in the muscles that were "engaged" in this movement.

Miller (Miller, 1960) and Berlyne (Berlyne, 1965) understand internal processes, the content and structure of which resemble the content and structure of sensory configurations, by imagination. They use the term "imagination" to define each system of internal processes that represents what a given person knows or judges about a given fragment of external reality, perceived, remembered or constructed. With this approach, the specificity of imagination generally disappears.

E. V. Ilyenkov (1984) writes that the essence of imagination lies in the ability to “grasp” the whole before the part, in the ability to build a complete image on the basis of a single hint, a tendency to build a complete image. A distinctive feature of the imagination is a kind of “departure from reality”, when a new image is built on the basis of a separate sign of reality, and not just the existing ideas are constructed and rebuilt, which is typical for the functioning of the internal plan of action (Rubinshtein S. L., 1946).

Imagination in a very specific sense of the word can only be in a person, S. L. Rubinshtein believed.

Inventors are only those who give full play to their imagination and find a connection with the most remote concepts. Even when these comparisons are crude and chimerical, they can provide a happy opportunity for great and important discoveries. A reasonable, slow and cowardly mind would never have thought of such discoveries.

J. Priestley, English scientist

Imagination functions. Z. Freud (1912) wrote that the effect of creative behavior

is the elimination of oppressive emotions that arise in conflict until a tolerable level is reached. Neo-Freudians also believe that the main function of the imagination is the protection of the personality, the protection of the Self, the compensation for negative experiences, which, however, are generated not by unconscious processes, but by preconscious ones, fixing the social conflicts of the individual ( Karin Horney).

E. P. Ilyin. "Psychology of Creativity, Creativity, Giftedness"

This concept has been criticized for exaggerating the role of biological tendencies in the development of the human psyche. At the same time, it is not rejected that affective imagination can act as a protective mechanism of the personality. At the same time, there are two ways to implement this: the expression of one's experiences in creative works and through the construction of an image of the ideal Self, an ideal situation that compensates for real failure.

From a general psychological point of view, it is believed that with the help of the imagination a) an image of the means and the final result of the activity is built; this creates an opportunity to present the result of labor before it begins; b) a program of behavior is created in an indefinite problem situation; c) images are produced that replace activity; d) images are created that correspond to the description of the object (for example, in a literary work); e) the purpose of a number of objects is modified, which is typical for young children: the combination of a table and a chair placed on it is a tank, a box is a house for a doll, etc.

The creation of new images of reality is just one of the functions of the imagination, by the way, not as obvious and unambiguous as it might seem at first glance. In any case, the “creation of chimeras” is by no means the only and not even the most significant example of the work of the imagination. Another important function of the imagination, according to E. V. Ilyenkov, manifests itself primarily in the ability to look at the world (including oneself, and first of all oneself) “through the eyes of another person”, more broadly - the entire human race, which gives us the opportunity to see the world is truly integral. This is what the French educator D. Diderot had in mind, who once called the imagination the “inner eye” (I recall F. M. Dostoevsky and his “eye of the soul”). Kant, Fichte

And Hegel in his writings, in fact, gave a substantive justification for this simple and accurate metaphor.

It is thanks to the imagination that the personality of each of us in childhood experiences for the first time a kind of non-pathological "split". Actually, this leads to the birth of personality in the strict sense of the word. An “internal position” (Kravtsova) is formed inside us, the image of the Other is “infused” in us. It is important that this image is of a generalized nature, not coinciding with the images of specific people involved in the circle of direct communication with us. It is not reduced to a "virtual" collection of empirical points of view of different people,

and therefore, when solving any problem, performing any action, we do not have to conditionally substitute ourselves in the place of each of them (E. V. Ilyenkov). And in general, the question: “What will Princess Marya Alekseevna say?” given not on behalf of the individual. Solving the problem alone, thanks to the imagination, we do not feel alone, but, coming to a solution, we feel confident in its correctness even before checking (analyzing) what happened. For here we receive a "hint" from the hands of a "generalized Other" (G. G. Mead's term), embodying not only the experience, but also the creative potential of the human race as a whole. Subjectively, the moment of receiving such a “hint” is experienced as an intuitive insight, “illumination from above”.

This “generalized Other” immediately or over time begins to differentially perform the functions of an internal Partner (assistance), Master and Controller - “king in the head” (arbitrariness), Inspirer (emotional support), Interlocutor (inner speech), Associate (reflection), Higher Judges (conscience), Co-author

E. P. Ilyin. "Psychology of Creativity, Creativity, Giftedness"

(creativity) and other important functions. But most importantly, it allows us to rediscover "extraordinary worlds" not only in everyday reality, but also in ourselves. With the help of the imagination, with the assistance of the “generalized Other,” we turn our ordinary mental life, it would seem, the already inhabited territory of our own Self into “terra incognita” - an undeveloped land that has yet to be mastered, into something unusual and even wonderful, embarking on the path of self-transformation. L. S. Vygotsky saw the psychological essence of creativity in the “creation of new forms of behavior”, their assimilation and development. Thus, the “generalized Other” becomes an accomplice (mediator) of our personal growth.

We observe the ontogenetic precedent of such a “bifurcation of the Self” in the plot game. Let's look at a textbook example.

The child rides on a stick like a horse. Commenting on this case, the authors of the textbooks argue that the child symbolically transferred the properties of a horse to a stick - this is the work of the imagination. However, in my opinion, this "work" is not limited to the operation of sign-symbolic substitution. The creative task for a child is not to “see” a non-existent horse in a real stick. The wand is just a convenient tool for solving a different, broader task that requires the efforts of the creative imagination. Riding it, the child must not only imitate the ride, but get used to the image of another person - the rider. And it is in this capacity that the wand really becomes "magic". By its “waving” a new, unusual (not only conditional) reality is born.

The game situation is never reduced to the interaction of the subject with the object. It merges with each other two actors, two subjects, although one of them is virtual. Not just depicting and depicted. More precisely: the player and his hero as a work and the alterego of the player. The "hero" of the game has not fictitious, but quite real power. With his participation (mediation), a grandiose transformation of the children's picture of the world takes place, primarily on the basis of a radical change in the image of oneself and one's capabilities. To the extent of this, imagination also acts as the ability to concentrate the virtual power of the other (others) in one single action, while solving a single task. Therefore, a child with a developed fantasy will easily overcome egocentrism, a diffuse indivisibility of world perception, will be able to get involved in the learning situation, seeing "from the outside" what and how to do, he will never get bogged down in his own fears when mastering new actions, etc. After all, his co-author and the whole of humanity will be the adviser, even if he does not know about it (which will strengthen the child's much-needed sense of "basic trust in the world", in the terminology of E. Erickson).

Kudryavtsev V. T., 2007, p. 155–156.

Alexander Fadeev on the role of imagination in the writer's work: "In most cases, a fact is just a point of application of force, which we call fantasy." “You,” he addressed the novice writer, “are overestimating the importance of the life (actual) knowledge of the writer on

AUTONOMOUS NON-PROFIT EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION

"INSTITUTE OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY"

Faculty of Public Relations

discipline: "Psychology of creativity".

TOPIC: "Imagination and Creativity".

Made by a 3rd year student

Correspondence form of education

Specialty "Public Relations"

Volkova T.P.

___________ "____" ___________ 2006

(signature)

Job protected

"_____" _____________2006

____________________

Moscow - 2006

PLAN

Introduction………..………………….………………………………………………3

1. Psychology of creativity…………….…………………………………………….4

1.1. Definition of Imagination……………………………………………………...4

1.2 Predisposition to creativity…………..…………………...................................6

1.3 Psychological mechanisms of artistic creativity………………..8

2. Principles of interpretation of creativity………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

3. Self-realization of personality. The need of the individual for self-realization………………………………………………..……….………………………… 13

Conclusion……………….………………………………………………………… 16

List of references……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Introduction

“It can be assumed that if in CC c. most extolled the "wise man", then the CCI's. will live under the sign of a “creative person”.

Leonardo da Vinci, A. Suvorov, A. Einstein, L. Tolstoy, G. Heine, S. Prokofiev, P. Richard, B. Gates, M. Tyson, A. Sviridova, an obscure baker from a nearby bakery and a great many famous and unknown names, representatives of various professions can continue this list - a list of people who have shown a creative approach in any kind of activity and realized their abilities in any field.

As a rule, relatives and friends, bending over the cradle of a baby, catching his first movements and reaction to the world around him, prophesy a great future for the newborn. The imagination of parents in this area has no boundaries. Here, hypotheses are fruitfully put forward about who is in front of them. Most likely - this is the future great (great): scientist; commander; composer; pop performer; sportsman; fashion model; entrepreneur; religious figure, etc. But these assumptions remain only assumptions, nothing more, because. the field of personality realization is unlimited and implies two extremes of the level of self-realization achieved by a person - this is genius and mediocrity, mediocre and direct personality.

The question of the presence of imagination, creativity and the need for self-realization in a person has been and is relevant from ancient times to our time. The ability to create - what is it, a given or the result of a person's enormous efforts on the path of development and self-improvement? There is no single answer to this question, and it is unlikely that anyone will ever be able to answer it exhaustively.

As objects of research, imagination and creativity are of interest to such sciences as philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc.

This paper discusses the principles of interpretation of imagination and creativity - philosophical, psychological, sociological, cultural aspects of the analysis of the foundations of creativity.

Imagination and creativity are a derivative of the individual's realization of unique potentialities in a certain area. We also pay attention to such a phenomenon as self-realization of the individual. Here, the realization of abilities in the self-activity of a person is considered as a need for self-realization, which a person can never fully satisfy.

Also, of great interest are the views and individual points of view on the process of creativity of famous personalities, reflected in this work. Familiarity with them is useful and mandatory, because. in accordance with the subject of this work, we cannot ignore the opinions on this issue of the great masters of art and cultural figures, representatives of the golden creative fund of our society.

The natural desire and need of a person to contribute to the good of society, as well as the need for self-realization, provides the individual with the opportunity to live a beautiful and harmonious life, the opportunity to live for centuries in his creations and heritage left to posterity.

1. Psychology of creativity

1.1. Definition of Imagination

Imagination - a form of mental reflection, consisting in the creation of images based on previously formed ideas. Distinguish involuntary And arbitrary, reproductive And creative imagination.

To study the cognitive role of imagination, it is necessary to find out its features. The complexity of identifying the specifics of imagination is due to the fact that it is closely intertwined with all types of cognition. This circumstance is the reason for the emergence of a tendency to deny the existence of imagination as a special form of reflection. To solve this problem, it is necessary to reveal the real nature of imagination.

Let us turn to the definitions that are available in the literature. L.S. Vygodsky notes that “the imagination does not repeat in the same combinations and in the same forms individual impressions that have been accumulated before, but builds some new rows from previously accumulated impressions. In other words, bringing something new into the very course of our impressions and changing these impressions so that as a result of this activity a new, previously non-existent image arises, is, as you know, the very basis of the activity that we call imagination.

“Imagination,” writes S.L. Rubinshtein, “is connected with our ability and necessity to create something new.” “Imagination is a departure from past experience, its transformation. Imagination is a transformation of the given, carried out in a figurative form.

“The main feature of the imagination process,” writes E.I. Ignatiev, “in a particular practical activity is the transformation and processing of perception data and other material of past experience, resulting in a new idea.”

The same can be read in the “Philosophical Encyclopedia”, where imagination is defined as a mental activity that consists in creating ideas and mental situations that have never been directly perceived by a person in general in reality.

As you can see, the ability of the subject to create new images is considered an essential feature of the imagination. But this is not enough, because then it is impossible to distinguish between imagination and thinking. Logical activity, human thinking - a specific form of creating cognitive images through logical inference, generalization, abstraction, analysis, synthesis cannot be simply identified with imagination. The creation of new knowledge and concepts in the field of logical thinking can occur without the participation of the imagination.

Many researchers note that imagination is the process of creating new images, proceeding in a visual plan. This tendency refers the imagination to the forms of sensory reflection. Another trend believes that the imagination creates not only new sensory images, but also produces new thoughts.

Understanding imagination as a process opposite to thinking, and thinking proceeding according to the laws of logic, as uncreative, is unjustified. One of the characteristics of the imagination is that it is associated not only with thinking, but also with sensory data. There is no imagination without thinking, but it cannot be reduced to logic either, since in it (in imagination) the transformation of sensory material is always assumed.

Thus, let us take into account the fact that imagination is both the creation of new images and the transformation of past experience, and the fact that such a transformation takes place in the organic unity of the sensible and the rational.

1.2. A propensity for creativity

Creation - the activity of a person or a group of people to create new original socially significant values.

creative imagination - a kind of imagination aimed at creating new socially significant images that form the basis of creativity.

Considering the process of artistic creation, psychology cannot ignore its psychological aspects.

At one time, Kant spoke about the mystery of the creative process: “... Newton could present all his steps, which he had to take from the first beginnings of geometry to his great and profound discoveries, not only to himself, but also to everyone else, and destined them for succession; but no Homer or Wieland can show how complete fantasies and at the same time ideas rich in thoughts appear and combine in his head, because he himself does not know this and, therefore, cannot teach this to anyone else.

A. S. Pushkin wrote: “Any talent is inexplicable. How does the sculptor in a piece of Carrara marble see the hidden Jupiter and bring it to light, crushing its shell with a chisel and hammer? Why does a thought leave the poet's head already armed with four rhymes, measured by slender monotonous feet? “So no one, except the improviser himself, can understand this speed of impressions, this close connection between one’s own inspiration and an alien external will…”

Some theorists believe that artistic genius is a form of mental pathology. So, C. Lambroso wrote: “No matter how cruel and painful the theory that identifies genius with neurosis looks, it is not without serious grounds ...” The same idea is expressed by A. Schopenhauer: “As you know, genius is rarely found in alliance with the prevailing rationality ; on the contrary, individuals of genius are often subject to strong affects and unreasonable passions.” However, according to the fair judgment of N.V. Gogol, “art is the installation of harmony and order in the soul, and not embarrassment and disorder.”

There is a hierarchy of value ranks that characterizes the degree of a person's predisposition to artistic creativity: ability - giftedness - talent - genius.

According to I. W. Goethe, genius the artist is determined by the power of perception of the world and the impact on humanity. The American psychologist D. Guilford notes the manifestation in the creative process of six abilities artist: fluency of thinking, analogies and contrasts, expressiveness, the ability to switch from one class of objects to another, adaptive flexibility or originality, the ability to give the art form the necessary shape.

artistic giftedness implies a keen attention to life, the ability to choose objects of attention, fix these impressions in memory, extract them from memory and include them in a rich system of associations and connections dictated by creative imagination.

Many are engaged in activity in this or that form of art, in this or that period of life, with greater or lesser success. An artistically gifted person creates works of sustainable significance for a given society for a significant period of its development. Talent generates artistic values ​​that have enduring national and sometimes even universal significance. A master of genius creates the highest human values ​​that are significant for all time.

1.3 Psychological mechanisms of artistic creativity

Artistic creativity begins with a heightened attention to the phenomena of the world and involves “rare impressions”, the ability to keep them in memory and comprehend.

An important psychological factor in artistic creativity is memory. With the artist, it is not mirrored, selective and creative.

The creative process is unthinkable without imagination, which allows you to creatively reproduce the chain of ideas and impressions stored in memory.

Imagination has many varieties:

philosophical and lyrical - by F. I. Tyutchev,

Romantically sublime - by M. Vrubel, painfully hypertrophied - by S. Dali,

full of mystery - I. Bergman,

real-strict - F. Fellini, etc.

Participate in artistic creation consciousness And subconscious, intelligence And intuition. In this case, subconscious processes play a special role here.

The American psychologist F. Berron examined a group of fifty-six writers - his compatriots with the help of tests and came to the conclusion that the writers' emotionality and intuition are highly developed and prevail over rationality. Of the 56 subjects, 50 turned out to be “intuitive personalities” (89%), while in the control group, which included people who were professionally far from artistic creativity, there were more than three times fewer individuals with developed intuition (25%). The high role of the subconscious in artistic creativity already led the ancient Greek philosophers (especially Plato) to interpret this phenomenon as an ecstatic, divinely inspired, Bacchic state.

Idealistic concepts in aesthetics absolutized the role of the unconscious in the creative process. So, F. Schelling wrote: “... the artist involuntarily and even contrary to his inner desire is involved in the process of creativity ... Just as a doomed person does not do what he wants or what he intends to do, but fulfills here inscrutablely prescribed by fate, in the power of which he is, the position of the artist seems to be the same ... a force acts on him, which draws a line between him and other people, prompting him to depict and express things that are not completely open to his gaze and have inscrutable depth.

In CC c. the subconscious in the creative process attracted the attention of Z. Freud and his psychoanalytic school. The artist as a creative person was turned by psychoanalysts into an object of self-observation and criticism. Psychoanalysis absolutizes the role of the unconscious in the creative process, bringing to the fore, unlike other idealistic concepts, the unconscious sexual principle. The artist, according to the Freudians, is a person who sublimates his sexual energy into the field of creativity, which turns into a type of neurosis. Freud believed that in the act of creativity, socially irreconcilable principles are ousted from the consciousness of the artist and thereby the elimination of real life conflicts.

According to Freud, unsatisfied desires are the stimuli of fantasy.

Thus, the unconscious and the conscious, intuition and reason, natural gift and acquired skill interact in the creative process. V. Schiller wrote: "The unconscious in conjunction with the mind makes a poet-artist."

And although the proportion of the creative process that falls on the mind may not quantitatively predominate, it qualitatively determines many essential aspects of creativity. The conscious principle controls its main goal, the most important task and the main contours of the artistic concept of the work, highlights the “bright spot” in the artist’s thinking, and all his life and artistic experience is organized around this light spot. The conscious principle provides self-observation and self-control of the artist, helps him self-critically analyze and evaluate his work and draw conclusions that contribute to further creative growth.

The role of the conscious principle is especially important in the creation of large-scale works. If a miniature can be performed on a whim, then a large work needs deep, serious thinking. It is appropriate to recall in this connection what L. N. Tolstoy wrote about “War and Peace”: “You cannot imagine how difficult this preliminary work of deep plowing of the field on which I forced sow. It is terribly difficult to think over and rethink everything that can happen to all future people of the forthcoming work, a very large one, and to think over millions of possible combinations in order to choose 1/1,000,000 of them - it is terribly difficult.

The creative process is especially fruitful when the artist is in a state of inspiration. This is a specific creative-psychological state of clarity of thought, the intensity of its work, richness and speed of associations, deep insight into the essence of life problems, a powerful “ejection” of life and artistic experience accumulated in the subconscious and its direct inclusion in creativity.

Inspiration gives rise to extraordinary creative energy, it is almost synonymous with creativity. It is no coincidence that the image of poetry and inspiration from ancient times is the winged horse - Pegasus. In a state of inspiration, an optimal combination of intuitive and conscious principles is achieved in the creative process.

2. Principles of interpretation of creativity

Creativity is an attribute of human activity, its “necessary, essential, inalienable property”. It predetermined the emergence of man and human society, and underlies the further progress of material and spiritual production. Creativity is the highest form of activity and independent activity of a person and society. It contains an element of the new, involves original and productive activity, the ability to solve problem situations, productive imagination, combined with a critical attitude towards the result achieved. The scope of creativity covers actions from non-standard solution of a simple problem to the full realization of the unique potentials of an individual in a certain area.

Creativity is a historically evolutionary form of human activity, expressed in various activities and leading to the development of personality. Through creativity, historical development and the connection of generations are realized. It continuously expands the possibilities of a person, creating conditions for conquering new heights.

A precondition for creative activity is the process of cognition, the accumulation of knowledge about the subject that is to be changed.

Creative activity is amateur activity, covering the change of reality and self-realization of the individual in the process of creating material and spiritual values, new more progressive forms of management, education, etc. and pushing the limits of human capabilities.

Creativity is based on the principle of activity, and more specifically, labor activity. The process of practical transformation of the surrounding world by a person, in principle, determines the formation of the person himself.

Creativity is an attribute of the activity of only the human race. The generic essence of a person, his most important attributive property, is objective activity, the essence of which is creativity. However, this attribute is not inherent in a person from birth. At this time, it is present only as a possibility. Creativity is not a gift of nature, but a property acquired through labor activity. It is transformative activity, inclusion in it that is a necessary condition for the development of the ability to be creative. The transforming activity of a person educates him, the subject of creativity, instills in him the appropriate knowledge, skills, educates the will, makes him comprehensively developed, allows you to create qualitatively new levels of material and spiritual culture, i.e. create.

Thus, the principle of activity, the unity of labor and creativity reveal the sociological aspect of the analysis of the foundations of creativity.

The culturological aspect proceeds from the principle of continuity, the unity of tradition and innovation.

Creative activity is the main component of culture, its essence. Culture and creativity are closely interconnected, moreover, interdependent. It is unthinkable to talk about culture without creativity, since it is the further development of culture (spiritual and material). Creativity is possible only on the basis of continuity in the development of culture. The subject of creativity can realize its task only by interacting with the spiritual experience of mankind, with the historical experience of civilization. Creativity, as a necessary condition, includes the habituation of its subject into culture, the actualization of some results of people's past activities.

The interaction that arises in the creative process between different qualitative levels of culture raises the question of the relationship between tradition and innovation, because it is impossible to understand the nature and essence of innovation in science, art, technology, to correctly explain the nature of innovation in culture, language, and in various forms of social activity outside of dialectics. development of the tradition. Consequently, tradition is one of the internal determinations of creativity. It forms the basis, the original basis of the creative act, instills in the subject of creativity a certain psychological attitude that contributes to the realization of certain needs of society.

3. Self-realization of personality. The need of the individual for self-realization

It is known that the most complete disclosure of a person's abilities is possible only in socially significant activities. Moreover, it is important that the implementation of this activity is determined not only from the outside (by society), but also by the internal need of the individual himself. In this case, the activity of the individual becomes self-activity, and the realization of his abilities in this activity acquires the character self-realization.

Z. Freud was one of the first who tried to see the need for self-realization in the dominant instincts of a person. Self-realization, according to Z. Freud, is localized in the unconscious layer of the human psyche and manifests itself in the “striving for pleasure”, inherent in a person from birth. This instinctive need for self-realization is opposed by the imperative requirements of culture imposed by society (norms, traditions, rules, etc.), the main function of which is to censor the unconscious, to suppress instinctive needs.

E. Fromm devotes many pages to characterizing the need for self-realization. He connects it with human needs for identification and integrity. A person, Freud notes, differs from an animal in that he seeks to go beyond immediate utilitarian requests, wants to know not only what he needs to survive, but also seeks to know the meaning of life and the essence of his “I”. This self-realization is achieved by the individual with the help of the system of orientations developed by him in communication with other people. Identification is that "feeling" that allows an individual to rightfully speak of himself as "I", and the social environment actively influences this need. The need for self-realization, according to Fromm, is an existential need - a mental state, eternal and unchanging in its basis. Social conditions can only change the ways of satisfying it: it can find a way out in creativity and in destruction, in love and in crime, and so on.

For materialist thinkers, there is no doubt that a person's desire for self-realization is not instinctive, but phylogenetic in origin and owes its existence to the “second human nature”, which includes: a) a labor mode of existence; b) the presence of consciousness; c) a specific human type of relationship between people - communication with the help of the second signaling system. Thanks to this, man became a “social animal”. But the social formation of man was accompanied by the formation of such a fundamental, purely human need, which was the desire for isolation. It was the desire for isolation, which became possible at a certain historical stage in the development of society, was a prerequisite for the development of human individuality, and hence the need for self-realization. Thus, it follows that the need, the desire for self-realization is a generic human need.

The peculiarity of the need for self-realization lies in the fact that satisfying it in single acts of activity (for example, writing a novel, creating a work of art), a person can never fully satisfy it.

Satisfying the basic need for self-realization in various activities, a person pursues his life goals, finds his place in the system of social relations and relations. It would be a crude utopia to construct a single model of self-realization “in general”. Self-realization "in general" does not exist. Specific forms, methods, types of self-realization are different for different people. In the polyvalence of the need for self-realization, a rich human individuality is revealed and developed.

That is why, speaking of a comprehensive and harmoniously developed personality, it is necessary to emphasize not only the richness and comprehensiveness of its abilities, but also (which is no less important) the richness and diversity of needs, in the satisfaction of which a person’s comprehensive self-realization is carried out.

Conclusion

The fruits of civilization and culture, which we use every day in everyday life, we perceive as something quite natural, as a result of the development of production and social relations. But behind such a faceless idea there is a great number of researchers and great masters mastering the world in the course of their human activity. It is the creative activity of our predecessors and contemporaries that underlies the progress of material and spiritual production.

Imagination and creativity are an attribute of human activity - this is a historically evolutionary form of human activity, expressed in various activities and leading to the development of personality. The main criterion for the spiritual development of a person is the mastery of the full and complete process of creativity.

Creativity is a derivative of the individual's realization of unique potentials in a certain area. Therefore, there is a direct connection between the process of creativity and the realization of human abilities in socially significant activities, which acquire the character of self-realization.

It is known that the most complete disclosure of a person's abilities is possible only in socially significant activities. Moreover, it is important that the implementation of this activity is determined not only from the outside (by society), but also by the internal need of the individual himself. In this case, the activity of the individual becomes self-activity, and the realization of his abilities in this activity acquires the character of self-realization.

Thus, creative activity is amateur activity, covering the change of reality and self-realization of the individual in the process of creating material and spiritual values, which helps to expand the limits of human capabilities.

It should also be noted that it is not so important in what exactly the creative approach manifests itself, in the ability to “play” on a loom, like on a musical instrument, or in opera singing, in the ability to solve inventive or organizational problems. Creativity is not alien to any kind of human activity.

It is not necessary that all members of society write poetry or sing songs, be freelance artists or play a role in the theater. The type of activity in which the creative approach is best, most freely manifested, and the extent to which a person can show it, depends on the personality, habits, and characteristics of the life path. The unification of all the essential forces of a person, the manifestation of all his personal characteristics in action contribute to the development of individuality, emphasize, along with the signs common to many, his unique and inimitable features.

If a person has mastered creativity to the fullest - both in terms of the process of its flow and in terms of results - then he has reached the level of spiritual development. He can experience the moments of unity of all internal forces. If a person has reached the level of spiritual development, no matter what activity he is engaged in, one thing remains - to wish him a happy journey. And look at him at least sometimes. After all, no doubt, he will teach something good.

Creativity begins with the emergence of a problematic situation, when there is a need to create something new. Creative imagination proceeds as an analysis (decomposition into constituent parts) and synthesis (combination) of knowledge accumulated by a person. At the same time, the elements from which the image of the imagination is built always appear in combinations and combinations. In most cases, the results of creative imagination can be materialized either as a substantive product - a new machine, device, a new variety of plants has been created, or an ideal content in the form of a scientific monograph, novel, poem, etc.

Creative imagination is closely connected with thinking, especially with such operations as analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization. There are several techniques for transforming representations in the imagination: agglutination, analogy, exaggeration-understatement, emphasis, typification.

Agglutination is the technique of joining ("gluing") some parts of two or more objects into one whole. Agglutination is widespread in fairy tales in the form of images of a hut “on chicken legs”, a mermaid, and the Swan Princess (Fig. 14). Agglutination is also used in real images, for example, an amphibious tank, an accordion, which combines elements of a piano and an accordion, a flying carpet, where the property of flying is attached to a thing.

Analogy is a technique for constructing an image according to the principle of similarity, for example, a locator was created based on the principle of similarity to the orientation organ of a bat.

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Exaggeration-understatement - with the help of this technique, they try to show the prevailing qualities of a person, for example, the kindness of a mighty Giant or the mind and soft heart of a little boy. This is a technique close to exaggeration, revealing in the image any one pronounced positive or negative feature. Especially often it is used in cartoons and cartoons. Emphasis - sharpening, emphasizing any signs. It is often achieved through a shift, a change in proportions. This technique is used by caricature. She reproduces the features of the original, exaggerating them. Emphasis, in order to be meaningful, must highlight the characteristic and essential in a visual image. Typification - generalization and emotional saturation of the image. For example, Othello is a generalized image of a jealous person.

The value of imagination is especially great in artistic creation. The essence of artistic imagination lies in the creation of new images capable of being a plastic carrier of ideological content; new situation not by violating, but by maintaining the basic requirements of life reality. Observance of the reality of life does not mean photographic reproduction or copying of what is directly perceived. The task of a work of art is to show others what the artist sees with the same certainty, so that others can see it.

The creative imagination of the artist allows you to visually recreate pictures of the past, historical events, as well as a fantastic future. An example is the paintings by V. M. Vasnetsov “After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavovich with the Polovtsy” (Fig. 15), A. A. Leonov “In Space”, A. Rethel “The Goddess of Retribution” and others.

Artistic creativity has various manifestations. So, it includes both a fairy tale and a fantastic story. In them, deviations from reality can be very large. But both in a fairy tale and in a fantastic story itself, these deviations must be objectively motivated by a plan, an idea that is embodied in images.

No less necessary is imagination, only in other forms, and in scientific creativity. Another English chemist of the XVIII century. J. Priestley, who discovered oxygen, argued that great discoveries, which “a sensible, slow and cowardly mind would never have thought of,” can only be made by scientists who “give full scope to their imagination.” Participating together with thinking in the process of scientific creativity, imagination performs a specific function in it, different from the function of thinking. The specific role of the imagination is that it transforms the figurative, visual content of the problem and thereby contributes to its resolution.

The role of imagination in experimental research is significant, since, when thinking about setting up an experiment, the experimenter must, based on his theoretical hypotheses and taking into account the already established laws of this scientific field, imagine, imagine a situation that, satisfying all these conditions, would make it possible to test the initial hypothesis. .

The individual features of the imagination are manifested in the degree of ease (difficulty) of creating images, its very nature (absurd or original), and the brightness of the created image. In any kind of activity, creative imagination is evaluated by how a person can transform reality.