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Mike Estep · 05-08-2007, 05:29 PM

I appreciate the comments from email and forums I’ve been getting since I started my Right-Brain Training series of articles. It gives me a greater a sense of subject matter to discuss that will prove helpful to my students and readers. I’ve received several inquiries on what exercises could be used to increase right-brained creativity. So, here is my spin on the subject.

First of all, what constitutes creativity? Dictionary.com defines creativity in this manner: The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. In my opinion, all of this can be derived from the last word in the definition – IMAGINATION.

So what is imagination? Here is a definition synthesized from Dictionary.com: Mental images/concepts not actually present to the senses, but representing a reproduction of an existing reality or creation of a new reality. To define this even further, a person could perceive imagery in their mind that appears to involve any or all of the five senses (see, hear, touch, taste, smell) and emotion – even if there is no actual sensory input to cause the imagery. Reproducing images from reality is actually a form of creation, because the person imagining has to mentally create copies of the original sources. Creation of a new reality could come from imagining nonexistent concepts, inventions, or works of art that could possibly become real at a later date. Creation of a new reality could also take the form of nonsensical (cartoon-like) imagery.

Creative imagination is a common trait in the release of genius. Einstein was a master of including imagination in his physics studies. He would commonly envision being personally involved as part of the physical properties he studied. For instance, he imagined himself as a photon of light and what he looked and felt like as he interacted with other photons traveling at light speed. A common quote attributed to Einstein was: Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.

Mozart would talk about how he could see a whole piece of music in his mind simultaneously. Not just one note at a time as it was being performed, but virtually all at once. Many times the music appeared to him already finished. At that point, he would just notate the pieces. It was not uncommon for Mozart to write out musician’s parts to his operas only minutes before the pieces were performed before live audiences.

Tesla was one of the most prolific inventors of all time. He invented alternating current, the Tesla coil, and he was also the true inventor of radio (Marconi was a student of Tesla’s and just furthered Tesla’s concepts). Tesla commonly fleshed out designs of his inventions in his imagination, even to the point of testing the designs. He created the alternating current motor in this way. Afterward, he drew out the designs and had his engineers put it together. It worked exactly as he envisioned it.

Over a period of years in my instruction, I’ve heard many people state that they don’t have a good imagination. For the most part, I’ve found this not to be true. Instead, people generally have a suppressed imagination due to a lack of use. Examples include the following:

People may read fiction books that can conjure up certain images while they are reading, but they don’t practice seeing similar imagery separate from reading.
When people watch television or movies for entertainment, most of the external perception is being provided and there is little need to engage their imagination.
Most of our schooling experiences are devoid of instruction that includes the consistent and regular use of imagination for learning purposes.
Children might hear things like “Get your head out of the clouds” or “Stop daydreaming.” As they get older, active imaginations are not as leniently tolerated.
It is common in many job situations for people to necessarily perform monotonous duties that require little use of imagination.

When taking scenarios like this into consideration, it becomes apparent that suppression of the imagination is a learned behavior.

I believe there is one way in particular to not only develop the creative imagination, but to drastically improve memory skills as well. This has to do with the use of what I call MNEMONIC IMAGERY. A mnemonic is a memory device. Mnemonic imagery is using the imagination as a tool to better store mental information for easy retrieval at a later date. However, mental creativity is a side benefit of the process.

For example, when working with piano students, I might have them play a particular note and say the name of the note. I tell them to become aware of any sensory input involved, such as the way the key looks when pressed down, the sound of the note being played, the sound of their voice saying the name, and the physical sensation of fingers and muscles in the hand. Then I have them close their eyes and try to reproduce all of that perception in their imagination – first singularly, then together. When students begin this process, some of the imagery may be unclear. However, imagery becomes clear through repetitive practice.

Mnemonic imagery can also be practiced with any area of life that includes the involvement of sensory perception and emotion. For instance, people can intentionally imagine things they encounter in nature, such as the smell and look of a red rose, the fleshy feel of its petals, and the prick of its thorns. Remember, even though this is a mental reproduction, it is also creation. The imagery has to be created to exist in the mind.

The way a person might use mnemonic imagery in school is to practice imagining what a teacher is writing on the chalkboard (e.g., a math or science formula) including as much detailed imagery as possible (e.g., what the teacher looks like, their movements, their verbal explanations, etc.). However, irregardless of the subject of study, mnemonic imagery is only effective as a creation and memory tool if it is intentionally practiced.

The practical examples of mnemonic imagery I’ve discussed so far deal with reality-based imagery. In my next article, I"ll discuss mnemonic imagery using nonsensical or cartoon-like imagery (which is extremely effective for creativity and memory). For those of you who are interested, my Ph.D. dissertation was a study based on the use of mnemonic imagery in computer-human interaction and ear training music instruction. I’ve posted a peer-reviewed published paper based on the dissertation if you would like to see my resources and study results. In the same study, I also used a web-based tool that I developed called the Practical Ear Training tool (PET) .

Mike Estep PhD
_______________________________________________

Mike Estep.com - Common Sense Outside the Box

05-08-2007, 05:29 PM	#20 (permalink)
Mike Estep Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Duncan, OK Posts: 47	Right-Brain Training - Practical Applications Part 3 I appreciate the comments from email and forums I’ve been getting since I started my Right-Brain Training series of articles. It gives me a greater a sense of subject matter to discuss that will prove helpful to my students and readers. I’ve received several inquiries on what exercises could be used to increase right-brained creativity. So, here is my spin on the subject. First of all, what constitutes creativity? Dictionary.com defines creativity in this manner: The ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. In my opinion, all of this can be derived from the last word in the definition – IMAGINATION. So what is imagination? Here is a definition synthesized from Dictionary.com: Mental images/concepts not actually present to the senses, but representing a reproduction of an existing reality or creation of a new reality. To define this even further, a person could perceive imagery in their mind that appears to involve any or all of the five senses (see, hear, touch, taste, smell) and emotion – even if there is no actual sensory input to cause the imagery. Reproducing images from reality is actually a form of creation, because the person imagining has to mentally create copies of the original sources. Creation of a new reality could come from imagining nonexistent concepts, inventions, or works of art that could possibly become real at a later date. Creation of a new reality could also take the form of nonsensical (cartoon-like) imagery. Creative imagination is a common trait in the release of genius. Einstein was a master of including imagination in his physics studies. He would commonly envision being personally involved as part of the physical properties he studied. For instance, he imagined himself as a photon of light and what he looked and felt like as he interacted with other photons traveling at light speed. A common quote attributed to Einstein was: Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. Mozart would talk about how he could see a whole piece of music in his mind simultaneously. Not just one note at a time as it was being performed, but virtually all at once. Many times the music appeared to him already finished. At that point, he would just notate the pieces. It was not uncommon for Mozart to write out musician’s parts to his operas only minutes before the pieces were performed before live audiences. Tesla was one of the most prolific inventors of all time. He invented alternating current, the Tesla coil, and he was also the true inventor of radio (Marconi was a student of Tesla’s and just furthered Tesla’s concepts). Tesla commonly fleshed out designs of his inventions in his imagination, even to the point of testing the designs. He created the alternating current motor in this way. Afterward, he drew out the designs and had his engineers put it together. It worked exactly as he envisioned it. Over a period of years in my instruction, I’ve heard many people state that they don’t have a good imagination. For the most part, I’ve found this not to be true. Instead, people generally have a suppressed imagination due to a lack of use. Examples include the following: People may read fiction books that can conjure up certain images while they are reading, but they don’t practice seeing similar imagery separate from reading. When people watch television or movies for entertainment, most of the external perception is being provided and there is little need to engage their imagination. Most of our schooling experiences are devoid of instruction that includes the consistent and regular use of imagination for learning purposes. Children might hear things like “Get your head out of the clouds” or “Stop daydreaming.” As they get older, active imaginations are not as leniently tolerated. It is common in many job situations for people to necessarily perform monotonous duties that require little use of imagination. When taking scenarios like this into consideration, it becomes apparent that suppression of the imagination is a learned behavior. I believe there is one way in particular to not only develop the creative imagination, but to drastically improve memory skills as well. This has to do with the use of what I call MNEMONIC IMAGERY. A mnemonic is a memory device. Mnemonic imagery is using the imagination as a tool to better store mental information for easy retrieval at a later date. However, mental creativity is a side benefit of the process. For example, when working with piano students, I might have them play a particular note and say the name of the note. I tell them to become aware of any sensory input involved, such as the way the key looks when pressed down, the sound of the note being played, the sound of their voice saying the name, and the physical sensation of fingers and muscles in the hand. Then I have them close their eyes and try to reproduce all of that perception in their imagination – first singularly, then together. When students begin this process, some of the imagery may be unclear. However, imagery becomes clear through repetitive practice. Mnemonic imagery can also be practiced with any area of life that includes the involvement of sensory perception and emotion. For instance, people can intentionally imagine things they encounter in nature, such as the smell and look of a red rose, the fleshy feel of its petals, and the prick of its thorns. Remember, even though this is a mental reproduction, it is also creation. The imagery has to be created to exist in the mind. The way a person might use mnemonic imagery in school is to practice imagining what a teacher is writing on the chalkboard (e.g., a math or science formula) including as much detailed imagery as possible (e.g., what the teacher looks like, their movements, their verbal explanations, etc.). However, irregardless of the subject of study, mnemonic imagery is only effective as a creation and memory tool if it is intentionally practiced. The practical examples of mnemonic imagery I’ve discussed so far deal with reality-based imagery. In my next article, I"ll discuss mnemonic imagery using nonsensical or cartoon-like imagery (which is extremely effective for creativity and memory). For those of you who are interested, my Ph.D. dissertation was a study based on the use of mnemonic imagery in computer-human interaction and ear training music instruction. I’ve posted a peer-reviewed published paper based on the dissertation if you would like to see my resources and study results. In the same study, I also used a web-based tool that I developed called the Practical Ear Training tool (PET) . Mike Estep PhD _______________________________________________ Mike Estep.com - Common Sense Outside the Box Last edited by Mike Estep; 05-10-2007 at 08:00 AM.