Abstract
Safety in high-risk and time-pressured situations relies on people’s ability to generate new and appropriate solutions to solve unforeseen problems for which no procedures or rules are available. This type of ability is regularly associated with the concept of creativity. While psychology researchers have studied, for decades, how creative ideas and solutions are generated, this basic research has not made it into the more applied fields of human factors and neuroergonomics. Building on the research on the psychology and the neuropsychology of creativity, this paper will (1) address the question of what creativity means and what are its ties with problem solving and decision-making; (2) focus on the evidence of the creative processes, the underlying mechanisms, and the multiple psychological dimensions of the creative behavior involved in unexpected events in extreme environments such as Apollo 13 mission, United Airline Flight 232, and Mann Gulch wildfire; and (3) explore the implications for future research in the domains of neuroergonomics and differential psychology.
Highlights
In a recent interview (Saraceno, 2018), James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13 mission, commented on the catchphrase “Houston, we have had a problem”1 saying, not without humor: “the quote became iconic because it fits into millions of situations people experience every day
Despite the limitations of the laboratory approach, the neuropsychological studies of creativity open up new avenues for future research to understand the cognitive process and the underlying mechanisms of creative and insight problem solving in life critical-situation
Drawing on the aforementioned literature and safety events, we propose a definition of creativity in safety-critical environments as “the capacity of expert individuals and teams to create original, unusual, and adapted solutions to solve unforeseen problems in life-critical situations, for which there is no prescribed procedure or obvious solution to apply.”
Summary
In a recent interview (Saraceno, 2018), James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13 mission, commented on the catchphrase “Houston, we have had a problem” saying, not without humor: “the quote became iconic because it fits into millions of situations people experience every day. According to the 4Ps model, the psychology of creativity research covers four perspectives: Process (stages and the nature of the problem solving and decision making), Person (personality, intellect, temperament, experience, etc.), Product (e.g., when a thought becomes a course of action, a creative idea, procedure, physical object, etc.), and Press (impacts of factors in the physical and social environments). Building on the 4Ps model (Process, Person, Product, and Press) and the neuropsychology of creativity, this paper will (1) address the question of what creativity means and what are its ties with problem solving and decision-making?; (2) focus on the evidence of the creative processes, the underlying mechanisms, and the multiple psychological dimensions of the creative behavior involved in unexpected and extreme events such as Apollo 13 mission, United Airline Flight 232, and Mann Gulch wildfire; and (3) explore the implications for future research in the domains of neuroergonomics and differential psychology
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