TY  - GEN
ID  - cogprints3417
UR  - http://cogprints.org/3417/
A1  - Gabora, Dr. Liane
Y1  - 2003///
N2  - Many elements of culture made their first appearance in the Upper Paleolithic. Previous hypotheses put forth to explain this unprecedented burst of creativity are found wanting. Examination of the psychological basis of creativity leads to the suggestion that it resulted from the onset of contextual focus: the capacity to focus or defocus attention in response to the situation, thereby shifting between analytic and associative modes of thought. New ideas germinate in a defocused state in which one is receptive to the possible relevance of many dimensions of a situation. They are refined in a focused state, conducive to filtering out irrelevant dimensions and condensing relevant ones. 
PB  - Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
KW  - crativity
KW  -  culture
KW  -  context
KW  -  cognitive transision
KW  -  Upper Paleolithic
KW  -  focus
KW  -  defocus
KW  -  analytic thought
KW  -  associative thought
TI  - Contextual focus: A cognitive explanation for the cultural transition of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic
AV  - public
ER  -

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