CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING GROUPS AT THE EDGE OF CHAOS

Mathematical concepts of chaos and self-organization were used to rein terpret the chance-configuration process for creative problem solving. Transcripts from three problem solving discussions involving eight or fewer social scientists were analyzed by nonlinear regression to dete rmine whether the groups' productivity was chaotic over time and if co ntrol variables were in evidence. It was shown that productivity was c haotic as evidenced by a positive Lyapunov exponent, strongly correlat ed with the number of active discussion threads, and also dependent on the people-discussion combination. The number of discussion threads, in turn, acted as a driver function that triggered chaosticity in over all performance. The results suggested numerous new studies for invest igating dynamical processes in creative thought.