One of the earliest models of the creative process is attributed to English social psychologist Graham Wallas, who in his 1926 book The Art of Thought proposed that creative thinking proceeds through four phases: 1. Preparation – initial work on a problem that focuses the mind and explores the scope or dimensions of the problem. 2. Incubation – the problem is internalized by the unconscious mind and nothing appears to be happening. 3. Illumination (or the ‘eureka’ moment) – the creative idea bursts forth from preconscious processing into conscious awareness. 4. Verification – the idea is
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