Wendy Ross
Biographic Data
| ID | 5226986 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wendy Ross |
| GIVEN NAMES | Wendy |
| FAMILY NAME | Ross |
| SIGNATURE | ROSS W |
| AFFILIATIONS | London Metropolitan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0461-7660 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 30 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 3 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 30 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1960 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Fostering creativity and collaboration in STEAM environments: A 3E cognition approach
Creative Cognition: A Collaborative Research Agenda
Creative cognition research has flourished in recent decades, revealing how extraordinary creative outcomes emerge from ordinary cognitive processes. However, the field faces fragmentation that hinders consensus and integration. This research agenda, developed through a collaborative workshop of 50 European researchers at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands, identifies four critical challenges for advancing creative cognition research. …
The effort-reward mismatch: Cognitive friction and the conditions of possibility
Frictionless, dematerialised environments (FDEs) are producing a paradox: a rise in cognitive exhaustion and somatic discomfort even as information environments become objectively more efficient. This editorial argues the progressive removal of material, bodily, and social resistance from knowledge environments does not expand cognitive possibility; it forecloses the conditions under which understanding has historically been assembled. What disti…
Introduction: Expanding Conceptions for Research on Possibility
This editorial introduces the special issue on “Expanding Conceptions for Research on Possibility” and surveys the papers submitted by over 15 scholars from diverse fields and disciplinary backgrounds. Expanding our conceptions of research beyond traditional boundaries and silos, the papers in this volume articulate research as a world-disclosing and “world-making” practice, concerned not only with how the “world is” but with creating “a world to…
Incongruent objects are surprising but do not inspire more original ideas
This study investigates the relationship between surprise and creative ideation through four preregistered experiments (total N= 964). In Experiments 1a (N= 117) and 1b (N= 143), participants viewed images of objects with differing levels of congruence with the environmental context using stimuli from the Scene Grammar (SCEGRAM) database, then completed an Alternative Uses Task for those objects. Experiment 2 (N= 316) replicated these ndings usin…
The constraints of habit: Craft, repetition, and creativity
Serendipity: The Role of Chance and Accidents in Creativity
Chance plays an acknowledged role in creativity, but taking it seriously challenges traditional notions of talent and expertise as well as the importance of agency and intentionality. Chance without skill is not enough on its own to support creativity. The phenomenon of serendipity requires both luck and the skill to make the most of it. This review argues that it can provide a lens through which to understand how individual, emotional and enviro…
Using cognitive cases to establish incidence: The case of exaptative actions
The primary methodological approach in cognitive psychology is experimental. However, the case study seems to hold particular importance in the foundational concepts of higher cognitive functions. For example, theories of the cognitive changes that lead to spontaneous insights have their roots in moments such as Poincaré’s realisation about chaos theory while stepping onto a bus or Kohler’s description of the chimpanzee Sultan’s sudden discovery …
Case studies: A methodological lifeline to the world
This special issue is designed to present and explore the range of forms case studies can take and the functions they serve in research related to possibility studies. Case studies examine specific instances of a phenomena in order to understand the nuances and systemic complexity of how and why the phenomenon can unfold. The cases often provide ecological validity by linking the concerns of other research to real-world examples. It would be inco…
Impasse-Driven problem solving: The multidimensional nature of feeling stuck
This study reports findings across four preregistered experiments (total N = 856) that establish the multidimensional nature of impasse and resolve two paradoxes implicit in the problem-solving literature: how a state of impasse can be at once necessary to solve a problem with insight yet also have appear to have a catastrophic effect on solution rates, and why individuals such as problem-solving and gaming enthusiasts seem to seek out this appar…
Possibility Thinking Scale: An initial psychometric exploration
Although there has been longstanding work on possibility thinking (PT), there is no current scale that researchers can use to measure and study this important action-based orientation. In this paper, we report on four studies with English and Polish speaking participants ( N > 1,500) focused on developing and providing an initial evaluation of the Possibility Thinking Scale (PTS). Across the four studies, we examined the factor structure of the P…
The whole thing needs a shake-up: A mixed method study examining teachers’ perspectives on social and emotional skills in schools
This study employed an explanatory sequential design to investigate how teachers' social and emotional capacities and schooling stage impact beliefs about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). 109 primary and 72 secondary teachers completed surveys assessing emotional traits, comfort, and commitment to SEL. Results showed that relational capacity, the ability to form positive relationships, predicted comfort in promoting positive SEL beliefs, whil…
Perspectival Kinaesthetic Imaging
Perspectival Kinaesthetic Imaging is being proposed as a method designed to facilitate the heightened sensitivity needed for the anthropological study of the relationship between making and thinking, during the creative engagement with form-generating materials. Technically, this objective is achieved through the juxtaposition of perspectival view points on the process of making. We follow the ways of the hand using a combination of multimodal vi…
Let's Just See What Happens: A Qualitative Case Study of Risk and Uncertainty in the Creative Process
Research in creativity often measures creative potential : the number of ideas which can be generated, or the way a novel thought appears in the mind of the thinker. There is much less emphasis on creative thought during the realization of this potential. This paper uses focused cognitive ethnography to explore how creativity is manifest in a complex environment. We report four main findings: that creativity involves a form of “knowing through do…
Enacting chance and the space of possibilities
Possibilities studies is concerned with understanding what it means to have a sense of the multiple and open-ended nature of our presents, futures, and pasts (Glaveanu, 2023) - what Baumeister calls the matrix of maybes (Baumeister & Alquist, 2023). From the perspective of chance and serendipity scholars, this uncertainty comes from the dynamic interaction of people and things that arise naturally from living in a world in flux and reflect the dy…
The new science of possibility
The possibilities of disruption: Serendipity, accidents and impasse driven search
This article challenges the traditional view of progress as a linear trajectory from ignorance to knowledge, arguing that creative cognition involves an extended and dynamic system of non linear possibility generation. It emphasises the importance of an externalist approach which takes into account the role of objects in the environment in shaping cognition. Accidents are seen as a key trigger for creative thinking, as they disrupt planned cognit…
Embracing difference and cultivating hope: The transformative potential of Possibility Studies
This ending commentary on this inaugural issue of Possibility Studies and Society surveys the papers submitted by over 30 scholars from diverse fields and backgrounds that explore the emerging field of Possibility Studies through the lens of their respective disciplines and theoretical perspectives. It draws out the complexities of the really and ideally possible, the future and the past, and reality and imagination before moving to examine the p…
The experiences of autistic doctors: A cross-sectional study
Autistic doctors reported many challenges in the workplace. This may have contributed to a culture of nondisclosure. Mental health was poor with high rates of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and prior suicide attempts. Despite inhospitable environments, most were persevering and working successfully. Viewing autism as a disorder was associated with prior suicide attempts and a preference for person-first language. A neurodiversity-affirmative appro…
Accident and agency: A mixed methods study contrasting luck and interactivity in problem solving
Problem solving in a materially rich environment requires interacting with chance. Sixty-four participants were invited to solve 5-letter anagrams presented as movable tiles in conditions that either allowed the participants to move the tiles as they wished or only allowed random shuffling (without rearranging the tiles post shuffling) thus contrasting pure luck with an interactive model. We hypothesised that shuffling would break unhelpful menta…
Catch that word: Interactivity, serendipity and verbal fluency in a word production task
Problem solving outside of the cognitive psychologist’s lab unfolds in an environment rich with bodily gesture and material artefacts. We examine this meshwork of internal mental resources, embodied actions and environmental affordances through the lens of a word production task with letter tiles. Forty participants took part in the study which contrasted performance in a high interactivity condition (where participants were able to move letter t…
Microserendipity in the Creative Process
Qualitative research on creativity often highlights the role of accidents in creative process, but there is little research that takes these as its main topic. Perhaps because a model that relies on accidents undermines the meaningfulness of creativity; perhaps because the phenomenon itself is too complex to underwrite an entire research program. This paper suggests the framework of serendipity to better understand the interaction between a perso…
Identity, diversity and citizenship: A critical analysis of textbooks and curricula in Irish schools
Despite the long presence of migrant communities, Ireland was only transformed to a net-receiving immigration nation in 1996, and is currently experiencing net emigration in the wake of a sharp economic downturn. Debates about immigrant incorporation and educational responses are still at a relatively early stage. This study, which forms part of a larger project, set out to explore the role of schools and curricula in developing citizenship and t…
Devolution and Health Policy in England
This article looks at the possible implications of English regional government for the promotion and provision of healthcare. Elected assemblies may allow more locally tailored policies aimed at reducing health inequalities, which vary substantially between regions. They may also increase the democratic accountability of health services and help to 'join-up' health and other policy domains. The obstacles to devolved control over health care inclu…
Going public in Seattle
Identity, diversity and citizenship: A critical analysis of textbooks and curricula in Irish schools
Despite the long presence of migrant communities, Ireland was only transformed to a net-receiving immigration nation in 1996, and is currently experiencing net emigration in the wake of a sharp economic downturn. Debates about immigrant incorporation and educational responses are still at a relatively early stage. This study, which forms part of a larger project, set out to explore the role of schools and curricula in developing citizenship and t…
Story of a Scottish Museum
Earth Structure Sea Bed III Earth Work
Exhibition—Unisa Lecturers—Pretoria Art Museum 7 May—1 June 1986
(1986). Exhibition—Unisa Lecturers—Pretoria Art Museum 7 May—1 June 1986. de arte: Vol. 21, No. 34, pp. 24-30
Conferences: Suid-Afrikaanse Vereniging van Kunshistorici, Tweede Konferensie, gehou by die Universiteit van die Witwatersrand 17–19 Julie 1986
Stand and stare: Art in the Forest of Dean—Initiatives for South Africa
Going public in Seattle
Devolution and Health Policy in England
This article looks at the possible implications of English regional government for the promotion and provision of healthcare. Elected assemblies may allow more locally tailored policies aimed at reducing health inequalities, which vary substantially between regions. They may also increase the democratic accountability of health services and help to 'join-up' health and other policy domains. The obstacles to devolved control over health care inclu…
Identity, diversity and citizenship: A critical analysis of textbooks and curricula in Irish schools
Despite the long presence of migrant communities, Ireland was only transformed to a net-receiving immigration nation in 1996, and is currently experiencing net emigration in the wake of a sharp economic downturn. Debates about immigrant incorporation and educational responses are still at a relatively early stage. This study, which forms part of a larger project, set out to explore the role of schools and curricula in developing citizenship and t…
Catch that word: Interactivity, serendipity and verbal fluency in a word production task
Problem solving outside of the cognitive psychologist’s lab unfolds in an environment rich with bodily gesture and material artefacts. We examine this meshwork of internal mental resources, embodied actions and environmental affordances through the lens of a word production task with letter tiles. Forty participants took part in the study which contrasted performance in a high interactivity condition (where participants were able to move letter t…
Microserendipity in the Creative Process
Qualitative research on creativity often highlights the role of accidents in creative process, but there is little research that takes these as its main topic. Perhaps because a model that relies on accidents undermines the meaningfulness of creativity; perhaps because the phenomenon itself is too complex to underwrite an entire research program. This paper suggests the framework of serendipity to better understand the interaction between a perso…
Accident and agency: A mixed methods study contrasting luck and interactivity in problem solving
Problem solving in a materially rich environment requires interacting with chance. Sixty-four participants were invited to solve 5-letter anagrams presented as movable tiles in conditions that either allowed the participants to move the tiles as they wished or only allowed random shuffling (without rearranging the tiles post shuffling) thus contrasting pure luck with an interactive model. We hypothesised that shuffling would break unhelpful menta…
Perspectival Kinaesthetic Imaging
Perspectival Kinaesthetic Imaging is being proposed as a method designed to facilitate the heightened sensitivity needed for the anthropological study of the relationship between making and thinking, during the creative engagement with form-generating materials. Technically, this objective is achieved through the juxtaposition of perspectival view points on the process of making. We follow the ways of the hand using a combination of multimodal vi…
Let's Just See What Happens: A Qualitative Case Study of Risk and Uncertainty in the Creative Process
Research in creativity often measures creative potential : the number of ideas which can be generated, or the way a novel thought appears in the mind of the thinker. There is much less emphasis on creative thought during the realization of this potential. This paper uses focused cognitive ethnography to explore how creativity is manifest in a complex environment. We report four main findings: that creativity involves a form of “knowing through do…
Enacting chance and the space of possibilities
Possibilities studies is concerned with understanding what it means to have a sense of the multiple and open-ended nature of our presents, futures, and pasts (Glaveanu, 2023) - what Baumeister calls the matrix of maybes (Baumeister & Alquist, 2023). From the perspective of chance and serendipity scholars, this uncertainty comes from the dynamic interaction of people and things that arise naturally from living in a world in flux and reflect the dy…
The new science of possibility
The possibilities of disruption: Serendipity, accidents and impasse driven search
This article challenges the traditional view of progress as a linear trajectory from ignorance to knowledge, arguing that creative cognition involves an extended and dynamic system of non linear possibility generation. It emphasises the importance of an externalist approach which takes into account the role of objects in the environment in shaping cognition. Accidents are seen as a key trigger for creative thinking, as they disrupt planned cognit…
Embracing difference and cultivating hope: The transformative potential of Possibility Studies
This ending commentary on this inaugural issue of Possibility Studies and Society surveys the papers submitted by over 30 scholars from diverse fields and backgrounds that explore the emerging field of Possibility Studies through the lens of their respective disciplines and theoretical perspectives. It draws out the complexities of the really and ideally possible, the future and the past, and reality and imagination before moving to examine the p…
The experiences of autistic doctors: A cross-sectional study
Autistic doctors reported many challenges in the workplace. This may have contributed to a culture of nondisclosure. Mental health was poor with high rates of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and prior suicide attempts. Despite inhospitable environments, most were persevering and working successfully. Viewing autism as a disorder was associated with prior suicide attempts and a preference for person-first language. A neurodiversity-affirmative appro…
Impasse-Driven problem solving: The multidimensional nature of feeling stuck
This study reports findings across four preregistered experiments (total N = 856) that establish the multidimensional nature of impasse and resolve two paradoxes implicit in the problem-solving literature: how a state of impasse can be at once necessary to solve a problem with insight yet also have appear to have a catastrophic effect on solution rates, and why individuals such as problem-solving and gaming enthusiasts seem to seek out this appar…
Possibility Thinking Scale: An initial psychometric exploration
Although there has been longstanding work on possibility thinking (PT), there is no current scale that researchers can use to measure and study this important action-based orientation. In this paper, we report on four studies with English and Polish speaking participants ( N > 1,500) focused on developing and providing an initial evaluation of the Possibility Thinking Scale (PTS). Across the four studies, we examined the factor structure of the P…
The whole thing needs a shake-up: A mixed method study examining teachers’ perspectives on social and emotional skills in schools
This study employed an explanatory sequential design to investigate how teachers' social and emotional capacities and schooling stage impact beliefs about Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). 109 primary and 72 secondary teachers completed surveys assessing emotional traits, comfort, and commitment to SEL. Results showed that relational capacity, the ability to form positive relationships, predicted comfort in promoting positive SEL beliefs, whil…
Incongruent objects are surprising but do not inspire more original ideas
This study investigates the relationship between surprise and creative ideation through four preregistered experiments (total N= 964). In Experiments 1a (N= 117) and 1b (N= 143), participants viewed images of objects with differing levels of congruence with the environmental context using stimuli from the Scene Grammar (SCEGRAM) database, then completed an Alternative Uses Task for those objects. Experiment 2 (N= 316) replicated these ndings usin…
The constraints of habit: Craft, repetition, and creativity
Serendipity: The Role of Chance and Accidents in Creativity
Chance plays an acknowledged role in creativity, but taking it seriously challenges traditional notions of talent and expertise as well as the importance of agency and intentionality. Chance without skill is not enough on its own to support creativity. The phenomenon of serendipity requires both luck and the skill to make the most of it. This review argues that it can provide a lens through which to understand how individual, emotional and enviro…
Using cognitive cases to establish incidence: The case of exaptative actions
The primary methodological approach in cognitive psychology is experimental. However, the case study seems to hold particular importance in the foundational concepts of higher cognitive functions. For example, theories of the cognitive changes that lead to spontaneous insights have their roots in moments such as Poincaré’s realisation about chaos theory while stepping onto a bus or Kohler’s description of the chimpanzee Sultan’s sudden discovery …
Creativity in Education and Neuroscience (13 works) · Psychology (13 works) · Computer Science (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Cognition (8 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Creativity (7 works) · Cognitive psychology (6 works) · Embodied and Extended Cognition (6 works)