thinking intelligence creativity

Defining Creativity

  • History of Creative Research

    • Pre-1950s: Limited serious research; more thought than investigation.

    • Post-1950s: Systematic investigations began to emerge.

  • Three Critical Features of Creativity

    • Novelty: Originality of the idea.

    • Appropriateness: Suitability of the idea within a given context.

    • Social Context: The environment in which the creativity is evaluated.

  • Cultural Models of Creativity

    • Western Model: Emphasis on novelty and utility.

    • Eastern Model: Focus on aesthetics and authenticity.

Theories of Creativity

4 Ps of Creativity

  • Person: Who is creative?

  • Process: How do we engage in creativity?

  • Product: What constitutes a creative output?

  • Press/Place: Environmental influences on creativity.

5 As of Creativity

  • Actor: The creative individual and their societal interactions.

  • Action: The processes involved in creativity.

  • Artifact: The output of creative processes.

  • Audience: Initial and eventual recipients of the creative product.

  • Affordances: Resources and conditions necessary for creativity.

Theories of Who is Creative

  • C Model: Different aspects of creativity explored.

  • Componential Model, Investment Theory, KSAO Model, Typological Model: Each offers unique insights.

4 Cs of the 4-C Model of Creativity

  • Mini-c: Personal creativity; e.g., singing in the shower.

  • Little-c: Everyday creators; e.g., viral social media clips.

  • Pro-c: Professional creators; e.g., musicians earning from their work.

  • Big-C: Eminent creators; e.g., Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

The Componential Model of Creativity

  1. Domain-Relevant Skills: Specialized knowledge and technical skills.

  2. Creativity-Relevant Skills: Attributes like risk-taking and self-discipline.

  3. Task Motivation: Intrinsic motivations such as passion.

Piirto Pyramid of Talent

  • 4 Levels: Genetics, personality characteristics, minimum intellectual threshold, domain-specific talent.

  • 5 Suns: Development dimensions that influence creativity.

Investment Theory of Creativity

  • Creativity as investment: Buy low (idea) and sell high (impact).

  • Key elements: Motivation, intelligence, personality, environment, and thinking style.

KSAO Model of Creativity

  • Knowledge: Information necessary for creative endeavors.

  • Skills: Both domain-specific and creative processing skills.

  • Abilities: Cognitive capabilities like divergent and convergent thinking.

  • Other Attributes: Personality traits and motivational factors.

Typological Model of Creativity in Classrooms

  • Key aspects: Creativeness, independence, and openness as indicators of student creativity.

Process Theories of Creativity

Major Process Steps in Creativity

  • Problem Construction

  • Information Encoding

  • Category Selection

  • Idea Generation

  • Implementation

Geneplore Theory

  • Phases of creative cognition: Generation of ideas followed by exploration of feasibility.

Blind Variation and Selective Retention Theory

  • Ideas generated randomly; best ideas filtered for future use.

Theories of Creative Products

Systems Model

  • Involves interactions among Domain, Field, and Person.

Propulsion Theory

  • Categories of Contribution:

    • Replication: Reproducing existing works.

    • Redefinition: Viewing past work from a new angle.

    • Forward Incrementation: Small advancements in the field.

    • Redirection, Reconstruction, Reinitiation, Integration/Synthesis: Other modalities for moving fields forward.

Sternberg’s Types of Insight

  • Selective Encoding: Noticing relevant information.

  • Selective Combination: Creating new insights from disparate information.

  • Selective Comparison: Drawing analogies to merge concepts.

Other Categorization Methods

  • Differences between Radical vs Incremental creativity, Adaptor vs Innovator.

Amusement Park Theory

  • Initial requirements and micro-domains shaping creativity; e.g. various psychology specialties.

Studying Creativity in the Lab

Common Creativity Tasks

  • Examples include divergent (e.g., pasta names) and convergent tasks.

Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)

  • Tasks include figural (e.g., picture completion) and verbal assessments (e.g., unusual uses).

Scoring Creativity Tests

  • Tests of divergent thinking (e.g., AUT) focused on creativity scoring.

  • Scoring for convergent thinking (e.g., RAT) based on correct solutions.

Consensual Assessment Technique

  • Evaluation of creativity via expert judgement on outputs.

Characteristics of Creative Individuals

Five Factor Model of Personality

  • Traits: Extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism.

Relationship Between Personality and Creativity

  • Extraversion often correlates with performing arts vs. visual arts.

  • Openness has strongest correlation with creativity influenced by context.

  • Conscientiousness may hinder artistic creativity while supporting scientific endeavors.

Creativity and Mental Health

General Findings

  • Creativity often relates to mental health disorders including bipolar disorder and anxiety.

Mental Illness and Different Levels of Creativity

  • Big-C: Increased incidence in writers; also present in professional creatives.

  • Everyday creativity could indicate sub-clinical disorders.

Motivation in Creativity

Types of Motivation

  • Intrinsic: Considered essential for creativity.

  • Extrinsic: May support or undermine creative development.

  • Obligatory: Task completion driven by other needs.

Environmental Influences

  • Home environment and educational settings can strongly influence creative development.

Implications for Everyday Life

  • Exploration of intelligence and creativity relations; approaches to encourage creativity in educational and work environments.