There have been many different approaches to the study of creativity. The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology (Guilford, 1950). Much effort has been devoted towards the measurement of creative potential (e.g. Guilford 1989; Torrance 1979). There have also been many attempts to increase creative behaviors (e.g., Osborn, 1953; Parnes, 1967). Taylor & Williams (1966) provides a survey of the relationship between creativity and instruction.
While there are many views about the nature of creativity (see Sternberg, 1988; Finke, Ward & Smith, 1992), there is some agreement that the creative process involves the application of past experiences or ideas in novel ways. The Creative Problem Solving (CPS) Model, based upon the work of Osborn and Parnes, suggests that the creative process involves five major steps: fact-finding, problem-finding, idea- finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding (VanGundy, 1987). Certain cognitive skills seem to underlie creative behavior such as: fluency, flexibility, visualization, imagination, expressiveness, and openess (resistance to closure). These skills may be personality characteristics, they may be learned, or they may be situational. There is also general acknowledgement that social processes play a major role in the recognition of creativity (Amabile, 1983).
Langley et al. (1987) have argued that creativity in the context of scientific discovery is a form of problem-solving. Specifically, they propose that finding problems and formulating them involves the same underlying cognitive processes of heuristic search and subgoal generation as any other kind of problem-solving behavior.
Other work closely related to creativity includes: originality (see Maltzman ), productive thinking (Wertheimer ), and lateral thinking (DeBono). Creativity plays a central role in management training) .
References
- Amabile, T. (1983). The Social Psychology of Creativity. New York: Springer-Verlag.
- Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5, 444-454.
- Guilford, J.P. (1986). Creative Talents: Their Nature, Uses and Development. Buffalo, NY: Bearly Ltd.
- Finke, R.A., Ward, T.B., & Smith, S.M. (1992). Creative Cognition. Cambridge, MA: Bradford/MIT Press.
- Langley, P., Simon, H., Bradshaw, G., & Zytkow, J. (1987). Scientific Discovery: Computational Explorations of the Creative Processes. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
- Marks-Tarlow, T. (1995). Creativity inside out: Learning through multiple intelligences. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
- Osborn, A.F. (1953). Applied Imagination (Revised Ed.). New York: Scribners.
- Parnes, S. J. (1967). Creative Behavior Guidebook. New York: Scribners.
- Sternberg, R.J. (1988). The Nature of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Taylor, C. & Williams, F. (1966). Instructional Media and Creativity. New York: Wiley.
- Torranc e, E. (1979). The Search for Satori and Creativity. Buffalo, NY: Bearly Ltd.
- VanGundy, A.B. (1987). Creative Problem Solving. New York: Quorum.