Creativity
Creativity is defined as the ability to generate novel ideas and think in original ways, allowing individuals to perceive connections and possibilities that may not be immediately apparent to others. Creative thinkers often engage in divergent thinking, producing numerous ideas in response to prompts, contrasting with convergent thinkers who rely on logic and established knowledge. Historically, creativity has been linked to various religious and spiritual beliefs, often viewed as a divine gift. In psychology, the latter half of the 20th century saw a renewed interest in creativity, particularly through humanistic and positive psychology, which emphasize human potential and well-being. Research in this field has explored the relationship between creativity and intelligence, with theories such as Sternberg's Triarchic Theory and Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences highlighting the role of creative intelligence. Tools like the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking have been developed to assess and enhance creative abilities. Additionally, the complex relationship between creativity and mental health has garnered attention, with studies suggesting a potential link to certain mental illnesses, although definitive conclusions remain elusive. Overall, creativity plays a crucial role in problem-solving and personal well-being, underscoring the need for further research to deepen our understanding of this multifaceted construct.
Creativity
Type of Psychology: Cognitive; Developmental; Neuropsychology; Social
Creativity can be defined as the ability to generate a novel idea or product. Creative people tend to be divergent thinkers, and tend to be open minded and interested in a wide variety of things. Creativity cannot be measured by standardized intelligence tests, although more recent theories of intelligence have acknowledged the importance of including creative thinking as a type of intelligence. There are tests that purport to measure creativity, the most popular being the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). In recent years, the link between creativity and mental illness has been explored, although research has not been able to establish causality between the two. Overall, more research needs to be done on creativity and the creative process so greater understandings can be established.
Introduction
Creativity can be defined as the ability to generate novel ideas, as well as the ability to think in original ways. Creative individuals tend to see the “big picture,” and can find connections among things that others cannot see. It can also be defined as the ability to come up with a unique approach to create a new product, whether it is a piece of music, a poem, a work of art, or a scientific theory. Many researchers feel that creative people are divergent thinkers, or individuals who can generate many ideas quickly in response to a single prompt. For example, divergent thinkers may be quickly able to think of new and unique uses for everyday items such as a spoon, a brick, or a pencil. Convergent thinkers, on the other hand, use only knowledge and logic to answer prompts or questions. Another aspect of creativity may be what is known as cognitive complexity. Cognitive complexity is having a preference for elaborate, intricate, complex stimuli and thinking patterns. Creative people on the whole tend to have a wider range of interests as compared to non-creative individuals. They tend to be more interested in the philosophical, abstract, and outside the box ideas.
Creativity tends to be a neglected research interest in the field of psychology, most likely because it is a difficult construct to operationally define or test. However, the latter half of the 1900s saw a resurgence of interest in creativity as a psychological construct, and now, a handful of psychological journals and handbooks directly deal with research on the science of creativity.
The History of Creativity
Most all of the world's religious systems depend on a creation story, where one or more gods have the creative power to design the world. In Greek mythology, Zeus, fathered nine daughters, or “muses,” each of whom represented a different domain of creative accomplishment (i.e., music, drama, comedy, and dance). Ancient Romans believed that each individual is born with a spirit who watched over an individual's creative talents. Many still see creativity as a “gift from the gods,” or God. This aspect of creativity may stunt research, for if creativity is considered a spiritual gift, it becomes difficult to scientifically explain it.
In the 1960s however, the emergence of the field of humanistic psychology brought new attention to creativity as a psychological construct. Humanistic psychology focuses on the tenets of unconditional positive regard and unlimited human potentiality. Abraham Maslow, in his description of self-actualization, included creativity as part of the profile of a self-actualized person. To help formulate his theory, he studied the lives of several individuals he perceived as self-actualized. Most of those individuals were theorists, writers, and composers like Franz Joseph Haydn, Robert Browning, Albert Einstein, and Walt Whitman.
The introduction of the field of positive psychology in early 2000 by Martin Seligman created a space for continuation of scientific research on creativity. Positive psychology can be considered a branch of humanistic psychology, and it's concentration is on how to create healthy, grateful, resilient, intrinsically motivated, and creative human beings. Positive psychology tends to decrease psychology's focus on psychopathology, and increases interest in the vitality of the individual.
Creativity and Intelligence
Most traditional intelligence tests measure convergent thinking rather than divergent thinking. Questions are asked, and there is usually one acceptable answer. Traits of creativity and traditional intelligence are not often paired together. However, in the 1980s, two intelligence theories were created that did view creativity as an essential part of intelligence. These two theories were Sternberg's Triarchic Theory (1988) and Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (1983). Sternberg's Triarchic Theory asserted that intelligence can be defined as how well an individual deals with environmental changes throughout their lifespan. Sternberg outlined that humans generally have three basic types of intelligence: analytic intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. Analytic intelligence is generally measured by traditional IQ tests, and is focused on the solving of academic problems. Creative intelligence is the ability to use experience and existing knowledge to create new, “out of the box” solutions. Finally, practical intelligence focuses on everyday life situations, such as how to change a tire, or sew a button on a shirt.
Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences focuses on several types of intelligence, many of them creative types. Gardner believes that individuals learn and are smart in different ways, and that having multiple intelligences may allow for a broadened view of intelligence as a whole, both for the benefit of the educational system as well as overall society. Gardner's multiple intelligences include musical/rhythmic intelligence, visual spatial intelligence, verbal linguistic intelligence, logical mathematical intelligence, bodily kinesthetic intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalistic intelligence. In recent years, he has also mentioned adding existential as well as moral intelligence to the list.
The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)
One of the most famous tests of creativity is the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. Although the Torrance Test has been used mostly for testing gifted students, it can also be used to assist in individualizing instruction for students in schools, or as a tool for assessing and enhancing creativity. There are two basic Torrance Tests: the Figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, and the Verbal Torrance Test of Creative Thinking.
The Figural Torrance Test of Creative Thinking uses three picture-based exercises to measure fluency, elaboration, originality, resistance to premature closure, and abstractness of titles in individuals age 5 and up. The Figural TTCT also provides standardized scores for creative strengths such as emotional expressiveness, storytelling articulateness, unusual visualization, humor, imagery, and fantasy.
The Verbal TTCT uses six word-based exercises to asses fluency, flexibility, and originality. The Verbal TTCT includes five activities, entitled Ask and Guess, Product Improvement, Unusual Uses, Unusual Questions, and Just Suppose. The creator of the Torrance Tests, Ellis Paul Torrance, wanted the general testing environment for the TTCT to be fun and game like. Therefore, elimination of test anxiety and external stress during this test is important.
Creativity and Mental Illness
There has been much talk in recent years about the perceived link between creative thought and mental illness, although science has not been able to verify or disprove the relationship. Although many famous creative people have been institutionalized and/or have suffered mental illness in their lifetimes (i.e., Sylvia Plath, Irving Berlin, Georgia O'Keefe, Vincent Van Gogh), there have also been many artists, writers, poets, and scientists that have not suffered from mental illness. Ultimately, it is difficult to prove causality, although a review of research on the topic is presented below.
In 1987, Dr. Nancy Andreason tested 30 writers from the Iowa Writing Workshop, comparing them with 30 educationally matched control subjects. The experimental group of creative writers had significantly higher levels of bipolar disorder than did the control group. In 1995, A.M. Ludwig wrote a book examining the lives of over one thousand eminent individuals, finding a high level of mental illness in individuals involved in the creative professions. It is important to note that these studies have been criticized for their highly specialized samples, inconsistent methodologies, and overall subjectivity.
Neurologically, brain states between individuals in a creative versus a mentally ill state may actually be very similar. Creative thinking, manic depression, and schizophrenia both involve an unusually high level of frontal lobe activity, and atypical dopamine levels are seen in both schizophrenia and those who have high creative drive. However, this does not mean that creativity and mental illness are one in the same.
Conclusion
It becomes clear that creativity is tied to divergent thinking and openness of mind. It is also an important element of problem solving, wellbeing, and academic as well as everyday life success. However, more psychological and educational research is desperately needed in order to close the gap between assumptions and real scientific knowledge when it comes to creativity.
Bibliography
Kaufman, S. B. (2013, October 3). The Real Link Between Creativity and Mental Illness. Scientific American. Retrieved from http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-real-link-between-creativity-and-mental-illness/
Kim, K.H. (2006). “Can We Trust Creativity Tests? A Review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT)”. Creativity Research Journal, 18, 3 – 14.
Ludwig, A.M. (1995). The Price of Greatness: Resolving the Creativity and Madness Controversy. New York: Guilford Press.
Plucker, J.A., Beghetto, R. A. & Dow, G.T. (2004). “Why Isn't Creativity More Important To Educational Psychologists? Potentials, Pitfalls, and Future Directions In Creativity Research.” Educational Psychologist, 39, 83–96.
Pope, R. (2005). Creativity: Theory, History, and Practice. New York: Routledge.
Sussman, A. (2007). “Mental Illness and Creativity: A Neurological View Of The ‘Tortured Artist.’” Sanford Journal of Neuroscience, 1. Retrieved from http://web.stanford.edu/group/co-sign/Sussman.pdf.