Creativity: Contemporary Theories

Monday’s PPT

Invention Convention

Invention ConventionNecessity is the mother of invention. Using only the

provided newspaper, scissors, and tape invent each of the following items.

1. Something to save your life.

2. A wasp trap.3. A way to measure a two

story building.4. A foolproof clue to your

identity.5. A container to hold a

10lb rock.

6. A hearing aid.7. A teaching aid to teach

children subtraction.8. An object to help someone

communicate.9. Something a pet owner

may need.10. Something to help prepare

food.

Judging Inventions & Creativity

Score

Flexibility

Originality

Fluency

Elaboration

Theories of Creativity

1. Threshold Theory2. Psychoanalytic Theorists – Unconscious drive3. Behaviorists – Reinforced behavior4. Cognitivists- A way of thinking5. Humanists – a state of being

A. MaslowB. Rogers

Theories of Creativity

1. Threshold Theory2. Psychoanalytic Theorists – Unconscious drive3. Behaviorists – Reinforced behavior4. Cognitivists- A way of thinking5. Humanists – a state of being

6. Contemporary Theorists- a systems and developmental approach

A. Amabile SimontonB. Gruber CsikszentmihalyiC. Gardner

Gruber

• Studied traits of creative individuals• Task commitment– Through working hard you transform yourself and

what would be hard for others becomes easy for you.

– The greatest fun is the work.– Creative people combine a zest for work with a

capacity to play

• Sense of purpose – Strong, robust energetic– A feeling of who they are and where they are

going• Risk taking– Challenged by the unknown– Courage can come at time depending on life’s

circumstances

• Network of Enterprises–Multiple ongoing interests thread

through the intellectual life of a creative individual.–Complete and enduring sets of

purposes–Juggling projects

Bracketing

• Technique creative people use to handle problem that they can’t solve yet.

• Tolerance for ambiguity• Sometimes intuitive ideas can’t be explained

for lack of knowledge must make assumptions

• Images of a wide scope– Metaphor that holds the key to a creative

breakthrough.

–

Creative people must use their skills to devise environments that foster their work

– They must invent new peer groups appropriate to their projects

– Being creative means striking out in new directions and making new friends

– Being creative means a willingness to be alone for awhile.

A Systems Perspective on CreativityMihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Happiness, Creativity, and Flow

Figure 1.1 A systems model of creativity

Domain

• Area in which a person is working (art, physics, etc.)

• Dependent on culture (eg. computer science in San Francisco in 60s and 70s

• Different domains are valued in different ethnic groups

Field

• Experts/Gatekeepers in a given domain who judge creativity (eg. museum curators and modern art)

• Is affected by current social values

The Nature of Creativity

R. J. Steinberg

Investment Theory

• Creativity requires 6 resources– Intellectual abilities– Knowledge– Styles of thinking– Personality– Motivation– Environment

Attributes of Creative Students

– Buy low and sell high– Excel in art but not as

often in writing– Persists through

resistance– Learn better when

information is applicable– Can be hard to identify

Evaluating Creativity as a Teacher

• Identifying Creativity in Students– Quality of work– Sophistication of work– Originality of work

• Creativity is as much an attitude toward life as it is an ability– This attitude CAN be taught and nurtured in our

students

INTELLIGENCE • The ability to adapt to the environment. • Acquire skills to adapt to their existing environment.

CREATIVITY• The ability to produce products that novel and high quality. But not necessarily what people

expect or desire.

WISDOM• Balance the need for change (creativity) and stability (intelligence)

“ The ideas of today's intelligence will be questioned by the ideas of tomorrow's creativity, only to be synthesized by the ideas of post tomorrow's wisdom.”

What Is the Common Thread of Creativity?Its Dialectical Relation to Intelligence and Wisdom

By Robert SternbergSent June 19

Sent June 19

Environment/Society

• Money in a given domain will affect creativity (eg. art in Italy during the Renaissance)

• On an individual level, the ability to be creative is a luxury and often not possible for those living in poor circumstances

• Someone who is too comfortable will not be motivated to be creative

Simonton

• Studied creativity over the life span.–Personality–Circumstances of their training–Properties of their most highly

esteemed work.

Findings

• Maximal creativity 35-39• Tend to produce more bad than good• Drop out of college• Smart but not too brainy

• Developmental or early influences:– Higher incidence of parental loss– First born– Environment replete with intellectually and

culturally stimulating materials– Role models: essential tension

• Formal education– “It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the

modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry for this delicate little plant aside from stimulation stands mostly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail”

(Einstein)

• As educational level increases the probability of achieving eminence in a creative endeavor also increases up to a certain optimum and thereafter declines so that further formal training diminishes the odds of achieving the highest eminence.

Theories of Creativity

1. Threshold Theory2. Psychoanalytic Theorists – Unconscious drive3. Behaviorists – Reinforced behavior4. Cognitivists- A way of thinking5. Humanists – a state of being6. Contemporary Theorists- a systems and

developmental approach

Creativity Review

• There seems to be a continuum of creative abilities C………………….c

• There is a relationship between intelligence and creativity. This is called the threshold effect.

• Depending on the psychological paradigm, creativity is viewed as a subconscious drive, a conditioned response, a way of thinking, or a drive to fulfill potential.