De a Creativity: basic concepts eee | se purpose ofthis chapter is Took in a general way atthe following ontions 1 Howanitbe said? (How sitdiferent from ineligence? Wins is connection with education and cildreatng? | © Whatiscreatvin? ‘The answers to these questions provide framework for more euied ds- | custioaio tr cher freative thinking personal propertis connected ‘ih ceaiy and ways of eniffing and fostering. What is creativity? Emergence of he modern concept Theres well-documented interest in creativity going hack tothe ancient ‘ot To tk single example, Plt’ on emphasized society's nice for = ashe people and urged the state o foster their development, Over the ent- fe ants selpors, poe, writes, musicians and other workers i the {teva hae fequently discussed creativity, usualy ecg i¢as3 medion {0r beauifjing the environment, a form of selfeexpression and commu Sop or way of understanding, opening up or coping with the prev ‘Siimgam. Mor recently creativity has been seen by some as the only 32 "= technology suchas mireleewonics cannot go In this view crate 4 Creativity: basic concepts 5 thinking isa bastion of human digniry in an age ws taking over. ‘Although creativity was initlly looked 238 an ati more closely at crestiviey in mathematics andthe na 1983; Roe, 1952) as well sin the professions such ing eg Facacara, 1985; MacKinnon, 1983). Cre esthetic and spiritual connota yt be applied i recent work extends this by also giving empha comsiderations. The term has even been bros areas sich ar sport, where discomfing oppone tactics is equated with creativity (eg Herrmann, 198 In 1957 the successful launching of the frst aruticial earth satelite caused the ‘Sputnik shock’. Despite the widespread impression that the spa programme of the United States was vastly superior to that of is rival th apparently inferior engineers and scientists ofthe Sovies Union (st was then had won the fist event in the space race In the couse of the so ea tha followed, creativity began t be scen asa way of achieving world suprem acy. Adopting a human eapral approach (sce Walberg and Staiha, 19 vn business and ‘with creative people being seen us the vital resource needed t cussions of creativity have since become prom antacr meet and conquer competition for markets and market sha tan through creative design and creative production or marketing. This has in cura Jed to considerable emphasis on creative leadership and the management of innovation (eg Rickards, 1994), not only in business and industry but slo i government, the armed services and similar large organizations. Thos interest ‘ceurs despite dhe fact that there seems to be something inherently parsdonal about applying administrative procedures or management techjuey t ere ativgy. In technologically less developed countries where bath phase sure vival and survival of the national idencigy are more portant than swoeld dominance, creativity is often scen 3s the key to rapid economic and social development, especially modernization and its hoped-for benefits of proved «education, nutrition, health care tolerance of minorities, democracy and polit seal stability. The three key aspects dis and uncer, However, sill shows ede three elements: _ in following educational pate, this core has aT ce erBa ——_ a «creativity in education and foarning «med (ceive pra coun oacton rie recess deers om hat it achieves some end ~ this may be in these terial such as winning J, but may also be eed, arse o spiral making profit 3. diy (he ter “ret esracve behavior, cies rive is not usually used to describe selfish or s, warmangering and the Hike), Creativity as cause, effect and interas creat os ec creative products Creat ec rey af pdt. Tex ae ofc gle nd a eerste mac compen sed carb errmsg ape Se gets Thy cio be tages Se i abana trang rsvng cbc buses, Se Saal en ey ey on ore an rea sannsbrcooepreting te well a Re nical etecie dep: The en ar Seer irlos toms hem cate were sami in ok eosin cai) Amor deed dacnion ‘Teenie seal Te 3! on pH), Creativity as couse: creative people Byconeast asa cans resi iaconstllation or cluster of pyphalgil fat: vin individual people har gives them the capacity of potenti to produce rods with properties such as those just outlined, but docs not guarantee their emergence. Its thus 2 necessary but not suficient cause For creative fof Thapychdagalcaselaton noes bis rowed il ‘moses atts and values, as well as personal properties such as openness, ‘ental, o courage (for more details see later chapters, especially Chapters? and). AsErson and Smith (199) pointed out ina discussion of expertise, sare sec ofthis cluster involve steibutes that apparently have a song Stet componce (pci msl or ari aii) but thers nv rmbt tht ar lgly acquired through experience andlor taining (8 dma secc knowl, spec cognitive statis) These later ate of Interest to educators at ll levels, The special characteristics ofee- sve peopl ae dscused in deal in Chay 6109 128, detain Chapter 6 and are suramarized in Table Creativity: basic concepts 7 Creativity as interaction: the congenial environment ‘Also imporant, however, s exposure to favourable or unfavourab ‘cumstances. Favourable circumstances involve factors ce for now ley, encouragement and recognition, contact behaviour and appropriate opportunities such as instruments, special tools or specialized literature as wells people treaiviey. Trelinger (1995) referred to the presence in the envio ‘Testste (people or circumstances that inhibit creativity and ‘assists’ (peo- ple or circumstances that facilitate it), Potent assists are people who provide models of appropriate behaviour or even merely encourage it but they an also be uch simple things as lucky timing or accesso an important source. These define what Csikszentmihaly (1996) called 2 “congenial” environment. The tole of the environment in cratviy willbe discussed more lly Chapter 3 “This leads tothe idea ofceainity ar an iteration. 1 involves psychological nats, tobe sure, However, these do not express themselves im solation but within the framework offered by the particular person's environment. The tnvironment, Broadly understood, includes the resources that t makes aval thle (both human and materia), the degree of divergence of sk takin willbe tolerated, or the kinds of rewards (or punishrents) chat it ‘eho diverge from the weal. The quality. quantity and timing of these f iMfece acquisition (or not) ofknowledge and sills need for ereatwiy, a well {sof fvourable (or unfivourable) sttades oF motives. presence 0 hat The active role of the environment The environment is not simply a passive recipient of whatever creative peopl offer, but itself determines what kind of novel * produced. Only cerin solutions wil be tolerated by a particular environment. For example, novel design for motor cars would be tarrange the seats so thatall pascenizers except the driver faced the rea. This desgn would dramstially reduce deaths and injuries among occupants of motor vehicles involv m serious cosine and ‘would thus not only be novel but also extremely effective. However, has never even been tried by manufacturers because is clear chat car buyers ‘would notacceptit. The socal seting thus determanss what kinds of nev ideas by setting limits to the degree andlor kind ofdivergence thats een, by {tding creative thinking into particular channels, er by affecting motivation there lite incentive wo produce novelty or surprise that noone ese is willing tosupport Despite this, exceptional individuals who swim aguinse the cure = such a Galle, swho was condemned for heresy ~ are stil seen Simonton (see 1997 for a comprehensive summary) has shown hat effets ofthe environment are not only specific, afecting the creativity of a particular individual, bt also general in that they indlence the ind of novelSW Pewee ‘8 creativity in sducation andl learning sy 25a whole. This occurs most obviously in the ai onsen et uss, However, dierent paters of ny. sem on rao seen ties FENDI PRP o epesin, Sore Fo insane, laliconginality’ of composers ishigher dy moto, 198) that is produced inthe soci ing wartime (St Focus on person and process The problem of defining creativity vio products Presi errhayin tems of product aes a number of problems. ten pened deen obervesto prec onthe creativity ofa produce or rans agement obtained in one age future ages may come wa dif. wreitinaen Shitepete’s ply, for instance, were judged to be ndeens secon England had tobe edited to make them especable. tn 1818 De-Thomas Boh published the Family Shaker in which he removed topresions tha could not wth propiry be read aloud in the fail he howd td Shakespear’ work a5 we nw epress i). The problem of changing Standards spesty mos obviousn the areaof fine art where what isreguded Ssereaive may va fe scey to society and from ech to epoch vain sce, wile the emost eer may disagree on the ret of ven work Siar probes alo exs renin areas thatare more objective andre es ont or judgement In 1802, afer his death in ade atthe age of 29, the French mathemaean Galois was ound wo have lft a body of mathematica ‘rings th were examined and pronounced wo be valueless despite the ft that he had fenicly worked om them almost to his final moments. The mathematical propstons were nove, erly, but were judged to have mo bassin mathematica knowedge and tolead nowhere ithe ackingin fee. svenes)-twasonl afer th pasage of several years daring which mahemat- I anced ene rhe lance and efeevenss of Gal's rk me patent dx thi cretity was recognized. Other creative sient such s Galo have seed exreme socal disapproval even tothe extent af Seigdecared heres caus they intdced what was infect new a= dig whe sere ne efeivenes woe byod thea opr age toupee: InGalie’s case this was the now commonplace ies thatthe ‘earth revolves arourd the sun, air uy )tonand Msick (56) invodueda ater clement tothe dscsion by dscns tween exeal rier ofthe effectiveness ofa novel rod (8 afulnes ia aking specie problem ors) annem cera sech slg, harmany among it clement, and plesingness. Miller (1992) Emphasizing the human element that simply app Macaterme f pint large number the Conve Oxod of a brilliant novel. answer Nol, belie involving perp o tar edge and sail. Thus, 3d . ‘central clement of ‘Asa result, then ple ane thinking special problem ‘maton, problem i igness to take rks, ofp things propre form " ment Parallel w approa other authors such as Barron (196 Helson (199) " - the product applied direcly here knwo : saltPree 42. creativity in education and learning a st amateur authors who received anil Among apngted actos Studying creativity nitive vs qualitative opproaches Sone ream i emething that psn citer hs odo ee tr appmach esti research on Tab tudying the chosen rare ne be wuched by the muse they have but he others J et Here equine poncon adopted in this book i that there acon: ease rt peat orlewer evel of crea ranging fom the unsung rey Ertmeate ti sublime This approach rejects the view that some pepe eer rer irs are pot and esumesthat everybody can ply cea Soe as difering Sore. Wabou denying the mporance ofa Rigel or aiblime cea the sudy of everyday erst {Per mporance for educators nd parents and of eos, fr chilren nd Treg sen swell for managers, administrators and leaders ‘Methods in eretvity research FestandRunco (198) reviewed articles published in 50 issues ofthe fume Cte Blas fom ss ncepaon in 1967 unl 1989. They found dat ee srt out four wee nen-empircal, many ofthese focusing on they td ‘Subcomponents The second approach i ypified by Renzulli’ ‘three-ring’ model (eg Renzulli 1986 according to which creativity and intelligence — together with motva- tion are sparse subcomponents of more general concept of intellecrul power that Renzulli called '[Link] (1988) adopted a similar position and argued that what he refered to as Klugh (Iiterally ‘cleverness’ but used by Hissenstein a abel fora more encompassing concept of intellectual abil) incorporates both facual knowledge, accurate observation, good memory, loge thinking and speed of information processing (eg intelligence) and inventiveness, unustal associations, fntasy and flexibility (eg creat) Intelligence threshold Samming pcre andinelgnce ar either denial nor completely ferent bt are imtercing aspect of ttellecual power. As etl a 1966 i ‘shown (Crpley 96) thatthe corlton i about 3. A combination of theo sneeed for high evel ofereatve achievement. An erly concepial testo ofthe way they combine was the thesld moe! (ora discussion, $= Ronco an Albert, 1986) according to which minimum level of intelligence {Gorespondingto an of perhaps 130 is mecesary befor creativity is poss # Ashghtcxtnson the idea that a ineligence approaches this threshold Creativity: basic concepts 25 from below the possibilty of creativity rises (ie cratviy and IQ are post correlated below the threshold). When ineligence ies above the threshold increases in intelligence have no consequences for creativity (i 1Qand cr ity are uncorrelated once intelligence is high enough) ‘This view has been expanded somewhat by the ide ship between creativity and intelligence (Guilford and Christensen. 1973) Ineligence determines the upper limits of a person's 3 bem and store information without actually being itself part of creauvity. The degree of Creativity depends upon the amount of novel rested inthe processing ofthe information made available by intelligence. If 52 result of either low intell- ‘gence o environmental deprivation a person does not have acces 9 informs fon, there is nothing to be retrieved and creatively processed. An approach ‘even more cleatly oriented towards information processing isthe wea that intelligence involves channel capacity (the amount of information flowing in, ina given time) Creativity results from flouble and versie handling of th information. Lack of creatiity results from merely conventional use of the information. Channel capacity in the sense ofan upper limit on the number of "bie of information chat can be assimilated is imeutvely compatible with the concept of intelligence while the versatility and extent to which an individual ‘can manipulate, reorganize and recombine those bits is compatible with the ‘notion of ereauty. Creative ‘style” [Another approach i to regard creativity not as level a all but as syle for applying intellectual ability. Gardner (1983) referred to aso wy of eppiying imeligece and Runco and Alber (1986) defined it as inligence nation. App ‘ation of intellectual ability to produce novely was contrasted with using if produce singularity or othodaxy (Cropley, 1999). The two styles are posible at allleves of ability so thatthe crucial difference berween production of novelty and production of orthodoxy (je berscen ‘reativnty’ and intelligence) qual- ‘native rather than quantitative. As has already been emphasized production of nnovelry only occasionally lads to sublime products, although ve sometimes does. Sublime products require high levels of specific and general knowlede a strongly developed connection to realiy, wellrounded self-evaluation, 2 high level of command of a medium of expression and communication, anda superior grasp of what the surrounding environment can tolerate All of these are aspects of what is usually regarded as intelligence Thus, creativity involves both intelligence and creativity. Acclaimed cre~ tivity both resembles everyday creativity and is abo different from 1. The resemblance qualitative: both involves knd of intellectual functioning that's different from ‘mere’ intelligence. The difference is quantitative» acclaimed26. crestiviyin educotion and learning cs wl oon) drew tention to (producers of ordinary cryin people Nich es most children since they may well play the Kind ot rca di panera meantby the term ‘creatvg. Summary er undandng of whats meant het“ cs creativity) and thus do not offer a compreh Fone rss However. itisthe cognitive aspects of inteligence that ae cm pn et iene! ht etn ‘Fable LA bsamples of ifxeises berwcen creativity and intelligence a | aang meni | apn a | leese Seaiecyiowtn | cangy be ore | Eros oan) | (roduc ow) | asios —_| lig imaging pet hing prob nding sa |emmrpmainling —_| den iting | memerting cia thinking ee ee ma |feopitegtetar | Ung pee domain Temucsreciiqas | brncing ne Deine — | age sorely ieee © foee, poor |g | Se =a Creativity: basi The approach of this book In this book the people/process approach will domina on the production of acclaimed works but on 4 the psychological factors within the individual ~suck as thos above ~ that give the person in question the potential obec sey. T involves what Runco (1995) called “indindual creanity These il be divided into two groups: on the one hand pv personal properties f¢- the aspects ofthe environment that prom ative behaviour This focus not only avoids difficulties associated with defining creativity products butitsalso more productive fara discussion of cette tly sn educational insiuions (both schools and colleges), a ell in busine commerce law, polit and similar fields, Because few young peop. accimed products during their school years emphasis on proiace sould ‘exclude almostal children fom the discussion Its alo tec that despite cep sions high achievencut i elilood i many creative teas sic ss mone (Howe and Sloboda, 1991) is only occasionally flowed by preg schon ment in the aul yars so that proiet in childhood ary any cose, only rough guide to ater aclaim for creativity. This approach vcws eesti ‘psychological potential of al people regardless of eel. In ther wads tion of novelty canbe fostered in everybody not jst the chose foe Focusing om person and process docs not mean tat proits will be ignored inthe book For instance, eminent creative people can most oly be idenitied by means of their products. The concept of effcivenesscen her 2 central to creauvty, 6 property of proves. The intrscton bene itnermalcharacersis (thinking personality and motwation) and esternal ‘ors (the congenial environment, exposure to models, ofportunity) can easily e studied by looking atthe emergence of products, fr in stage or phase model (see pp 71-78). Priets ae left out of in the sense that ~ with one or two exceptions (eg the discussion of ‘reatvity tests) ~ the book s not concerned with lying down rules o side Fines on how to assess the creaiiy of prot, with determining the create igy of specific products, or with comparing certain prods with others. nor does it restrict its discussions to people with aclamicd products Inthis book the family, schools and institutions of higher education, aswell as businesses, ims and other practi setings are sen environments tha need tobe made more congenial Inher word they cando more to promote8. Creativity in education and learning sayy pepe biog spr nt mah ner of create Behaviour Futana sa pe don ies kno a st pup in ace on He ct nal oreo, nest mall et hy ci, Ts do oy eve snes pene pose dates Sey goo to achieve widespread acclaim.) peep my atoms of reat have tended 0 COneC OAC On eh. children and this is scarcely surprising, Creativity seems to be part of the lena pesados or ease of res See nt the word (the abu rast model) and are ina sense engaged in the sersar presse buldingeeir own internal map ofthe external world Ce Fe pa of didi, Fartermcrs, sven hepnees st ald eae Wise sty tolok thing dire iy Sai aetanpreces vo old pbs that society neds and Ta clpngrch new approaches, Crest hide recur sere ly crt ffs canroom approaches tht ae imei a coed ket merc eins way of eocrng karing i posi Sra aaag Crates ip cls er ol rc nse ag he ey ofthe pons jut a the pes book wil absent estan oem oppose ping some ation octet TEGis Chap 24 dnens ons spec ofthe developmen pa yefreiy Chater2and3dtne in ore dal he oyholopeeome Se eer ica wots wrnides yore pope varie ince arcalebefoemedlartpproprinecormeresens TE socal tare of grant wl abo breast n Chae long wh atngceste tankongand dong Copter tems ‘iene: bere rn and ade at presents a concep of he Cry Tn oes on peopel proce and charters akon witb guertaespprooch ound above. The pry ‘ero fora mara conned in these chapters so ena cot gtinesonsh ts th neds tbe promi orderto foe ete ihe cnn chaps wl fea on these uns and on aching Kamien pled order to fst rent bth chad set dsin hig etn thes cencourage the 2 The role of thinking in creativity ‘Thinking nwalves races itera representations of he external world sch pt ‘ategories, or nerworks) that are bu upon the basis of informaiton ‘oming in fom the outside recess such as exploring, recopnitingorganiaing interpreting. 00) Canc end wrehing toreug which dat internation i remem ‘orl macarons such 3s percept ses, combina ce, ‘on-making rules, or ealstion srstepes tht gun the pro iMfect the ands of structures they lead to. “The present chapter will review the spec forms these mst take inorder to lead to cet. Creative cognitive structures The nature of internal structures CCogiive structures ae internal representations ofthe extemal world that are built up on the bass of experience ~ they reflect and summarize the sccurma~ Inted experiences of the individual and are stored in memory. Thanks t th phenomenon of language they also contain much of the accumulated expori= ence ofthe whole society, passed on mainly by means of language by parents teachers, books, media and similar sources of information. The struct 29