An integrative introduction to the theories and themes in research on creativity, the second edition of Creativity is both a reference work and text for courses in this burgeoning area of research. ...The book begins with a discussion of the theories of creativity (Person, Product, Process, Place), the general question of whether creativity is influenced by nature or nurture, what research has indicated of the personality and style of creative individuals from a personality analysis standpoint, and how social context affects creativity. This wide-ranging work then proceeds to coverage of issues such as gender differences, whether creativity can be enhanced, if creativity is related to poor mental or physical health, and much more. The book contains boxes covering special interest items, including one-page biographies of famous creative individuals, and activities for a group or individual to test or encourage creativity, as well as references to Internet sites relating to creativity. * Includes all major theories and perspectives on creativity * Consolidates recent research into a single source * Includes key terms defined and text boxes with interesting related material * Single authored for clarity and consistency of presentation
Creativity Runco, Mark A
2010, 2007, 2010-08-04
eBook
An integrative introduction to the theories and themes in research on creativity, this book is both a reference work and text for courses in this burgeoning area of research. The book begins with a ...discussion of the theories of creativity (Person, Product, Process, Place), the general question of whether creativity is influenced by nature or nurture, what research has indicated of the personality and style of creative individuals from a personality analysis standpoint, how social context affects creativity, and then coverage of issues like gender differences, whether creativity can be enhanced, if creativity is related to poor mental or physical health, etc. The book contains boxes covering special interest items including one page biographies of famous creative individuals and activities for a group or individual to test and/or encourage creativity, as well as references to internet sites relating to creativity. * Breaks down the major theories about creativity but doesn't restrict to a singular perspective * Includes extensive citations of existing literature * Textbook features included (i.e., key terms defined)
The target article covers a large amount of ground and offers a provocative perspective. This commentary focuses on (a) assumptions, namely that there are discrete stages in the creative process and ...that novelty and usefulness are inextricable, (b) hidden variables in the creativity-curiosity relationship, and (c) the difference between an
of creativity versus a description of
on it.
This article reviews research on divergent thinking (DT) and the new methods that have recently been developed. Special attention is given to the theory of Literal DT, where creative cognition does ...in fact branch out and diverge rather than follow linear pathways. Even more attention is given to the growing research showing the value of computerized testing and scoring of DT tasks. We revisit some of the major issues around DT tasks and explore possible solutions that have emerged from new and classic works. A few pitfalls while testing DT are noted in this review and connections made to how the research supports the validity of DT tests.
Divergent thinking (DT) tests are very often used in creativity studies. Certainly DT does not guarantee actual creative achievement, but tests of DT are reliable and reasonably valid predictors of ...certain performance criteria. The validity of DT is described as reasonable because validity is not an all-or-nothing attribute, but is, instead, a matter of degree. Also, validity only makes sense relative to particular criteria. The criteria strongly associated with DT are detailed in this article. It also summarizes the uses and limitations of DT, conceptually and psychometrically. After the psychometric evidence is reviewed, alternative tests and scoring procedures are described, including several that have only recently been published. Throughout this article related processes, such as problem finding and evaluative thinking, are linked to DT.
Divergent thinking (DT) tests are often used for creativity assessment. They differ from many other tests in that they are open-ended. A great deal of research has examined the influence of test ...instructions on the number and nature of responses to DT tests. Most instructions explicitly emphasize quantity (e.g., "give as many ideas as you can"). Others target additional features, such as creativity, originality, or idea quality. Do such alternative explicit instructions make any difference? The present meta-analysis examined studies that compared the explicit instructions emphasizing creativity, originality, and quality to quantity instructions. Using a 3-level multilevel approach, analyses with all 204 effect sizes from 31 studies indicated that creativity and quality instructions increased performance on DT when added to quantity instructions (gs = .243 and .271, respectively), more than quantity instructions alone. However, the originality instructions did not change DT performance (g = −.159). Thus, explicit instructions may increase or decrease DT performance, depending on which alternative explicit instructions are used and how they are presented. Practical implications of the findings are discussed, as are limitations of this research.
The present study developed the malevolent creativity behavior scale (MCBS), which contains 13 items and was designed to measure individuals' malevolent creativity through the behavior of daily ...lives. A total of 958 participants from different regions of China completed the MCBS in an online fashion. Cronbach's α coefficient, using the 908 MCBSs with entirely complete data, indicated that the MCBS had satisfactory reliability. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that the MCBS had 3 dimensions: hurting people, lying, and playing tricks. MCBS scores were positively correlated with individuals' aggression, openness, extraversion, and scores on the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS). MCBS scores also predicted individuals' malevolent creativity performances when solving realistic, open-ended problems. The MCBS has a simple response medium and scoring procedure. This, along with the adequate psychometric properties uncovered here, indicates that it is a useful tool for research on malevolent creativity. Given that the MCBS contains a relatively small number of categories and items, further research could expand the categories of items and develop and test more items. Moreover, it would be useful to test MCBS's reliability and validity with other criteria. Perhaps future research could obtain actual MC data from criminal or other unambiguously malevolent samples.
Tests of divergent thinking represent the most commonly used assessment of creative potential. Typically they are scored for total ideational output (fluency), ideational originality, and, sometimes, ...ideational flexibility. That scoring system provides little information about the underlying process and about the associations among ideas. It also does not really capture the key principle of divergent thinking, namely that ideas may be found when cognition explores new (divergent) directions. The investigation reported here used 3 independent semantic networks, each computerized and previously validated, to quantify the distance between responses (ideas) to several tests of divergent thinking. These sources were WordNet (WN), Word Associations Network (WAN), and IdeaFisher (IF). Statistical analyses indicated that remote and close associations can be reliably measured when different sources of associative strength are used. Inter-item reliability (alpha coefficients) of what these networks had identified as remote associations were higher than those from close associations. Inter-item reliability values were higher in the WAN and IF, which provided shorter lists than the WN. Therefore, longer associative lists did not necessarily produce better indices of remote and close associations. Also, scores from a measure of creative attitudes and values were significantly correlated with remote, but not with close, associations across all 3 networks. This finding is very important because it shows that people with a higher tendency of creative attitudes and values, as measured by divergent thinking tests, are more likely to make remote associations rather than close associations. Limitations and future directions are discussed.
Divergent thinking (DT) tests are often used to estimate the potential for creative thinking. They are usually scored for fluency, originality, and flexibility. The last of these is especially ...important because it allows the person to avoid rigidity and conceptual ruts. Usually, flexibility is operationalized in terms of the absolute number of conceptual categories used by the individual, but occasionally it has been scored in terms of the number of switches rather than the absolute number of categories used. The present study investigated if idea sequence moderates the relationship between category switch and the latency between consecutive ideas. Data were collected through think aloud sessions with four DT tests. These elicited 1408 ideas. A three-level hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) structure indicated that idea sequence moderated the relationship between category switch and latency. Latency tended to be shorter in early ideas than those coming later and it was the highest when a category switch took place in later sections than those occurring earlier. Findings are discussed in terms of creativity assessment and the process of DT.
•Latency is shorter in early ideas than those coming later.•Idea sequence moderated the relationship between category switch and latency.•Latency is the highest when a category switch takes place in later sections.•Latency needed to switch a category varies because of individual differences.
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