The Scientific Study of Creativity

The notion of creativity is relatively recent in Western history. Although there were surely artists and possibly even musicians in early prehistoric times and all forms of art flourished to some degree thereafter, the modern conception of creation by an individual or group arose during the period of the Renaissance in Europe. The advent of Romanticism in the last century was accompanied by increased interest in and valuation of creativity as a special individual capacity in literature, art, and music. Toward the end of that century, creativity became a subject of analysis and study among diverse disciplinary groups and the focus has continued to the present day. Despite a large amount of literature on the topic, the conceptual status of creativity is largely unsettled. Many writers treat creativity as synonymous with making of any type without restrictions such as innovation, tangibility, value, or even appropriateness. Others follow restrictions carefully and limit usage to high-level achievement in the arts, technological invention, and inspiratory and theoretical thinking in intellectual disciplines. Sometimes connected with a focus on high-level achievement are metaphysical speculations about the possibility of creation ex nihilo. Cultural factors influence these points of view; there is a tension between Western egalitarian perspectives emphasizing creative activity in everyday pursuits or creative potential in everyone and what some consider an elitist focus on the highest levels of capacity and achievement. In Eastern cultures, where ideas related to creativity were propounded far earlier than in the West, even though the specific term creativity may only recently have come into general use there, emphasis is on a non-individualized inner experience or inner mental state where no tangible product results. The common factor underlying all viewpoints about the concept is that creativity is positively valued; often it is considered the highest capacity that human beings possess. Recognizing the universal valuation placed on the concept, together with the most commonsense considerations regarding making, that is, making or bringing into being something new, the most consistent and appropriate definition of creativity is the capacity or state of bringing forth something both valuable and new. This value may consist of pragmatic and extrinsic usefulness as found in such fields as science and technology or it may consist of intrinsic and sometimes intangible positive worth as in art and theology. Explications and perspectives regarding creativity fall into five categories reviewed here: (1) Individual differences (2) Endowment (3) Functional (4) Conflict (5) Organic.