The Nature of Human Creativity

Brings together the research programs and findings of the twenty-four psychological scientists most cited in major textbooks on creativity.

Robert J. Sternberg (Edited by), James C. Kaufman (Edited by)

9781316649022, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 19 April 2018

414 pages, 15 b/w illus. 7 tables
22.8 x 15.3 x 2.2 cm, 0.6 kg

'This superb collection of interdisciplinary essays contains 23 chapters, each written by an eminent scholar in the field of creativity … The vast differences between individual stories and experiences will appeal to graduate students and young researchers who may need confirmation that there are many ways to be a successful researcher and scientist, and seasoned scholars across a variety of disciplines may feel invigorated and refueled by recognizing themselves in the narrative and finding pieces of research questions connected to their own.' S. W. French, Choice

This book provides an overview of the approaches of leading scholars to understanding the nature of creativity, its measurement, its investigation, its development, and its importance to society. The authors are the twenty-four psychological scientists who are most frequently cited in the four major textbooks on creativity, and they can thus be considered among the most eminent living scholars in the field. Authors discuss how they define creativity, the kinds of questions they have addressed, theories they have proposed, and a description of their research and the most interesting empirical results it has produced. The chapters represent a wide range of substantive and methodological emphases, including psychometric, cognitive, expertise-based, developmental, neuropsychological, cultural, systems, and group-difference approaches. The Nature of Human Creativity brings together an incredible diversity of viewpoints, helping students and researchers to see the points of consensus as well as the differences in contemporary perspectives.

Foreword Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi
Preface Robert J. Sternberg and James C. Kaufman
1. Creativity and the labor of love Teresa M. Amabile
2. The trouble with 'creativity' John Baer
3. Do we choose our scholarly paths or do they choose us? My reflections on exploring the nature of creativity in educational settings Ronald A. Beghetto
4. Bringing creativity down to earth: a long labour lost? Arthur Cropley
5. In search of the creative personality Gregory J. Feist
6. From fascination to research: progress and problems in creativity research Adrian Furnham
7. Creativity: the view from big 'C' and the introduction of tiny c Howard Gardner and Emily Weinstein
8. I never intended to become a research psychologist Beth A. Hennessey
9. What creativity can be, and what creativity can do James C. Kaufman
10. Creativity across the 7 C's Todd Lubart
11. Creative thinking in the real world: processing in context Michael D. Mumford, Robert Martin, Samantha Elliott and Tristan McIntosh
12. It all makes sense now that I think about it: a quarter century of studying creativity Jonathan A. Plucker
13. Creative cognition at the individual and team level: what happens before and after idea generation Roni Reiter-Palmon
14. The malleability of creativity: a career in helping students discover and nurture their creativity Joseph S. Renzulli
15. Everyday creativity: challenges for self and world – six questions Ruth Richards and Terri Goslin-Jones
16. Authentic creativity: mechanisms, definitions, and empirical efforts Mark A. Runco
17. Pretend play and creativity: two templates for the future Sandra W. Russ
18. An interdisciplinary study of group creativity R. Keith Sawyer
19. Creativity is undefinable, controllable, and everywhere Paul J. Silvia
20. Genius, creativity, and leadership: a half-century journey through science, history, mathematics, and psychology Dean Keith Simonton
21. The triangle of creativity Robert J. Sternberg
22. Creativity as a continuum Thomas B. Ward
23. Reflections on a personal journey studying the psychology of creativity Robert W. Weisberg
Afterword: the big questions in the field of creativity: now and tomorrow Robert J. Sternberg and James C. Kaufman.

Subject Areas: The self, ego, identity, personality [JMS], Intelligence & reasoning [JMRN], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Psychology [JM]