Defining Creativity
with James C. Kaufman, PhD
James C. Kaufman is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. He is the author/editor of more than 40 books, including Creativity 101 and the Cambridge Handbook of Creativity with Robert Sternberg.
Kaufman has published more than 300 papers, including the study that spawned the Sylvia Plath Effect — Mental Illness in Eminent Creative Writers — and three well-known theories of creativity, including the Four-C Model of Creativity (with Ron Beghetto). He is a past president of Division 10 (Society for Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, & the Arts) of the American Psychological Association (APA). Learn more at Kaufman's Amazon Author Page.
Defining Creativity
This series is intended to be a brief and lively introduction to the field of studying creativity based on Creativity 101 which explores:
- The history of how people began to study creativity with different definitions.
- The "Four P's" of creativity (person, process, product, and press).
- Four ongoing debates and research areas.
- The question of whether creativity is domain-general or domain-specific.
- how creativity corresponds to different constructs such as personality, motivation, and intelligence
- the relationship between creativity and mental illness.
- How creativity might (or might not) improve guidance and selection process.
Why Study Creativity?
Can creativity be measured?
Creativity and Mysticism
The history of creativity research started with mysticism.
Studying Workplace Creativity
Some of the research into workplace creativity is simply pop psychology.
Defining a Creative Person
When you think of a creative person, who do you conjure up?
Are Plagiarizing Animals Creative?
Some would argue that the answer is yes, and in fact, there is even a framework for animal creativity.
Is Football Coaching Creative?
In a 2003 game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick called for a deliberate safety conceding two points to the other team.
Is Creativity Indefinable?
There are many different ways in which someone can be creative, and there are almost as many different ways that people try to measure creativity.