The Nature of Creativity: Contemporary Psychological Perspectives

by Robert J. Sternberg PhD

Overview

Originally published in 1988, this book provides sixteen chapters by acknowledged experts on the richness and diversity of psychological approaches to the study of creativity. Addressing various aspects and levels of analysis, together they constitute a broad survey of the understanding of what it is to be 'creative'. In the first part of The Nature of Creativity, the role of the environment is discussed. In the second part, the role of the individual is viewed - first from a psychometric perspective; and then from a cognitive or information-processing perspective. In the third part, the role of interaction between individual and environment is examined, first through studies of creative lives; and then through studies of creative systems. The final part consists of an integration and comparison of these various approaches to creativity. A broad audience of psychologists, educators, students and general readers will welcome this lively and thought-provoking investigation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521338929
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/27/1988
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	466
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; List of contributors; Introduction; Part I. The Role of the Environment in Creativity: 1. The conditions of creativity Beth A. Hennessey and Teresa M. Amabile; Part II. The Role of the Individual in Creativity; Section 1. Psychometric Approaches: 2. The nature of creativity as manifest in its testing E. Paul Torrance; 3. Putting creativity to work Frank Barron; 4. Various approaches to and definitions of creativity Calvin W. Taylor; Section 2. Cognitive Approaches: 5. A three-facet model of creativity Robert J. Sternberg; 6. Problem solving and creativity Robert W. Weisberg; 7. A computational model of scientific insight Pat Langley and Randolph Jones; 8. Freedom and constraint in creativity Philip N. Johnson-Laird; 9. Creativity as a mechanical process Roger C. Schank; Part III. The Role of the Individual-Environment Interaction in Creativity; Section 1. The Study of Creative Lives: 10. Inching our way up Mount Olympus: the evolving-systems approach to creative thinking Howard E. Gruber and Sara N. Davis; 11. Creativity: dreams, insights and transformations David Henry Feldman; 12. Creative lines and creative works: a synthetic scientific approach Howard Gardener; Section 2. The Study of Creative Systems: 13. Society, culture, and person: a systems view of creativity Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi; 14. Creativity and talent as learning Herbert J. Walberg; 15. The possibility of invention D. N. Perkins; 16. Creativity, leadership, and chance Dean Keith Simonton; Part IV. Integration and Conclusion: 17. What do we know about creativity? Twila Z. Tardiff and Robert J. Sternberg; Author index; Subject index.