ABSTRACT
Creativity is unusual or unique, and good or useful. Because both attributes are subjective, people may disagree about what is “creative.” Vertical thinking is logical and straightforward, while lateral thinking is a creative way to think “around” problems. Psychology views creative individuals as qualitatively similar to everyone else; anyone can be creative. Creativity involves novel problem definitions, selecting relevant information, and judging a solution's quality, blending sensitivity, synergy, and serendipity. Creativity involves information stored in memory that goes beyond what was learned from experience. Cognitivists describe the process as spreading activation through a knowledge network with repeated cycles of generation and exploration. Intelligent people are more creative than less intelligent people; however, only minimal intelligence is needed for creativity. Groups are more creative than individuals, but only when group members support each other and allow dissent. To develop insight, work on predictable projects to develop expertise. Analogies are creative when solutions are adapted from different knowledge domains. Creative people are self-motivated, persistent, tolerant of ambiguity, self-confident, and risk takers. Intrinsic motivation predicts creativity. Extrinsic motivation also encourages creativity, but only when it construes people as creative and self-determination is not undermined. Strategies fostering creative thinking are presented, and each involves triggering associations in a knowledge net, applying analogies across knowledge domains, and using information stored in memory.
