ABSTRACT
This chapter has three major sections. It begins by describing human characteristics associated with creativity. This section discusses the relationship between creativity and intelligence, attributes and behaviors associated with creative people, and the relationship between creativity and mental illness. The second section discusses the development of creativity, including research on biographies of eminent creators, the development of creativity across the lifespan, the role of multicultural and other diversifying experiences, talent development and creativity, and the differences in all these phenomena that may be found across genders and cultures. The final section of the chapter looks more closely at the role of curiosity and play in the development of creativity, particularly in young people. It also discusses how characteristics of creativity in young people can sometimes be misidentified as attention disorders and the key distinctions between the two.
