ABSTRACT
Creativity training that emphasizes problem identification, idea generation and evaluation, and application in real-world contexts is the most effective. Like intelligence and personality, creativity is a psychological construct strongly associated with many positive life outcomes such as healthy long-term relationships, happiness and mental health, and overall inventiveness. But unlike intelligence and personality, creativity can be developed relatively easily. One idea generation technique is called the “paperclip method.” This technique teaches students to combine existing ideas or objects into new ones, typically starting with creative uses for paper clips. Practicing creativity with real-world goals and constraints is more effective than exercises in pure imagination or free expression. For example, thought experiments involving real-world physics are more fruitful than unconstrained explorations. Real-world goals and constraints both guide and scaffold creative development, as well as facilitate transfer to real-world contexts.
