Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T23:33:22.674Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

9 - The Development of Creativity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2014

By
David Henry Feldman
Edited by
Robert J. Sternberg
David Henry Feldman
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Medford
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
Get access

Summary

INTRODUCTION

In a recent review of research on creativity, Sternberg and Lubart (1996) found that most approaches to the topic have been unidimensional, choosing to focus on one or another aspect of creativity to the neglect of others. This tendency to isolate a single dimension of the topic has had the effect of distorting the findings of research; a single feature (say, cognitive processes) is taken to be the whole of creativity, while other equally important features (say, motivation or cultural context) are ignored (Sternberg & Lubart, 1996). Along with a number of others (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi, 1988a, 1988b; Feldhusen & Goh, 1995; Feldman, 1990; Gardner, 1993; Simonton, 1988), Sternberg and Lubart (1996) recommend a multidimensional approach to the study of creativity:

We believe that confluence theories offer a relatively newer and more promising approach to the study of creativity. They … are based in psychological theory and are susceptible to experimental test; they use concepts from the mainstream of psychological theory and research; they do not attempt to view creativity as a special case of ordinary representation and process; and, perhaps most important, they are multidisciplinary, calling upon the various aspects of psychology, (p. 686)

This chapter will follow the recent trend toward conceptualizing creativity as a multidimensional construct, and creative accomplishment as representing the interaction or confluence among these dimensions (Gardner, 1983/1993, 1988, 1989; Sternberg & Lubart, 1996).

Type
Chapter
Information
Handbook of Creativity , pp. 169 - 186
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×