Good research ideas and hypotheses do not just magically exist, begging to be tested; they must be discovered and nurtured. Systematic methods can help. Drawing on relevant scholarly literatures (e.g., research on creativity) and on the published personal reflections of successful scientists, this chapter provides an overview of strategies that can help researchers to (1) gather research ideas in the first place, (2) figure out whether an idea is worth working on, and (3) transform a promising idea into a rigorous scientific hypothesis. In doing so, it provides pragmatic advice about how to get good ideas and make the most of them.

Creativity is typically defined as producing something that is novel, useful, and surprising. Such endeavor plays a critical role in the arts and scientific discovery. However, not all creativity is groundbreaking or historically important. As a common cognitive activity, creativity is amenable to scientific investigation leading to a process-based understanding, so it should be possible to propose models and write computer programs simulating the creativity process. However, the path from cognitive models to computational models is still not trodden as often as would be beneficial. This chapter reviews common concepts underlying many computational creativity efforts, namely idea generation, search, and evaluation. Two example computational models are described in more detail, namely the explicit-implicit interaction theory and the CreaCogs architecture. The chapter concludes with a discussion of current shortcomings and future directions for computational creativity as well as discussing promising avenues and successes of current models.

Focusing on the Middle English poem, Pearl (with evidence from other literary works), this essay considers how the initial situation of the Dreamer explores a half-dozen principles for literary invention that are distinctively medieval, including personal displacement and feelings of anxiety, bewilderment and marvelling. These qualities define the initial state of mind which enables the Dreamer’s visions to occur and develop. Aristotle wrote in his Metaphysics (I. 2) that philosophising begins with wondering and questioning, a principle revered throughout the Middle Ages. Though all these elements of what we now call ‘creativity’ have their roots in practices of invention and argumentation described in ancient philosophy and rhetoric, the particular shapes that these classical principles assume by the late Middle Ages derive from long-established traditions of monastic meditation and contemplative envisioning more than from academic rhetoric and logic. Bonaventure’s opening to his Itinerarium mentis ad Deum recounts the marvel of Francis of Assisi’s seraphic vision, adapting it as a general method for meditation; Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale turns the marvels of the flying horse and visionary mirror into problems in optics and engineering. Pearl turns the dreamer’s initial wondering within a brilliant fantasy to the means for understanding his own human condition.

The incentive structure in science has shifted excessively towards short-term success, potentially hindering creative discoveries in science. But is it possible to fund creative pursuits? Is it possible to create funding structures that might spur on more novelty in medical research? Chapter 12 starts by investigating how we define creativity in science, and what truly constitutes novelty. The chapter then transitions to looking at how current funding structures are designed, and whether these may hinder creativity. The chapter concludes by looking at recent examples of funding structures that might improve the frequency of breakthroughs in medicine as well as allow researchers to pose more potentially exciting questions, resulting in more innovative research.

This chapter explores the concept of ‘art’ from the perspective of law, art history and aesthetics. Drawing on examples from the visual arts, it discusses the concept of ‘art’ in light of Plato’s philosophical ideas, Weitz’s argument about art as an ‘open concept’, Danto’s philosophical investigations and the ‘institutional theory’ of the art. It further draws upon various areas of international law, including cultural heritage law and intellectual property law, in order to demonstrate that a precise definition of ‘art’ is not offered at present in any international instrument. The chapter further examines the legal challenges arising from the ‘non-definition’ of the concept of ‘art’, questioning the validity of the argument of artistic freedom as an exception to rules of general application. Last, the chapter details the need for legal protection against abuses and potential dismissal of artworks as ‘non-art’, in instances where the qualification ‘art’ (and consequently the question of artistic merit) plays the role of a ‘defence’ against attempts to interfere with freedom of speech.

The topic of this study might appear puzzling to creative artists and art worlds,1 namely painters, musicians, dancers, film-makers, playwriters, composers, all those who make artworks or work with artists, museum staff, art faculty, gallerists, collectors, art buyers and art lovers. What does international law have to do with art? And why is there a need to write a legal monograph on a topic that is self-evident? From the perspective of the aforementioned stakeholders, arts are and should remain free. Freedom is a vital condition for the realization of the creative process.

This chapter explores the relationships between attention, affect, and creativity, including a discussion of creativity in the context of mindfulness and mind-wandering. First, we discuss the effects of different forms of attention on different types of creativity, such as divergent and convergent thinking, and real-world creative achievements. We then follow with a discussion of the relationship between creativity, emotional functioning, and the power of positivity on fostering creative ideas. The chapter concludes with a review on how mindfulness meditation and mind-wandering, both separately and jointly, impact creative thinking. This includes a discussion of the effects of different types of mindfulness meditation on creativity, as well as the core facets thought to constitute mindfulness. Overall, this chapter provides an engaging overview of the various attentional and emotional states thought to be implicated in creativity, as well as an intriguing look at how mindfulness and mind-wandering work independently and in tandem to influence creative thinking.

Case study method is a crucial research tool that works in dialogue with other methodologies to identify the real-world challenges of creative work. Whereas most psychological methodologies isolate variables or measure their relative importance in predicting what is likely to happen across a population, case studies attempt to understand the systemic complexity of specific instances, describing how things can happen in order to consider why. Cases can elaborate on findings from other research, offer caveats to those findings, or raise new research questions. Affect, an important topic that both draws on researchers’ insights and tests their perspectives, exemplifies the data that case work is adept at recognizing and can offer to such a dialogue. This chapter discusses how case research can examine affect and provides examples from research on creative work using the evolving systems and participatory framework approaches. Five guiding questions are provided to help researchers integrate analyses of affect into case studies and situate those findings in relation to other research. These questions address the researcher’s philosophical stance, the possibilities and limits of a given case, the functions of affect within the case, patterns in affective systems, and the potential for both insight and bias.

Effective leadership of creative people and efforts is more essential than ever, given the dynamic nature of many organizations today. Technology advances, automation, virtual work, and other workplace changes require creativity and innovation from both leaders and employees. Leaders play a critical role in fostering creativity and innovation. While a variety of attributes and capabilities have been linked to leading for creativity and innovation, less is known about the role of emotions and emotion capabilities in how leadership connects to creativity and innovation. Leader emotional displays, knowledge of emotions, and ability to recognize and regulate emotion in themselves and others have the potential to substantially influence creative work activities. This chapter explores the intersection of leadership, emotions, creativity, and innovation. Drawing on key theories and research, several questions will be examined. What is the nature of creative work and what is required from leaders to support creativity? Why are emotions important in creativity? What roles do leader emotions, traits, and displays play in fostering or hindering creativity? How does emotion regulation facilitate leader and employee creativity? What emotion preferences, skills and capabilities have been associated with different leadership styles? Challenges and theoretical implications are discussed.

While researchers have established that affective states play a large role in individual creativity, the relationship between affect and collective creativity is not well understood. This oversight is meaningful as, particularly in organizations, creativity is often the result of collective action. We review and integrate work on how positive and negative affective climate and discrete emotional climates impact creativity at work. Then, we propose a new definition of affective climate and four future directions for the field. First, higher-level affective states should be treated as more than manifestations of their individual-level analogs. Second, a focus on shared homogenous affect has precluded work on more complex, heterogeneous affective climates, which future work should study. Third, there is a lack of work on top-down drivers of collective affect, partially produced by a lack of work on collective affect at levels higher than the team. Fourth, more work on discrete collective affect, including social emotional climates (e.g., love, pride, envy), is needed since such work allows for the development of higher-level theory based on social perceptions, relationships, and interactions. We hope our review helps researchers address these gaps and produce a more nuanced understanding of how affective climate influences collective creativity.

Although recent research has begun examining the construct more widely, there exist several gaps in scholarship. One such area is the influence, association, and role of affective factors in determining whether and to what extent an entity engages in dark creativity. After introducing concepts like negative and malevolent creativity, this chapter reviews the existing literature on the link between affective factors and creativity. Thereafter, the features of dark personality traits, like psychopathy, are examined with reference to affective considerations such as low empathy in producing original harm. Owing to the relationship between dark creativity and moral concerns, we also examine how moral emotions like guilt and shame (or lack thereof) may contribute to an understanding of such creativity. The chapter concludes with suggestions for future research and avenues for interdisciplinary studies.

Diversifying experiences, defined as “unusual and unexpected events or situations that push people outside the realm of normality”, include a wide range of experiences, both negative and positive, which reflect difference and uncertainty. We argue that successfully managing diversifying experiences at the individual level may foster creativity. Thus, we will use the diversifying experiences and creativity framework to present empirical evidence and theoretical arguments that illustrate the link between managing uncertainty/difference and creativity. First, we will present empirical evidence for the link between four broad categories of diversifying experiences and creativity: psychopathology, adversity, enrichment, and diversity. Second, we will discuss the possible mechanism of managing such experiences (at the individual level) in a way that fosters creativity. Third, we will discuss future directions.

We adopt a multilevel view of emotions and creativity in organizations. Consistent with traditional definitions of the construct, we define creativity broadly in terms of a process that leads to ideas, products, or problem solutions that are both novel and practically useful. More recently, scholars have come to understand that organizational creativity is inherently a multi-level phenomenon that can (1) manifest as a within-person, temporally varying phenomenon, (2) be influenced by employees’ individual proclivities for creative behavior, (3) involve interpersonal communication of ideas, (4) emerge as team or group creativity, or (5) reflect a creative organizational culture or climate. In this chapter, we aim to integrate these creative processes across all five levels of analysis. We especially address circumstances under which creativity can be associated with positive or negative affect, arguing that, depending on personal and situational conditions, creativity can be associated with either positive or negative emotions. We conclude with suggestions for future research.

The neuroscience of creativity has grown significantly over the past several years. One aspect of creative ideation that has been relatively understudied, however, is how emotional processes—and the neural systems underlying them—shape creativity. Creativity, like its muse, can be ephemeral: vulnerable to internal and external environmental factors that spark new ideas or snuff them out, and emotions can modulate these effects. In this chapter, we review findings underscoring the critical interactions between cognitive and emotional neuromodulatory mechanisms during creative thinking, including the potential impact of mood, stress, and reward processes on known neurocognitive components of creative ideation. We further examine whether and under what circumstances such interactions can have positive or negative consequences for creativity. Lastly, we discuss how emotional task content may impact the generation of the creative product on the part of the creator. Across these domains, we synthesize this literature and propose a framework for future research that integrates brain function at the neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and systems levels with emotional aspects of creative thinking.