Creativity has always been a part of my life. From a very young age, I fell in love with both writing and acting. In high school, I surrounded people with similar passions, and I noticed a somewhat disturbing pattern: it seemed to me that these people, most of whom I dearly loved, carried around far more baggage than others. Not long after I realized this, I saw this quote from Ursula LeGuin: “The creative adult is the child who survived.” I began to wonder if there was a connection between creative expression and a person’s history. (Of course, looking at the full quote does somewhat dull the point. Ask Nora about that and the citation for this.)
I decided to dig into the psychology behind creativity to find the answers to several question about myself and the people I cared about. I wanted to know what being creative actually meant, and what that trait did to define my personality as a whole. I wanted to know what factors contributed to someone being creative, especially when it comes to having a traumatic past. I was also curious about the connection between creativity and mental illness, and if there was an actual cause and effect relationship, or if it was more complex than that.
Creativity is defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary as “the ability to make new things or think of new ideas.” This definition would sit well with most psychologists and laypeople; However, Scientists have come to include what they call Little-C creativity, “which is often used as an indicator of mental health, [and] includes everyday problem-solving and the ability to adapt to change,” and Big-C creativity, seen in individuals like Albert Einstein or Pablo Picasso, which “occurs when a person solves a problem or creates an object th...
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...cience News 134.10: 151. JSTOR. Web. 14 Nov. 2013.
"Creativity." Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013
Forgeard, Marie. "Perceiving Benefits After Adversity: The Relationship Between Self-reported Posttraumatic Growth and Creativity." Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 7.3 (2013): 245-64. PsycArticles. Web. 14 Nov. 2013
Kersting, Karen. "What Exactly is Creativity?" Monitor On Psychology 34.10 (2003): 40. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Schuldberg, D. “Mental Health and Affective Disorders.”Vol. 2. Encyclopedia of Creativity. Ed. Mark A. Runco and Steven R. Pritzker. 2nd ed. Waltham, Massachusetts: Academic Press, 2012. 2 vols. 94. Print.
Seeling, Tina. InGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity. New York, New York: Harper Collins, 2012. Print.
Smith Bailey, Deborah. "The 'Sylvia Plath Effect.’" Monitor On Psychology 34.10 (2003): 42. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Shaughnessy, M. F., & Wakefield, J. F. (2003). Creativity: Assessment. In N. Piotrowski & T. Irons-Georges (Eds.), Magill's encyclopedia of social science:Psychology (pp. 459-463). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Sporre, Dennis J. The Creative Impulse: An Introduction to the Arts. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996. 310-378.
...nced, the information our subconscious soaks up. Creativity is what combines our consciousness with our subconscious, which helps us with things such as problem solving, strategizing, and art.
Isbell, R. & Raines, S. (2003). Creativity and the arts with young children. New York: Thompson Delmar Learning.
Gardner describes the creative individual as follows: “The creative individual is a person who regularly solves problems, fashions products, or defines new questions in a domain in a way that is initially considered novel but that ultimately becomes accepted in a particular cultural setting” (Gardner, 1993, p. 35). As I understand this, a creative individual is one who seeks out problems and states or solves them in a way that no one else has previously. Such inno...
...ve them of their inspiration and interfere with their creativity. It is a thorny, and relatively new, question, and Jamison merely outlines the controversy without offering an opinion on what should be done to rectify the situation, leaving the door open for further research. Mental illness in artists is a fascinating subject, and Jamison does an excellent job of providing a through portrait of many artists who have grappled with manic-depressive disorder, in addition to exploring how these disorders affect creativity and productivity. Jamison also maintains an awareness of the objections to her attempts to draw a correlation
Shaughnessy, M. F., & Wakefield, J. F. (2003). Creativity: Assessment. In N. Piotrowski & T. Irons-Georges (Eds.), Magill's encyclopedia of social science:Psychology (pp. 459-463). Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
In their article, “The Creativity Crisis”, authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman explore the urgency of the downfall in the public’s “creativity quotient.” Bronson and Merryman emphasize the necessity for young children to be imaginative. Through an IBM poll, they verify that with the decrease of creativity in our society comes an array of consequences seen in the work field. The authors remind readers of another reason for the importance of creativity; they argue that creative ideas can solve national matters. Hence, Branson and Merryman believe that original ideas are key for a better world. Though I concede that creativity is a vital key to the solution of many national problems, I still insist that teaching creativity,
Many believe that people are born with an innate level of creativity that is later on influenced by the environment in which they are raised. Schools are one of the most influential environments in which people spend an average of eight hours a day. Whether it be a public, private, or home school environment, these early surroundings that children are exposed to shape their creativity. As students, parents, and even teachers we don't realize the effects that the education system can have on ones creativity. The public education system is defined by two main ideas, what are the most useful subjects for work and ones academic ability. So, where does this leave creativity? Due to the ideals of the education system, creativity can be seen as unvalued or even stigmatized. Understanding the correlation between the educational environment and creativity can help positively influences the progress of the individual as well as their society.
Willis, Paul. "Symbolic Creativity." Everyday Life Reader. Ed. Ben Highmore. Great Britain: Routledge, 2002. 282-294.
In conclusion to some up this essay the term ‘creativity’ will always cause a debate in the educational system as. There will always be difficulty defining it as many use the term too loosely to have a definitive meaning. It requires risk taking, it is difficult to portray creativity when schools are so obsessed with right or wrong answers for ways of doing things. Society teaches us the risks are bad because the government and its policies interfere with our own choices and decisions.
Creativity is one of the mission of a teacher in every age, and discipline. As he may be creative to motivate students, he has to generate creativity in his pupils. In this way, understanding the relation between the neurobiology of creativity and its cognition is useful to every teacher.
What exactly is creativity? To be creative is to understand and connect the small details of our experiences, both good and bad (creative something). Creativity involves a person using his or her original ideas to create something. Artists such as poets, writers, painters, designers, and more use creativity on a regular basis. They use creativity to come up with new ideas and create original works of art. A poet would use his or her creative abilities to write and produce a poem just like a painter would use creativity to paint a painting.
Since we are born we have imagination and as we grow up this imagination may increase or decrease. Creativity strongly relies in our imagination. Depending on different circumstances people learn to express their creativity openly while other people close themselves and believe they do not have creativity. Creativity is a natural talent that every single human has. Creativity can be used to solve a complex problem in a different manner or just to find innovative ways to have fun. Creativity is thinking out of the box. Even though creativity cannot be taught from scratch there should be a class that is specific for creativity.
In defining Creativity, Franken (1993) refers to the use of imagination or original ideas to create something; it is the tendency to generate ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. Creativity and