CREATIVITY

Last week I explained creativity as a concept and brought up some questions like whether it is a skill that comes naturally or can it be improved by the time. This week I want to show the different studies, opposite views and explanations about it.

Psychologists spend a huge amount of time trying to figure out the creative process, creative person and creative product. When people think about creativity, they tend to associate it directly with arts. However most researchers agreed on the idea that there might be different types of creativity. Donald N. MacKinnon has indicated three different kinds of creativity for his research.

Artistic Creativity: Related with the creator’s inner needs, perceptions and motivations.

Scientific and Technological Creativity: Deals with the environmental problems and produce novel solutions to them.

Hybrid Creativity: Related with the fields as architecture. Again produces a novel solutions and exhibits the personality of the creator.

Creativity Comes with Hard Work

Samuel’s study is rejecting the idea of creative skills come naturally and the creative works produced easily among creative ones. His research shows that in order to achieve creative experience a considerable effort and time has to be put into the project. The moment of insight happens after a long searching and observing period. This could take months or even years. According to Parnes & Harding it occurs at a much later time when it is least unexpected.

There is other studies that support the idea of creative imagination can be enhanced through environment or simply putting a lot of effort. One experimental study with children resulted that they become more creative when they engage more with creative content or watch others be highly creative. So they are suggesting if you want to write a masterpiece, making brainstorming sessions with other and taking courses about creative writing might help you coming up with new ideas.

Creativity Comes with Genes? 

Lets continue with the studies that suggest the opposite view. They are examining the link between the genes and creativity to find out whether creative people sharing a common gene that is inherited from family. I can say that nearly all the researchers studies the creativity genes accepts that there is definitely an environmental factor but as different from the others they don’t think it is an enough explanation. James T. Arnone says “Anyone who has played an instrument has heard the old colloquialism, ‘practice makes perfect.’ This is absolutely true, but we have to dig a bit deeper.” A 2016 study showed the links between genes that are involved with cognition and learning with musical phenotypes like listening, practice and aptitude. Another study revealed that the one particular cluster of genes is directly related to musical creativity. They say that there is much work to be done in order to figure out how all these components work together but it is clear that there is a heritable relationship.