Abstract
Creativity consists of at least four components: (1) the creative process, (2) the creative product, (3) the creative person, and (4) the creative situation (MacKinnon, 1970; Mooney, 1963). It has been studied from so many frequently incompatible theoretical perspectives, each with its own assumptions, methodologies, biases, and even meta-theoretical view, that coverage of all in a single chapter is not possible. This chapter concentrates on the divergent thinking approach to the study of the creative process—an approach that has the most explicitly developed theoretical base, underlies most creativity tests, and has generated the most empirical research. Along the way, information on some other components and theoretical approaches will be presented. Most other approaches are covered in detail in other chapters in this handbook, and general presentations of creativity theories are in Albert (1983), Bloomberg (1973), Busse and Mansfield (1980), and Vernon (1970).
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Brown, R.T. (1989). Creativity. In: Glover, J.A., Ronning, R.R., Reynolds, C.R. (eds) Handbook of Creativity. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5356-1_1
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