A constructivist perspective on the creative thinking process and associated cognitive theories throughout the lifespan. Challenging the idea that children are more creative.
1. Rethinking Creativity Across the
Life Span
A Psychosocial Constructivist Perspective
Jill C. Morris, Ph.D.
8th Biennial Meeting
Society for the Study of Human Development
Fort Lauderdale, FL
November 3, 2013
2. Creativity
Creativity is the bringing into being something which did
not exist before, either as a product, process or a thought.
Invent something which has never existed
Invent something which exists elsewhere, but you are not aware of
Invent a new process for doing something
Reapply an existing process or product into a new or different market
Develop a new way of looking at something (i.e. bringing a new idea into existence)
Change the way someone else looks at something
4. Nature/Nurture?
Individual
People who experience the
world in novel and original
ways. These are individuals
whose perceptions are fresh,
whose judgments are
insightful, who may make
important discoveries that
only they know about.
(paraphrased from “Flow” -Csikszentmihalyi)
Systemic
“Creativity is observable and
public only insofar as it ‘leaves a
trace in the cultural matrix’ . . .
Systemic definition of creativity
[is a ] jointly constituted or coconstructed in a set of relations
among three elements:
domain, field and person”
(Csikszentmihalyi quoted by Atwill & Lauer, p. 73)
5. Some common misconceptions
Only limited to a few
Exists solely in the domain of the
“artistic”
Declines seriously with age
Associated with uniqueness or
innovation
6. Environmental influences may explain in part why childhood creativity seems to
be a poor predictor of adult creativity (Albert 1996).
Although most young children are very creative, it is estimated that creativity
diminishes by 40% between the ages of 5 and 7 (Grupas 1990; McCormick and
Plugge 1997).
At these ages, formal schooling begins, and there is some agreement that
education inhibits the transformation of early talent into adult creativity (Albert
1996; Amabile 1996).
It may be that schooling and/or stage of cognitive development at that age
emphasizes logical rather than divergent thinking, or that schools (and families)
value conventional behavior, well-defined problems, and good grades (Albert
1996) or develop skills relevant to creative performance (Amabile 1996).
Source: Sandra Kerka, 1999 (ERIC Clearinghouse)
8. In what ways does the
interaction of the individual
and environment impact
creativity throughout one’s
life span?
9. Emergence
Jean Piaget
“The principle goal of education is to
create men who are capable of doing
new things, not simply of repeating
what other generations have done men who are creative, inventive and
discoverers.”
– Jean Piaget
10. Assimilation involves the incorporation of new events into
preexisting cognitive structures.
Accommodation means existing structures change to
accommodate to the new information. This dual process, assimilationaccommodation, enables the child to form schema.
Equilibration involves the person striking a balance
between himself and the environment, between assimilation and
accommodation. When a child experiences a new
disequilibrium
event,
sets in until he is able to assimilate
and accommodate the new information and thus attain equilibrium.
13. “The creative person is an evolving
system…An evolving system . . .
displays . . . at every point in its
history, multicausal and reciprocally
interactive relationships both among
the internal elements of the system
and between the organism and its
external milieu.”
(Howard Gruber)
15. Creativity, Language and
the Co-construction of Meaning
Kenneth Gergen
“When we say something is socially constructed, we are
focusing on its dependence on contingent variables of our
social selves rather than any inherent quality that it
possesses itself”
“The social construction of reality is an
ongoing, dynamic process that is (and must be)
reproduced by people acting on their interpretations
and their knowledge of it . . .[and] must constantly be
maintained and re-affirmed in order to persist.”
16. When worlds of meaning intersect, creative
outcomes may occur. New forms of relating, new
realities, and new possibilities may all emerge.
When worlds of meaning conflict, they may lead to
alienation and aggression, thus undermining
relations and their creative potential.
Through creative care for relationships, the
destructive potentials of conflict may be
reduced, or transformed.
-Kenneth Gergen
Editor's Notes
There are many definitions of creativity. The most prevalent and longstanding is that which is both novel and valuable. Among all the definitions offered by multiple theorists with a variety of lens, I settled on this one (found on the website: www.Brainstorming.co.uk) primarily because of its overarching reach, which includes the person, the process and then environment.
Creativity as a cognitive process happens in two primary ways Accidentally – as a result of discovery – an awareness that comes without intention (i.e. something new is created without specific intention)Deliberately (as specified in the Osborne-Parnes model of CPS –Creative Problem Solving) – marked by stages in which the individual or group seeks to create something new.
I once heard a well known (and pretty good looking) neuroscientist, David Eagleman, say we no longer need to have the Nature/Nurture debate because the debate is over, we have our answer, “It’s both”. Nonetheless, for many “creativity” is still considered an individual trait that exists within and may contribute to the development of culture. I would argue that this is a misconception that is born out of the psychological construct of creativity as something that we can measure in a person.
These misconceptions, which were understood as “truth” until the mid 1990’s are as follows. Limited to a fewExisting within the domain of artistic (or sometimes scientific)Declines with ageAssociated with uniquenessThen research turned toward the intersection between the person and the environment.
Some basic data – essentially “kids begin creative” and “environment” effects the degree to which “creativity” may diminish or expand.
Robinson’s perspective is consistent with this perspectiveChildren’s creativity is ACCIDENTALAdult creativity is generally more DELIBERATE and MORE COMPLEX
Creativity can only be CO-CREATED!
Piaget actually takes a different view – from the perspective of intellectual development, the interaction between the self and the environment produces a progression within the span of one’s life to become creative
Each aspect of interacting cognitive processes from Piaget’s point of view is part of the creative process by which human beings create ideas, beliefs, products, and processes. But he stopped at the Formal Operations Stage- Leaving Abstract thought to be the broad domain of adulthood.
Michael Commons in 1984 began to consider greater complexity: Systematic-Construct multivariate systems and matricesCoordinates more than one variable as input; consider relationships in contexts. Events and concepts situated in a multivariate context; systems are formed out of relations; systems: legal, societal, corporate, economic, nationalMetasystematic-Construct multi-systems and metasystems out of disparate systems Create metasystems out of systems; compare systems and perspectives; name properties of systems: e.g. homomorphic, isomorphic, complete, consistent (such as tested by consistency proofs), commensurableMetasystems and supersystems are formed out of systems of relationships Paradigmatic - Fit metasystems together to form new paradigms Synthesize metasystems Paradigms are formed out of multiple metasystemsCross-paradigmatic - Fit paradigms together to form new fields Form new fields by crossing paradigms New fields are formed out of multiple paradigms
Preconventional Obedience and Punishment Individualism and ExchangeConventional Interpersonal Relationships Maintaining Social OrderPost Conventional Social Contracts and Individual Rights Universal Principles
Creativity from this perspective is both ACCIDENTAL and DELIBERATE – It’s a reciprocal interaction of bothIf we are to look at creativity through the lens of human development we need to take into account the INDIVIDUAL & THE SYSTEM IN WHICH THEY EXIST. Creativity cannot be fully understood through an individual lens. Given that creativity is relative novelty or difference, then it must involve something related to change. The QUALITY AND TYPE OF CREATIVITY MUST CHANGE AS ONE’S LIFE PROGRESSES.
Link between emotion and thought – anxiety can produce creative circumstances Zone of Proximal Development-Through which a less skilled person learns in collaboration with more skilled individuals.“past acts current experiences and future plans expand and mobilize the resources of creative individuals”“Creativity forms a lifelong zone of proximal development”“creativity creates the self as well as external artifacts”
Our notions of what any term means, what it includes and what it does not include, do not exist “out there” in the world, but only in and through the social institutions that give it meaning with a culture. Gergen suggests that “This process also introduces the possibility of change: what ‘justice’ is and what it means shifts from one generation to the next.
CONVENTIONS ARE ALWAYS CHANGING - Creativity within the context of Human Development is bound by our reality as it exists. It also has the potential for change and this in and of itself is creativity. But creativity cannot solely exist on an individual. From a systemic perspective, individuals do create, with a context in which there is ongoing co-creation. Adults learn from children. APPLE