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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creativity | 10/14 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:11:10.173371+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== Personal traits === Creativity can be expressed in a variety of ways, depending on the uniqueness of people and environments. Theorists have suggested a number of different models of the creative person. However, the creativity-profiling approach must take into account the tension between predicting the creative profile of an individual, as characterized by the psychometric approach, and the evidence that group creativity is founded on diversity and difference. From a personality-traits perspective, there are a number of traits that are associated with creativity in people. Creative people tend to be more open to new experiences, are more self-confident, are more ambitious, self-accepting, impulsive, driven, dominant, and hostile, compared to people who are less creative.
==== Divergent production ==== One characteristic of creative people, as measured by some psychologists, is what is called "divergent production"—the ability of a person to generate a diverse assortment, yet an appropriate amount, of responses to a given situation. One way to measure divergent production is by administering the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, which assess the diversity, quantity, and appropriateness of participants' responses to a variety of open-ended questions. Some researchers also emphasize how creative people are better at balancing between divergent and convergent production, which depends on an individual's innate preference or ability to explore and exploit ideas.
==== Dedication and expertise ==== Other researchers of creativity see that what distinguishes creative people as a cognitive process of dedication to problem-solving and developing expertise in the field of their creative expression. Hardworking people study the work of people before them in their milieu, become experts in their fields, and then have the ability to add to and build upon previous information in innovative and creative ways. In a study of projects by design students, students who had more knowledge of their subject on average exhibited greater creativity in carrying out their projects.
==== Motivation ==== A person's motivation may also be predictive of their level of creativity. Motivation stems from two different sources: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is an internal drive within a person to participate as a result of personal interest, desires, hopes, goals, etc. Extrinsic motivation is a drive from outside and might take the form of payment, rewards, fame, approval from others, etc. Although intrinsic and extrinsic motivation can both increase creativity in certain cases, strictly extrinsic motivation often impedes creativity in people.
=== Environment === In studying exceptionally creative people in history, some common traits in lifestyle and environment are often found. Creative people usually had supportive, but rigid and non-nurturing, parents. Most had an interest in their field at an early age, and most had a highly supportive and skilled mentor in their field of interest. Often the field they chose was relatively uncharted, allowing for their creativity to be expressed more. Most exceptionally creative people devoted almost all of their time and energy into their craft, and after about a decade had a creative breakthrough of fame. Their lives were marked with extreme dedication and a cycle of hard-work and breakthroughs as a result of their determination.
== In different fields ==
=== Art ===
Creativity is a fundamental component of the creative arts and design practice. It allows artists and designers to generate innovative ideas, solve complex problems, create products and experiences that are meaningful and impactful, stay ahead of trends, and anticipate future needs. Author Austin Kleon asserts that all creative work builds on what came before. Embracing influences and educating oneself in the work of others is conducive to creativity.
=== Neuroscience ===
The neuroscience of creativity looks at the operation of the brain during creative behavior. One article writes that "creative innovation might require coactivation and communication between regions of the brain that ordinarily are not strongly connected." People who excel at creative innovation tend to differ from others in three ways: first, they have a high level of specialized knowledge; second, they are capable of divergent thinking mediated by the frontal lobe; and, third, they are able to modulate neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine in their frontal lobe. Thus, the frontal lobe appears to be the part of the cortex that is most important for creativity. A 2015 study of creativity found that it involves the interaction of multiple neural networks, including those that support associative thinking, along with other default mode network functions. In 2018, some experiments showed that when the brain suppresses obvious or "known" solutions, the outcome is solutions that are more creative. This suppression is mediated by alpha oscillations in the right temporal lobe and activity in the right frontal pole.
==== REM sleep ==== Creativity involves the forming of associative elements into new combinations that are useful or meet some requirement. Sleep aids this process. REM rather than NREM sleep appears to be responsible. This may be due to changes in cholinergic and noradrenergic neuromodulation that occurs during REM sleep. During this period of sleep, high levels of acetylcholine in the hippocampus suppress feedback from the hippocampus to the neocortex, and lower levels of acetylcholine and norepinephrine in the neocortex encourage the spread of associational activity within neocortical areas without control from the hippocampus. This is in contrast to waking consciousness, during which higher levels of norepinephrine and acetylcholine inhibit recurrent connections in the neocortex. REM sleep may aid creativity by allowing "neocortical structures to reorganize associative hierarchies, in which information from the hippocampus would be reinterpreted in relation to previous semantic representations or nodes."