Creativity and Development (Counterpoints: Cognition, Memory, and Language) [Paperback]

R. Keith Sawyer (Author), Vera John-Steiner (Author), Seana Moran (Author), Robert J. Sternberg (Author), David Henry Feldman (Author), Howard Gardner (Author), Jeanne Nakamura (Author), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0195149009 | ISBN-13: 978-0195149005 | Edition: 1

What is creativity, and where does it come from? Creativity and Development explores the fascinating connections and tensions between creativity research and developmental psychology, two fields that have largely progressed independently of each other-until now. In this book, scholars influential in both fields explore the emergence of new ideas, and the development of the people and situations that bring them to fruition. The uniquely collaborative nature of Oxford's Counterpoints series allows them to engage in a dialogue, addressing the key issues and potential benefits of exploring the connections between creativity and development. Creativity and Development is based on the observation that both creativity and development are processes that occur in complex systems, in which later stages or changes emerge from the prior state of the system. In the 1970s and 1980s, creativity researchers shifted their focus from personality traits to cognitive and social processes, and the co-authors of this volume are some of the most influential figures in this shift. The central focus on system processes results in three related volume themes: how the outcomes of creativity and development emerge from dynamical processes, the interrelation between individual processes and social processes, and the role of mediating artifacts and domains in developmental and creative processes. The chapters touch on a wide range of important topics, with the authors drawing on their decades of research into creativity and development. Readers will learn about the creativity of children's play, the creative aspects of children's thinking, the creative processes of scientists, the role of education and teaching in creative development, and the role of multiple intelligences in both creativity and development. The final chapter is an important dialogue between the authors, who engage in a roundtable discussion and explore key questions facing contemporary researchers, such as: Does society suppress children's creativity? Are creativity and development specific to an intelligence or a domain? What role do social and cultural contexts play in creativity and development? Creativity and Development presents a powerful argument that both creativity scholars and developmental psychologists will benefit by becoming more familiar with each other's work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a wonderful accomplishment. It brings together many of today's most prominent and influential scholars in two very active areas of psychology: creativity theory and developmental theory. Their collaboration has yielded a volume filled with exciting, and often surprising insights." --James V. Wertsch, Marshall S. Snow Professor of Arts and Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis

"Creativity and Development displays the journey that good minds take together when concepts like creativity and development are being explored. The most vital features of the book reside in the common struggle to get their intellectual arms around a profoundly complex and extraordinarily important set of psychological ideas. It is this vitality that animates the work and that will stimulate any reader interested in the subject." -- Elliot W. Eisner, Lee Jacks Professor of Education and Professor of Art, Stanford University

"Creativity and Development must be considered a welcome addition to the literature on both subjects...this volume is a stimulating collection of essays that explore the connections between creativity and development...The book deserves to be broadly read by researchers in both creativity and development. Given the reputation of the authors in the former area, I have no doubt that the volume will receive the attention it deserves."--American Journal of Psychology

About the Author

R. Keith Sawyer is at Washington University in St. Louis.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (September 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195149009
• ISBN-13: 978-0195149005
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #727,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Keith Sawyer, a professor of education, psychology, and business at Washington University in St. Louis, is one of the country's leading scientific experts on creativity and innovation. After receiving his computer science degree from MIT in 1982, Dr. Sawyer began his career with a two-year stint designing videogames for Atari. He then worked for 6 years as a management consultant in Boston and New York, advising large corporations on the strategic use of information technology. Dr. Sawyer entered doctoral study at the University of Chicago in 1990 and attained his PhD in psychology in 1994. He is best known for his studies of jazz and improvisational theater groups. His twelve books include GROUP GENIUS and EXPLAINING CREATIVITY, and he has published over 80 scientific articles.