Front cover image for Explaining creativity : the science of human innovation

Explaining creativity : the science of human innovation

"Explaining Creativity" is an accessible introduction to the latest scientific research on creativity. In the last 50 years, psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists have increasingly studied creativity, and we now know more about creativity than at any point in history. "Explaining Creativity" considers not only arts like painting and writing, but also science, stage performance, and business innovation. Until about a decade ago, creativity researchers tended to focus on highly valued activities like fine art painting and Nobel prize winning science. Sawyer brings this research up to date by including movies, music videos, cartoons, video games, hypertext fiction, and computer technology. For example, this is the first book on creativity to include studies of performance and improvisation. Sawyer draws on the latest research findings to show the importance of collaboration and context in all of these creative activities. Today's science of creativity is interdisciplinary; in addition to psychological studies of creativity.; "Explaining Creativity" includes research by anthropologists on creativity in non-Western cultures, and research by sociologists about the situation, contexts, and networks of creative activity. "Explaining Creativity" brings these approaches together within the sociocultural approach to creativity pioneered by Howard Becker, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Howard Gardner. The sociocultural approach moves beyond the individual to consider the social and cultural contexts of creativity, emphasizing the role of collaboration and context in the creative process
eBook, English, 2006
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006
1 online resource (viii, 354 pages) : illustrations
9780195347593, 9780195161649, 9780195304459, 9781280532733, 9781429403306, 9786610532735, 0195347595, 0195161645, 0195304454, 1280532734, 1429403306, 6610532737
71794717
Conceptions of creativity
Personality psychology
The second wave : cognitive psychology
Biology
Computational approaches
Sociology
Culture
History
Visual creativity
Writing
Music
Acting
Science
Business creativity
How to be more creative