Defining creativity, and creative syndrome

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CREATIVITY

There are several definitions of creativity. After examining several definitions of creativity given by different writers, Torrance, (1962) concluded, "some definitions of creativity were formulated in terms of a product (invention and discovery, for example); others, in terms of a process, a kind of person, or a set of conditions. The production of something new (to the individual or to the culture) is included in almost all of these definitions. Some writers have defined creativity as being different from conformity and as requiring non-habitual rather than habitual behavior. Some specify that creative contributions must be true and surprising in view of what existed at the time of discovery. On the basis of an analysis of the diverse ways of defining creativity and the requirements of a definition for keeping a program of research focused on factors affecting creative growth in context, Torrance defined creativity as "a process of becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements, disharmonies and so on; identifying the difficulty; searching for solutions, making guesses, or formulating hypotheses about the deficiencies; testing and retesting these hypotheses and possibly modifying and retesting them; and finally communicating the results."

Torrance claims that this definition describes a natural human process. Strong human needs are involved at each stage. If we sense some disharmony or incompleteness, tension is aroused. We feel ...