The Evolution of a Psychology of Creativity

Abstract

This chapter concentrates on the evolution of a psychology of creativity. In doing so, we track thinking from early attempts at understanding creativity from Sir Francis Galton and Cesare Lombroso through to Freud and the psychoanalytic view of creativity. We then turn our attention to the rationalist responses from psychology, addressing Guildford’s early contributions, psychometric testing for creativity and the rise of the behaviourists. Personality approaches are examined before we move on to creative thinking, computational models and simulations of the creative mind. We then explore possible biological and biochemical foundations of creativity before moving outward to motivation and social psychological approaches. We finish this section by looking at processes of group creativity and the effect the environment has on creative people’s work.