Creative activity

Creativity as a productive activity

Taking the transcendental position, seeing inaction in action, and action in inaction, engaged in all sorts of activities, without desire for material profit that converts every activity into a meditation on the Absolute (“Bhagavad Gita”, 2c. BC – 2 c. AD); Ingenuity (inventio) (Lorenzo Valla, Leonardo da Vinci, 15 c.); Act of the self-activity of the subject (I. Kant, 1781); The creative power of man, which is realized in the ceaseless activity, the primacy of practice over the contemplation (G. Fichte, 1794); Method of Trial and Error (T. Torondayk, 1911); Manipulation of the material and ideal objects (J. Watson, 1928); Creativity as productive and  transforming activity (S. Rubinstein, 1946); Creation of new work, that is accepted as novel, reliable, useful and satisfying by a group (M. Stein, 1953);  The process by which something new is made – an idea, an object, the form (L. Harmon, 1955); The manipulation of external symbols or objects to produce unusual or extraordinary product (L. Fliegler, 1959); Behavioral model of creativity (B. Skinner, 1976); Object-practical, transforming activity aimed at purposeful change and transformation of the world (E.G.Yudin, 1978); Creativity as the creation of a creative product (D. MacKinnon, 1978); A series of thoughts, acts and functions that lead to the emergence of the product with the attributes of novelty and positive values (A. Rothenberg, 1979); Productive activity aimed at the creative product (H. Gruber, 1981); Activities that result in the creation of new material and spiritual values, the new social significant product (A.P. Sheptulin, 1983, A. T. Shumilin, 1989);  “A person’s capacity to produce new or original ideas, insights, restructurings, inventions, or artistic objects, which are accepted by experts as being of scientific, aesthetic, social, or technological value” (P.Vernon, 1984); Creativity as the creation of a new and socially valuable products (M. Mumford,  S. Gustafson, 1988); Creativity as an innovation and implementation of creative ideas into practice (A.H. Van de Den, 1986; R. Kanter, 1988; M. Mumford, S. Gustafson, 1988; T. Amabile, 2000, M.A. West, 2002); Relationships between creative styles and creative products  (G.J. Puccio, D.J. Treffinger, R.J. Talbot, 1995).
Product as a model of creativity
Creative product as a model of creativity (I.A.Taylor,  B.J.Sandler, 1972; W.C.Ward, P.W.Cox, 1974; D. MacKinnon, 1978; L.Briskman, 1980; T.Amabile, 1982, 1983, 1996; Pearlman, 1983; K.B. Dorval, D.J. Treffinger, K. O’Quinn, 1990; S. P. Besemer, K. O’Quinn, 1987, 1993; R. Firestien, 1993; S.G. Isaksen,1994).

Creativity, as the creation of the product, is  characterized by:

1. Novelty (originality, uniqueness, unexpectedness, uncommonness, rareness, unpredictably) Originality and uncommonness (J.P.Guilford, 1950);  Novelty (D.N. Morgan,1953, C.R. Hausman, 1987); Rareness  (R. Milgram, 1976); Novelty as essential element of unpredictably (L. Briksman, 1880);  Novel creative product is a “new type” (C.R. Hausman, 1987); Kind of  novelty:  big ‘C’ the creativity of the genius and little ‘c’ for the more widely available type (M. Stein.1987); Continuum of novelty : from correction to qualitative transformation, innovative and adaptive novelty (M.Kirton,1989; G. Kaufmann,1993; L. Novelli, 1993); Private/Psychological Novelty and Public/Historic Novelty (M. Boden, 1994; H. Eysenck, 1994); Novelty as unexpectedness, unpredictability or surprising (F. Barron, 1995); Creativity as the production of effective novelty (A.J.Cropley, 1999; T.Lubart, 2001; M. Mumford, 2003);  Originality that closely linked to the novelty, which is the essence of the creativity (D.N. Jackson, S.J.  Messick, 1967; F. Barron, 1988; R.A. Ochse, 1990; G. Kaufmann,1993; T. Lubart, 1996); Creativity based on “successful novelty”  (R. Gregory, 1981); Creativity based on “radical novelty”, that distinguish from trivial forms of novelty (C.R. Hausman,1987); Classification of novel output: Original, Germinal, Transformational (S.P.Besemer, K. O’Quinn 1987); Some levels of novelty : from lowest level –“difference” to highest -“radical newness” (G. Kaufmann,1993, 2003); Two kinds of novelty : «novelty of component mental operation’ and ‘novelty of the content of the task» (H. Gardner,  R. Sternberg, 1994); Originality which is defined within sociocultural group to provide meaningful criteria (K.Simonton, 1999); Distinction between novelty on the stimulus and novelty on the response side (G. Kaufmann, 2003).

2. Novelty and value (relevance, appropriateness, significance, usefulness, effectiveness, purposefulness, logicalness, fit, adequacy, valuableness, intrinsically good, contributes to something and meets task constraints).

Creative solution: a new and useful, denying the old ideas and the result of strong motivation and persistence, the result of clarifying the problem (A.Newell, I.Shaw, H.Simon, 1962); Novelty and appropriateness (P.W.Jackson, S. Messick 1965); Novelty and relevance (G.F. Kneller, 1965); Production of novel and useful ideas (M. Stein,  1974); Creative product that characterized by  Novelty and value (L.Briskman, 1980);  Creative products, tangible and intangible, must be unique only to the creator, and must meet the criteria of purpose and value established by the creator (P.K. Welsch,1980); Creative product  is both a novel and usefulness (K. Gilhooley,1982, F.Barron,1995); Creative product  is both a novel and appropriate, useful, correct or valuable (T. Amabile, 1983. 1996; L.Novelli, 1993);  Novelty and intelligibility  (C. Hausman, 1985); Two essential qualities of creative outcome: Novelty (newness, uniqueness) and Value (usefulness, appropriateness, resolution) (M.  Rhodes, 1987); Novelty and Value (it is useful, intrinsically good, contributes to something) (C. Hausman, 1987); Novelty and Value (Adequacy, Appropriateness, Logicalness, Usefulness, Valuableness) (S.P.Besemer, K. O’Quinn, 1987); Originality must be balanced with fit and appropriateness (M. Runco, 1988); Creative solution as long as it is novel and fulfils the requirements of the task (R. Weisberg, 1988, 1993, 2003); Creative  work that is both novel (original or unexpected) and appropriate (useful or meets task constraints) (R.Sternberg,  T. Lubart, 1996); Novelty and purposefulness (T.Amabile, 1998; R.L. Firestien, 1993); Creative work is both new or original and appropriate or useful and be acknowledged as such by social consensus (F. Barron, 1995); Сreativity involves being both original and useful (R. E. Mayer 1999);  A creative idea is one that is both original and appropriate for the situation in which it occurs (C. Martindale 1999); Creative product “must be new and must be given value by some external criteria” (H.E.Gruber, D.B.Wallace 1999); Novel and appropriate to situation due to its context – specifity, novel and social valued product (M.Mumford, S.Gustafson, 1988); Novelty and adaptability (T. Lubart, 2001); Originality (uniqueness, uncommonness) and effectiveness (usefulness, fit, appropriateness) (M. A.Runco, G. J. Jaeger, 2012).

3. Aesthetics, Emotionality and Surprise. Harmony, beauty and usefulness (H. Poincaré, 1908); Creative work is guided by aesthetic feeling (B. Ghiselin 1952, P.Dirac, 1977); “Effective surprise”, “shock of recognition” (J. Bruner, 1962, 1968); Aesthetic value (M. Csikszentmihalyi, J. W Getsels, 1971, 1976, R.A. Combos, 1972); Beauty as well as simplicity as criteria for  scientific theories (S. Chandrasekhar 1973, 1987); Mysteriousness  (L.Briskman, 1980); High in quality (R.Sternberg, 1985,1988); Creative products, by being unpredictable, unanticipated or unexpected, cause emotional states of surprise (M.Boden, 1992; T.Lubart,1994); Aesthetically pleasing, (S.W. Russ, 1993); Aesthetics (M .Runco, 1994); Novel, Originality, surprising (C.M. Christensen, 1997); Aesthetics play the most central role in mathematical solution, thought and product (D.R. Hofstadter 1979; P.J. Davis,R.Hersh,1981; T. Dreyfus, T. Eisenberg 1986; L. Burton, 2004); Beauty as simplicity combined with complexity, that bring out aesthetic feelings (A. Br inkmann 2000); Surprise as a feature of creative solutions; The influence Surprise-value of creative product (L. Masedo, 2001;  L. Masedo, A.Cardoso, 2001); Aesthetic factor playes a crucial role in the creative mathematics work (A. Brinkmann, B. Sriraman, 2009).

4. A system of criteria for the creative product.  Novelty, usefulness in accomplishing a goal, elaboration of original insight (D.MacKinnon,1962); Unusualness, appropriateness, transformation and condensation (J.S. Dacey, G.F. Madaus,1969); Popularity, productivity, level of reconstruction of scientific understanding of the Universe, breadth of impact, degree of novelty, social value (J.A. Ponomarev, 1976); Five criteria of creative product:   1. Novelty. Originality.  2. Adaptivity to reality. The product must solve a problem. 3. Product must be evaluated, elaborated, developed, produced and communicated to others. 4. Aesthetically pleasing and looking good.  5. Transforming human existence. (D. MacKinnon, 1978); Creative Product Analysis Matrix (CPAM) that consists  of three scales: Novelty (Original, Transformational (surprising), and Germinal), Resolution (Valuable, Logical, and Useful), Elaboration & Synthesis (Original, Elegant, Complex vs. Simple, Understandable, and Well-Crafted) (S. Besemer, D. Treffinger, 1981; S. Besemer, K. O’Quin, 1985, 1993); Novelty, consensual, aesthetic quality (T. Amabile, 1982, 1983); New, appropriate and judged by qualified experts in that domain, by using Consensual Assesment Teqnique (CAT)(T. Amabile,1982, J. Baer, 1993; J. Baer, J.C.Kaufman, C. A. Gentile, 2004; J.C. Kaufman,  J. Baer, 2012); New, workable, efficient, magical (S. Pearlman, 1983);  Synergistic interaction of many factors (S. Pearlman, 1983; M. Chikszentmihayi, 1990);  Creative product must be appropriate, correct, useful, valuable or expressive of meaning (T. Amabile, E. Tighe 1993); Social value, aesthetic appeal, approprietness (M. Runco, 1993); Creative product is (a) unique, original, novel; (b) good: adaptive, useful, aesthetically, pleasing, according to standards (S.W. Russ,1993); Novelty, Validity (conceptual, theoretical, expressive, instrumental, social), Increment, Realization (M. Murdock, S. Isaksen, S. Vosburg, D. Lugo, 1993); Creative Product Semantic Scale (СРSS) (based on CPAM), used to define creativity in products (S. Besemer, K. O’Oquin,1986, 1987, K. O’Oquin, S. Besemer, 1989); Creative solution requires the production of something that is perceived as new, valuable and elegant (T. Amabile, 1987)/

The model of the creative product: a). novelty,  statistical rarity, b). adaptability, problem solving, appropriateness c)  originality, improving, developing into a whole (D. Harrington, 1990); Originality, adaptability, aesthetics (M. Runco, 1994); Triad of criteria of creativity: features of the product, reactions of recipient, features of the thinking process (E. Necka, 1994); Appropriateness, quality and importance of a product (R. Sternberg, T. Lubart, 1995); Novel (original, unexpected), high in quality and appropriate (useful, meets task constraints (R. Sternberg, 1988; T. Lubart, R. Sternberg, 1995);  Novelty, effectiveness and ethicality’ (D. Cropley, 2002); Novel, relevant, effective (D. Cropley, A. Cropley, 2005) Novelty (Surprising, Original), Resolution (Logical, Useful, Valuable, Understable), Style (Organic, Elegant, Well-Crafted) (S. P. Besemer, 2006); Effectiveness (aesthetical, theoretical, interpersonal), novelty (different, unique), authenticity (originates in the self) (L. Sundararajan, J. R. Averill, 2007); A set of criteria for creativity:  a list of 18 criteria which centers around three attributes: novelty, quality, and typicality (G. Ritchie, 2007); Creative (surprising, seminal, germinal), routine (effective, accurate, conventional) A. J. Cropley, D.H.Cropley, 2009); Creative product must have: Utility, Novelty, Surprise, Human agency (S. Draper, 2012).