Characteristics of the Creative Adult

 Research studies of artists, writers, scientists, and other highly creative adults reveal the following traits as among those shared by many unusually creative people:

Flexibility: The ability to go beyond tradition, habits, and the obvious.  To turn ideas and materials to new, different, and unusual use.

Fluency:  The ability to think of many ideas; and many possible solutions to a problem.

Elaboration:  The ability to work out the details of an idea or solution.

Tolerance of ambiguity:  The ability to hold conflicting ideas and values and to bring out a reconciliation without undue tension.  The value of creative persons, for example, seems to be both aesthetic and theoretical, two value systems that might be considered antithetical.  The Creative person appears to be interested not only in solutions to problems but also in ¨elegant¨ aesthetically satisfying solutions.  His goal seems to be both truth and beauty,

Originality:  Divergent rather than convergent thinking, going beyond commonly accepted ideas to unusual forms, ideas, approaches, and solutions.

Breath of interest:  Wide range of interests with much more concern for the big idea, broad meanings, and implications rather than for small details and facts for the sake of facts.

Sensitivity:  The ability to sense problems, to see deficiencies and needs in life, and the challenge to find solutions and fill the needs.  Sensitivity to our own inner life and feelings, thoughts, and feelings of others.

Curiosity:  Openness to new ideas and experiences; the capacity to be puzzled; actively experimenting with ideas and the pleasure in seeking and discovering ideas.

Independence:  Thinking things through our own self-reliance and forcefulness.

Reflection: The ability to consider and reconsider, to evaluate our ideas as well as the ideas of others; to take time to achieve understanding and insight, to look ahead and plan, to visualize the complete picture.

Action: The ability to put ideas into action; to begin, help, and shape, with high energy and enthusiasm these ideas.

Concentration and persistence:  The ability to work hard, long, consistently, and persistently with extraordinary concentration.

Commitment: Deep involvement, intense commitment, deep caring, almost of a metaphysical nature.

Expression of total personality:  Expression of both male and female sides of nature, which at times leads to tension in our society.  The creative male shows such supposedly ¨female¨ traits as sensitivity, self-awareness, and breath of interest while the females show such ¨male¨ traits as independence, self-reliance, and forcefulness

Sense of humor: The ability to see and express the humor in the contradictions and ambiguities of life.  To maintain balance without losing commitment.

Torbellino de ideas

 

Thinking about Thinking

 

Creativity in Teaching

 

    This process does not take place in neat steps, it always forward.  It involves much teetering back and forth between experiencing and focusing or illumination and the sudden perception of order and meaning.  It is a process that takes time, but the time may be a few minutes or several years.  In the young child, the process is likely to be very brief, involving spontaneity and insight rather than problem-solving.  The products of the creative process range from highly personal, imaginative works of art to solutions to problems in not strikingly unusual ways.  The creative process involves imagination and problem-solving techniques, but these are not the whole process.

Guilford, J. (1973). Characteristics of Creativity. Public Instruction, Department for Exceptional Children -Gifted Children Section. Springfield, Illinois: Department for Exceptional Children -Gifted Children Section. Recuperado el 25 de noviembre de 2017

Characteristics of Creativity

 

Convergent thinking is aimed at a single correct answer.

Divergent thinking is inquiring, searching around, often leading to unconventional and unexpected answers (the kind which would probably not bring you a high grade on the usual school examination)

Preparation: 

• Acquisition of skills
• Acquisition techniques
• Acquisition information

Concentrate effort

• to find a solution or suitable form.

Withdrawal from the problem

• Rest your mind for the problem.

Insight or Illumination

• Let your brain neurons do the job.

Verification

• checks if this idea is possible to solve the problem.

Evaluation

• check if this idea solves every aspect of the problem.

Elaboration

• Concretize the idea when you solve the problem.