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Quantifying creativity: can measures span the spectrum?
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, CA 95618, USA. dksimonton@ucdavis.edu
Measuring creativity in cognitive neuroscience is complex. This study defines creativity and reviews various assessment methods, distinguishing between "little-c" and "Big-C" creativity, and discusses integrating measures for a comprehensive spectrum assessment.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Psychology of Creativity
Background:
- Growing interest in creativity within cognitive neuroscience.
- Challenges in measuring creativity compared to intelligence.
- Need for standardized and comprehensive creativity assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define creativity using novelty, usefulness, and surprise.
- To provide an overview of existing creativity measurement tools.
- To explore the integration of diverse assessment techniques.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of creativity measurement instruments.
- Categorization of measures by focus: process, person, product.
- Distinction between 'little-c' (everyday creativity) and 'Big-C' (genius-level creativity).
Main Results:
- Creativity measures vary in scope and focus.
- Productivity and eminence measures capture high-level creativity.
- Current instruments often target specific aspects rather than the full spectrum.
Conclusions:
- A unified measure for the full spectrum of creativity remains a challenge.
- Further research is needed to integrate diverse assessment techniques.
- Optimizing creativity measurement is crucial for cognitive neuroscience research.
