Scientific creativity as constrained stochastic behavior: the integration of product, person, and process perspectives.

Full Abstract

Psychologists have primarily investigated scientific creativity from 2 contrasting in vitro perspectives:
correlational studies of the creative person and experimental studies of the creative process. Here the same phenomenon is scrutinized using a 3rd, in vivo perspective, namely, the actual creative products that emerge from individual scientific careers and communities of creative scientists. This behavioral analysis supports the inference that scientific creativity constitutes a form of constrained stochastic behavior. That is, it can be accurately modeled as a quasi-random combinatorial process. Key findings from both correlational and experimental research traditions corroborate this conclusion. The author closes the article by arguing that all 3 perspectives--regarding the product, person, and process--must be integrated into a unified view of scientific creativity.

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Author information

Author/s: Simonton, Dean Keith (DK);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis 95616-8686, USA. dksimonton(-atsign-)ucdavis.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Psychological bulletin (Psychol Bull), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2003-Jul; vol 129 (issue 4) : pp 475-94

Dates: Created 2003/07/09; Completed 2003/10/29; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12848217, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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