Introduction
摘要
Although creativity has been studied, in the modern era, as a multifaceted, psychological phenomenon, there has long been an argument (MacKinnon, In search of human effectiveness: Identifying and developing creativity. Creative Education Foundation, 1978) that analysis of creative products is fundamental to the study of creativity. In support of this, Cropley and Cropley (Fostering creativity: A diagnostic approach for education and organizations. Hampton Press, 2009) noted that creativity is not merely a question of thinking or behaving in ways that differ from established norms. The essence of creativity, they contended, is the production of effective novelty, which arises from, among other things, cognitive skills, aspects of personality, and appropriate social conditions. In the end, however, it is the creative product—the artifact or idea—which provides the rationale for any creative endeavor. To pave the way for the chapters that follow in this book—all focused on creative products—we will first provide some general background about why it is important to focus on creative products. This is followed by a short overview of the Science of Creativity, which is necessary to provide some context for the other factors that are necessary contributors to creative products. Finally, we preview the individual chapters of this book, highlighting the different instantiations of product creativity that will be explored.