Creative and imaginative differences. The relationship between the concepts of creativity and creativity

Nadezhda Kalinina

Man is a unique being, capable of purposefully transforming and filling the surrounding reality with special meanings. Everything that is created by human hands, from the first cave paintings to the masterpieces of world painting, from fragile huts to solid skyscrapers, is the result of his intellectual and creative activity. Therefore, it is not surprising that the problem of creativity has worried many centuries of philosophers and psychologists, artists and scientists.

At present, when the economy is experiencing a rapid growth in the influence of the intellectual component of labor, the problem of creativity is becoming increasingly relevant. Interest in the intellectual and creative resources of a person in work activity leads to the fact that currently a lot of new terms and new meanings associated with the concept of creativity appear on the pages of business magazines, books and other publications. And one of the relevant aspects of understanding this term is the comparison of the concepts of “creativity” and “creativity”.

Creativity and Creativity

In everyday life, we often equate the concepts of “creativity” and “creativity,” but this is not entirely true. The words “creativity” and “creative” were introduced into the Russian language in the 80-90s. as a tracing paper from English from “creativity”, “creative” (the ability to create, creative), and were initially used in the business community, gradually moving into everyday use.

Over time, the humanities, in particular cultural studies, became interested in the problem of creativity. There is a tendency to divide creativity and creativity into areas of implementation. For example, artists, musicians, poets, etc. are engaged in creativity, while creativity is characteristic of more applied areas: entrepreneurship, science. But it should be noted that the problem of distinguishing these concepts exists only in the Russian language, or rather, in the culture of modern Russia. In foreign science, the term “creativity” is used to denote a set of mental and personal qualities that contribute to the development of creativity. Translated into Russian, “creativity” sounds like “creativity,” which is dissonant, which is why the tracing paper from the English term has become entrenched in the Russian language. Thus, creativity means a process leading to the creation of something new, and creativity is a personality trait, a person’s potential. The adjectives creative and creative, in this regard, can be considered synonymous in Russian.

The most complete definition of creativity, in our opinion, was given in 1974. American psychologist Alice Paul Torrance: “Creativity is an individual’s ability to think outside the box, creatively, the individual’s sensitivity to problems and finding ways to solve them, the ability to think flexibly and put forward new ideas; sensitivity to the disharmony of existing knowledge." This definition can be compared with the definition of creativity given in the psychological dictionary: “Creativity is the activity of creating new material and spiritual values ​​that have social significance. It is determined by the creative capabilities of the individual - the flexibility of his intellect, developed creative imagination and intuition, the ability to overcome stereotypes, high motivation to search for something new, and the personal need for self-actualization.” As you can see, some points of the definitions of creativity and creativity (flexibility of thinking, the desire to search for something new, the ability to overcome patterns) coincide, which indicates the unified nature of these phenomena.

Over time, creativity is filled with new meanings. It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate it from the concept of creativity. Now creativity is understood not only as a person’s potential, but also as a process of liberating the creative resources of the individual. Psychologists, professional development specialists and other researchers are actively developing the stages of the creative process.

Creativity for the sake of creativity

In articles devoted to the use of creative technologies in various fields of activity, one can increasingly come across the expression “creativity for the sake of creativity” or “harmful creativity.” We are talking about those cases when producers of a creative product rely on fundamental non-standardism, so that it is “not like everyone else,” maximum originality and unusualness to the detriment of practical necessity.

We must understand that “creativity for the sake of creativity” is a fundamentally incorrect name for phenomena in modern business culture. Creativity is always aimed at solving specific life or work problems. And such a meaningless and aimless “creative” is either an unfinished, unfinished creative product, or graphomania, outrageousness, speculation in a person’s creative capabilities.

Thus, creativity is a potential ability, a process of liberating a person’s creative potential, a technique for creating new ideas designed to solve specific life problems.

New ideas, good ideas

Not all original new ideas are created equal. “There is a distinction between isolated and creative ideas” (Nelke, M. Creativity techniques).

Isolated ideas are distinguished by originality and a non-standard approach, but, as a rule, they are not feasible, or the costs of their implementation do not justify the results. Their only value lies in their novelty. But this novelty does not in any way correlate with the real capabilities of a person or organization.

Creative or good ideas, in addition to being original, work. That is, they are realistic in their implementation and the costs of their implementation are adequate to the results that the company will subsequently receive. This brings to our attention one inevitable circumstance: the creative ideas of today, if they were really good, turn into standard solutions tomorrow. Thus, the process of developing and implementing creative ideas in business is endless.

To be continued…

What is creativity and what stages does it consist of, what is creativity and what abilities does it include, what are the problems and results of creativity and what are the consequences of creative activity

Used in the creative process imagination to combine existing knowledge and ideas to obtain a new, unique result.

The result obtained allows decide specific problem and reach set goal. Therefore, such a result has additional significance that is absent from the results of practical activities, essentially creating copies.

Being creative, a person cheats both the environment and yourself. He has new opportunities that allow him to have an even more beneficial impact and develop even more.

Creativity is necessary in any subject area, in any profession. All areas have unresolved problems and enormous potential for development.

To support the creative process, a person must have good physical state. You cannot eat junk food, alcohol, smoke, etc. And play sports as much as possible. This allows you to provide the intellect with the necessary nutrients and limit it from harmful effects.

He studies creativity heuristic. Its main task is to build models that describe the process of original problem solving.

The following are currently known heuristic models:
- blind search: based on trial and error;
- labyrinthine: the problem is presented as a labyrinth, and its solution is moving through the labyrinth to find a way out;
- structural-semantic: the problem is presented as a system that has a certain structure and semantic connections between its elements.

In the process of creative activity, sometimes there is a need to carry out algorithmic, clear calculations. In this case, you need to use the help of developed computing systems that allow you to carry out these calculations. A person needs to engage in creative, heuristic thinking.

In everyday life, creativity manifests itself as savvy- the ability to boldly, non-trivially and wittily find a way out of a hopeless, sometimes critical situation, using extremely limited and unspecialized means and.

Creativity allows you to be more sensitive to problems, lack or inconsistency of knowledge. This allows you to determine the direction in which it is necessary to develop in order to be able to solve known problems and achieve certain goals.

Because the main component responsible for generating original ideas is imagination, then to develop creativity you can use training to develop imagination.

Creative abilities

Creativity consists of a set of abilities. They allow you to clearly understand how creativity manifests itself and what is needed to develop it.

These abilities include:

Fluency is the ability to generate a large number of ideas per unit of time. Allows you to quickly find many ways to solve a problem and determine the most suitable one.

Originality- this is the ability to generate new, non-standard, extraordinary ideas that differ from the known or obvious. The better this ability is developed, the faster the psychological inertia that limits thinking to standard patterns and convinces of the unreality and uselessness of original ideas is overcome.

Flexibility is the ability to use different methods to generate original ideas and quickly switch between methods and ideas.

Openness- this is the ability, when solving a problem, to perceive new information from the outside for a long time, rather than using existing experience and not adhering to standard stereotypes.

Susceptibility- this is the ability to find contradictions, unusual details, and uncertainty in an ordinary situation. Allows you to find the unusual in the ordinary, the simple in the complex.

Imagery- this is the ability to generate ideas in the form of single, integral mental images.

Abstractness is the ability to generate general, complex ideas based on specific, simple elements. Allows you to generalize and build a unified representation of a problem based on simple, unrelated knowledge and ideas.

Detail is the ability to detail a problem until each element is understood. Allows you to break a problem into parts, analyze them until the essence of the problem, its smallest elements, becomes clear.

Verbality- this is the process of breaking a single, figurative idea into separate words and highlighting the essential parts. Allows you to clarify the structure of the problem and the connections between its elements and exchange this information with others to jointly solve the problem.

Stress resistance is the ability to act and generate ideas in a new, unusual, previously unknown environment.

Identifying these abilities in yourself and their conscious development can significantly increase the originality and usefulness of the ideas generated. This helps to increase success and speed up the process of realizing your purpose.

The creative process and its stages

Creativity has a certain creative process, repeated each time a unique result is obtained.

The essence of creativity is to use personal talent and imagination to solve problems, achieve goals and realize purpose. The result of the creative process is a new, unique element that improves its creator or the environment and provides new possibilities.

The creative process consists of the following stages:

1. Preparation

A problem is formulated and the intention to solve it arises. Consciousness is filled with knowledge from all available sources (memory, books, magazines, Internet...). Hypotheses and assumptions are put forward. In a short period of time, an attempt is made to solve the problem based on the existing capabilities of consciousness.

2. Processing

If the opportunities are not enough, then a temporary distraction is performed to another problem or matter. At this time, the solution to the problem is processed from consciousness to the subconscious. Subconscious processes begin to take place, invisible to humans and automatically generating new ideas until an acceptable solution to the problem is obtained.

3. Inspiration

After generating an idea that may possibly solve a problem, it is transferred from the subconscious to the conscious - inspiration appears. Usually this happens completely unexpectedly for consciousness and in completely random situations.

4. Evaluation

Having received an idea, the consciousness evaluates it for the possibility of using it to solve a problem. To do this, it analyzes and compares the idea with personal experience and determines whether it can be implemented under current environmental conditions.

5. Implementation

If no contradictions are found, then a decision is made to implement the idea. An implementation plan is formed and actual actions are carried out. The result is a tool, method or technology that solves the original problem.

6. Check

After implementing the idea and applying the result obtained, it is checked whether the problem is solved or not. Proof or refutation of the put forward hypotheses and assumptions is carried out. If the problem is not resolved, the process starts over. If the problem is solved, then the next problem is solved.

Subconscious stage of the creative process

A special place in the creative process occupies processing stage Problems. Its peculiarity is that the solution to the problem is carried out absolutely unnoticed by a person with his special ability - subconscious.

Laziness and weak will. They also prevent you from starting the creative process and overcoming psychological inertia. To overcome them you need to train self-discipline.

Lack of prioritization. In the process of creative thinking, a large number of ideas are generated that need to be implemented. Some are very important and useful for solving the problem. They need to be implemented first. Others are less important and need to be put off until later, put in a queue. But most people don't define the importance of ideas - their priority. And they try to implement simpler, but less useful ideas. To overcome this obstacle, you need to learn to prioritize ideas, goals and activities.

Congestion of consciousness. After filling the mind with all possible knowledge that can help solve the problem, it needs to be allowed to rest and relax. But very often this is not done and consciousness begins to be used to solve other problems. Increased mental congestion reduces the rate of idea generation. To overcome this obstacle, you need to consciously take breaks to speed up the creative process.

Conformism. Accepting other people's opinions and experiences without criticism or analysis. This personality trait is characterized by agreement with everything that is in the environment, without assessing whether it is right or wrong, whether it is optimal or whether it can be improved. To overcome this obstacle, you need to develop critical thinking; you need to approach everything new with the questions “why, why, for what …”.

Impatience. A person wants to find a solution to a problem immediately. But this requires a large amount of source material (knowledge, ideas) and a high level of intellectual development. But when a solution is not found in a short period of time, then the person simply stops working on this problem and switches to another, easier one. To overcome this obstacle, you need to train self-discipline, and especially perseverance.

Rigidity. Firmness and steadfastness in the means used to make decisions and achieve goals. Limits a person from using new means that may be more effective and reliable. To overcome this obstacle, you need to develop flexibility of thinking, learn about the emergence of new tools and apply them to solve problems and achieve goals.

Removing all these obstacles is guaranteed to increase the efficiency and success of creative activity. This in turn will speed up the process of realizing your purpose.

Types of creative output

As a result of creative activity, a new system is created or an existing system is improved. Based on their usefulness, these results are classified into the following types.

Opening

Discovery of a previously unknown law, system, feature or connection, confirmed experimentally. Has a revolutionary effect on the development of the system and changes existing goals and paradigms.

Invention

A means to solve a specific problem and achieve certain goals. It also allows you to perform certain actions more efficiently than using existing means, and has a fundamentally new structure.

Rationalization proposal

Improving the effectiveness of existing means of achieving goals without significantly changing their structure.

Regardless of the type of result, creativity creates new knowledge, allowing you to solve similar problems and achieve similar goals in other areas. New results are also obtained ideas for creativity to solve new problems and achieve new goals.

Consequences of performing creative activities

Putting creativity into practice can improve risk causing harm. This happens because there is not enough experience using new, untested ideas and tools to solve a particular problem or achieve a goal. But with experience and the development of creativity, an understanding will come of which original ideas are useful and which are harmful.

With the development of creativity appears faith the fact that any, even the most absurd and unrealistic idea, will help achieve a certain goal. This belief is one of the motives pushing for the implementation of revolutionary ideas and the creation of new, huge systems that solve global problems. As Henry Ford said: " You can believe that you can. You may believe that you cannot. In both cases you are right".

Many successful people claim that 30-50% success Their projects and companies are brought precisely by creative, original ideas generated by themselves or specially hired professionals with well-developed creativity. They also note a vicious circle - creativity gives new successes, and they, in turn, are a source of creativity and inspiration. This suggests that man and creativity are a single whole that cannot exist without each other.

Therefore, constantly devote personal time to creativity development and your creative abilities. This will always have a beneficial effect on success. Do not stop engaging in creative activity, because it is the main means in realizing your destiny.

Creation - This is an attitude to activity, the result of which is the creation of new, original or more advanced material and spiritual values. Depending on the content of the activity, scientific, artistic, technical, economic and other types of creativity are distinguished.

In human life, creativity performs the following functions:

Acts as a mechanism for solving vital problems, the algorithm for solving which is unknown to humans;
realizes the individual’s right to freedom, going beyond the “obligatory”;

It is a means of self-actualization, self-realization and self-improvement of the individual.
Creative activity arises in the context of solving creative problems, and any person in any type of activity can become a creator for some time. However, there are people who use original ways to solve any life problems. This is a creative personality type. A feature of a creative person is creativity.

Creativity is an integrative quality of the human psyche that ensures satisfaction of the need for research activity.

A creative personality has the following properties:

- cognitive - sensitivity to the unusual, unique, singular; the ability to perceive phenomena in the system in a comprehensive manner; developed imagination and fantasy;

- emotional - high emotional excitability, overcoming anxiety; feelings that cause a state of excitement, joyful excitement, vigor;

- motivational - the need for understanding, exploration, self-expression and self-affirmation, the need for autonomy and independence;

- communicative - initiative, aptitude for leadership, spontaneity.

Creativity began to be actively studied after the publication of the works of the American psychologist J. Guilford, when he highlighted:

- convergent thinking - follows one channel and finds only one solution;

- divergent thinking - allows for variable ways to solve problems and leads to unexpected results.

Divergent, that is, creative thinking, is, according to Guilford, the basis of creativity. Unlike convergent thinking, it has its own special features:

- mobility - the ability of thinking to detect and pose problems; for creative people it is not difficult to move from one aspect to another, without being limited to a single point of view;

- plasticity - creative people offer many solutions to problems and have semantic (linguistic) spontaneous flexibility; capable of generating a large number of diverse ideas;

- originality - the ability of thinking to produce distant associations, unusual answers, non-standard solutions; the ability to improve an object by adding details; the ability to see new features in an object and find new uses for it.

People are not born with a creative personality. Creative abilities are not created, but rather released. It all depends on what opportunities the environment provides to realize the potential that is inherent in each of us to varying degrees. Early preparation for school with a teacher can contribute to the emergence of creative abilities, but is not a prerequisite.

The main parameters of a creative personality can be considered the following:

Intellectual and creative initiative;
- thirst for knowledge and transformation;
- sensitivity to problems, to everything new;
- propensity for non-standard problem solving;
- criticality of the mind, that is, the desire to evaluate and identify shortcomings;
- independence in finding ways and choosing ways to solve emerging problems.

Creativity and Creativity

Creativity in nature is a process of constant formation and destruction, the approach of matter to spirit, the victory of form over matter, which takes place in man.

Nowadays there are many terms and concepts that try to denote creativity and the creative process. Everyone now hears the word “creativity” (which was introduced at one time by P. Torrance), “creative” - this word has become synonymous with “creativity” for many, forgetting that one should not always rush to generalize and identify different concepts. So, let’s figure out what “creativity” and “creativity” are, how they are similar and how they differ.

First, we will understand the existing definitions of concepts, then we will begin to compare and comprehend.

CREATION

CREATE something, give being, create, create, create, produce, give birth. Maker, producer, performer, inventor, writer, founder. Creativity Wed. creation, creation, creation, as an active property; creative, related to the creator and creativity. (Dal V. Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language).

CREATIVITY is an activity that generates something qualitatively new and is distinguished by originality, socio-historical uniqueness. Creativity is specific to humans, because... always presupposes a creator - a subject of creative activity. Human creativity is a continuation of nature's creativity. Creativity is life, and life is creativity. The creativity of an individual is determined by the level of development of society. Where there is guesswork, there is creativity. (Big Encyclopedic Dictionary (BED).

CREATIVITY is the highest form of universally understood creativity, immanently inherent in all levels of the hierarchy of being; promotes self-preservation and reproduction of existence through qualitative transformations of their structures. T. in nature is the essence of its renewal and change, the transition from chaos to order, interpreted in the context of the anti-entropy potential of the Universe. Yu.A. Gusev

CREATIVITY is an absolutely original creation by man of the unprecedented, ... a revelation of human nature itself (N. A. Berdyaev).

CREATIVITY is the mental process of creating new values, which is “a continuation and replacement of children’s play” (Psychoanalytic Glossary).

CREATIVITY is an activity the result of which is the creation of new material and spiritual values ​​(Concise psychological dictionary. Under the general editorship of A. V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky).

CREATIVITY is a unique compilation, understandable to the creator and incomprehensible to others. (Karmanov A.)

Based on the research of Bogoyavlenskaya and Matyushkin, according to which CREATIVITY can be defined as a kind of going beyond the limits (of the current situation or existing knowledge) (V.N. Druzhinin).

Italian physicist, Antonio Zicchi, defines it: “Creativity is the ability to generate something that has never been known, encountered or observed before.” However, many psychologists, not without reason, argue that the definition of creativity as a system of actions leading to the creation of a new product cannot be considered satisfactory.

In psychology, Creativity is studied mainly in two aspects: as a psychological process of creating something new and as a set of personality properties that ensure its inclusion in this process.

Creativity, with some degree of convention, can be characterized by the novelty of the product, its objective value, and the non-algorithmic nature of the process. It is also important that it is universal and “not tied” to a specific type of activity.

Many psychophysiologists tend to consider creativity as a type of search activity (S.M. Bondarenko, V.S. Rotenberg, etc.). In this case, search activity is understood as a type of activity aimed at changing a problem situation or at changes in the subject interacting with it.

Stereotypical, automated response allows you to act effectively and survive in relatively stable conditions, maximizing saving strength and, mainly, intellectual resources. Search and research activity, on the contrary, constantly stimulates the work of thinking, thus creating the basis for individual programmable behavior, which makes it the driving force for the development and self-development of the individual. Moreover, search activity is not only a guarantee of acquiring individual experience, but also determines the progress of the population as a whole. Therefore, from the point of view of the theory of natural selection, the most appropriate survival is for those individuals who are inclined to search and are able, on the basis of the knowledge acquired during the search, to correct their own thinking and behavior.

I.P. Pavlov, classifying the need for search as biological, emphasized that its fundamental difference from other vital needs is that it is practically unsatisfiable. The need for search acts as the psychophysiological basis of creativity, which in turn is the main engine of social progress.

A significant part of people, as has been repeatedly noted in studies by sociologists and biographers, when choosing a path in life, are looking for a job that does not require the use of creative abilities. Many people experience emotional discomfort in problematic situations when choice is necessary, when independence in decision-making is required. Therefore, one of the main differences between a creator is not just the absence of fear of a problematic situation, but the desire for it. Typically, the desire to search and resolve problem situations is combined with the ability to take advantage of instability and ambiguity.

Creative activity can arise in the process of activity, but it is not associated with achieving the intended goal, but with the generation of a by-product during the activity. This by-product is the real result of creativity. Thus, according to Ya.A. Ponomarev, the essence of creativity comes down to intellectual activity and synergy with the by-products of one’s activities. This idea is consonant with the statements of a number of foreign psychologists who put the problem of lateral thinking at the forefront when studying creativity (E. de Bono, G. Kluge, etc.). It is the by-products of activity, according to the fair statement of Ya.A. Ponomarev, are of the greatest value for a creative person, since they contain a certain novelty. On the contrary, for a non-creative person, direct, expedient results in achieving a goal are important, and not novelty at all.

Since time immemorial, most experts have considered the main features of the creative act to be unconsciousness, spontaneity, and uncontrollability by reason and will. Many creators, citing their own feelings, argued that, despite the fact that the works were created by them personally, the authorship nevertheless does not belong to them.

In creativity, according to V.N. Druzhinin, external activity is not the main thing, it is only an explication of the products of an internal act; the most important here is internal, mental activity. Internal activity involves the creation of an ideal image of the world in which the problem of alienation between man and the environment is resolved (V.M. Vilchek). In the creative act, in whatever sphere it takes place - artistic, practical or even scientific - the unconscious is given a special, dominant role

The creator often receives much greater satisfaction from the creative process than from its result, and when performing an activity with a specific purpose, a different effect occurs. The more effort invested in achieving a goal, the higher the subjective value of the resulting product. Partly because of this, the creative process is considered an easy and enjoyable activity, and creative products seem to be made easily, simply, naturally. But in the process of creating their works, creators often work like convicts, giving up many of the joys of life, and often subject their bodies to dangerous overloads. While creating the Sistine Chapel, Leonardo da Vinci almost became disabled; K. Bryullov lost his hand while working on The Last Day of Pompeii; systematic overload caused composers to lose their hearing, and writers to lose their sight. Despite this, the works they created seem to be made easily and simply. This is characteristic not only of artistic creativity: the greatest discoveries and inventions, as a rule, also look light, elegant and simple.

The share of reason or consciousness in creativity falls only on processing, giving a finished, socially acceptable form to the results of work, discarding unnecessary things and detailing. Consciousness (the conscious subject) at these moments is passive and only perceives the creative product. On the contrary, the unconscious (unconscious creative subject) actively generates a product and presents it to consciousness (V.N. Pushkin, V.N. Druzhinin). Quite differently, according to psychologist V.N. Pushkin, looks like the implementation of rationally and consciously controlled, purposeful activity. In this case, we are dealing with the activity of consciousness and the receptive role of the unconscious, which “serves” consciousness, providing it with information.

Creativity is a process of human activity that creates qualitatively new material and spiritual values ​​or the result of the creation of a subjectively new one. The main criterion that distinguishes creativity from manufacturing (production) is the uniqueness of its result. The result of creativity cannot be directly derived from the initial conditions. No one, except perhaps the author, can get exactly the same result if the same initial situation is created for him. Thus, in the process of creativity, the author puts into the material certain possibilities that are not reducible to labor operations or logical conclusion, and expresses in the final result some aspects of his personality. It is this fact that gives creative products additional value in comparison with manufactured products.

Creativity is about play. Play is a mechanism that allows a person to be creative. Through creative activity, a person strives to find his self (himself, the core of personality, the deepest essence). According to D. W. Winnicott, creative activity is what ensures a healthy state of a person. Confirmation of the connection between play and creativity can also be found in C. G. Jung. He's writing:

Creating something new is not a matter of intellect, but of the desire to play, acting out of inner compulsion.

The creative spirit plays with the objects it loves.

R. May (a representative of the existential-humanistic movement) emphasizes that in the process of creativity a person meets the world. He's writing:

...What manifests itself as creativity is always a process... in which the relationship between the individual and the world takes place...

Creativity is when you make mistakes. Art is when you know which one needs to be preserved. S.Adams

The suppression of creativity is a sign of the fall of humanity. - N. Roerich

Creativity is the transition of non-existence into being through an act of freedom. - N. Berdyaev

A person may have many different moods, but he has one soul, and he subtly puts this soul into all his creativity. - D. Galsworthy

Creativity usually turns the first half of life into the second. V.Lukyanov

If you give a rooster creative freedom, he will still crow. - S. Dovlatov

Creativity is a special type of activity; it brings satisfaction in itself. - S. Maugham

The goal of creativity is dedication,

Not hype, not success.

Shameful, meaningless

Be the talk of everyone. Parsnip

Creativity is a passion that dies in form. - M. Prishvin

Only the one who creates lives. The rest are shadows wandering the earth, alien to life. All the joys of life are the joys of creativity: love, genius, action - these are discharges of power born in the flame of a single fire. - R. Rolland

Creativity is always a risk. - A. Ryunosuke

If you start thinking about how to profit from your writings, you are lost. You only need to think about art as such and about improving your own skills. Everything else is secondary. - G. Flaubert

Creativity is not adaptation to the world, but its transformation, they say. And the reason for creativity is precisely the maladaptation of a person, his inability to adapt to the surrounding natural and social world. V.M. Vilchek saw the deepest reason for any human creativity as the primary primordial alienation of man from nature and the world as a whole. It is a disadapted person, unadapted to the surrounding reality, who begins to create, in the depths of his soul, hoping to overcome alienation with creativity... A. Adler considered creativity as a means of compensating for the inferiority complex he himself discovered.

Talent is a set of abilities (giftedness) that allows one to obtain a product of activity that is distinguished by novelty, high perfection and social significance (Psychological Dictionary. Edited by V. V. Davydov, A. V. Zaporozhets, B. F. Lomov, etc.) .

A. S. Pushkin wrote: “Every talent is inexplicable. How does a sculptor see the hidden Jupiter in a piece of Carrara marble and bring it to light, crushing its shell with a chisel and hammer? Why does the thought come out of the poet’s head already armed with four rhymes, measured in slender, monotonous feet? “So no one except the improviser himself can understand this speed of impressions, this close connection between his own inspiration and alien external will...”

Recently, another word has appeared - “creativity”, close to the concept of inclination or ability to create.

The concept of creativity (from the Latin creatio - creation), introduced by Torrance, denotes the ability to create in the broad sense of the word - the ability to produce new ideas and find unconventional ways to solve problems. Creativity, which was never clearly defined by Torrence, continues to be perceived as synonymous with creative activity in any field of human activity (Adaskina A.A.)

A creative person is a creative person, prone to non-standard ways of solving problems, capable of original and non-standard actions, discovering new things, and creating unique products (V. N. Druzhinin).

CREATIVITY

Glossary of psychological terms. Under. ed. N. Gubina.

Creativity [lat. creatio - creation, creation] - the level of creative talent, the ability to create, constituting a relatively stable characteristic of a person. Initially, intelligence was considered as a function of intelligence, and the level of development of intelligence was identified with the level of intelligence. Subsequently, it turned out that the level of intelligence correlates with intelligence to a certain limit, and too high intelligence interferes with intelligence. Currently, intelligence is considered as a function of a holistic system that is not reducible to intelligence. personality, dependent on a whole complex of its psychological characteristics. Accordingly, the central direction in the study of K. is the identification of personal qualities with which it is associated.

A.V. Yurevich

CREATIVITY – the creative abilities of an individual, characterized by a readiness to produce fundamentally new ideas and included in the structure of giftedness as an independent factor.

CREATIVITY - the ability to create, the ability to perform creative acts that lead to a new and unusual vision of a problem or situation. Creative abilities can manifest themselves in the thinking of individuals, in their work activities, in the works of art they create and other products of material and spiritual culture.

CREATIVITY - the ability to do or otherwise implement something new: a new solution to a problem, a new method or tool, a new product. art. Psychological experiments in the field of motivation and learning have also shown the role of novelty as a catalyst for activity. In highly organized organisms, there is a fundamental constant contradiction between establishing and maintaining a constant environment and disturbing the achieved equilibrium for the sake of new opportunities and new sensations

Creativity is a person’s ability to engage in non-standard, original thinking and behavior. At the same time, it is necessary to note the creative, constructive nature of such thinking and behavior. Creativity manifests itself in many ways: originality and quick thinking, the ability to find unexpected solutions in a seemingly hopeless situation, a rich imagination, a sense of humor, and the creation of new original products (physical and intellectual).

DIFFERENCES IN THE CONCEPTS OF “CREATIVITY” AND “CREATIVITY”

What is the difference between creativity and creativity? Probably, the same thing as the activity of an entrepreneur from the activity of a contemplator: creativity is ingenuity, resourcefulness, mobility and determination, aimed at realizing certain goals and extracting benefits.

True creativity is inherent in the contemplator and is associated, at a minimum, with attempts to deeply understand oneself and one’s path, purpose in the world, and, as a maximum, with the search for a harmonious, fair, kind world and universal order. Thus, the creativity of an entrepreneur and the creativity of a contemplator are phenomena and concepts that are in a relationship of incompatibility.

Let us dwell on the basic concepts of the anthropological theory of creativity.
Creativity is the purposeful processing of nonverbal information without the participation of attentional memory.

Thinking is the purposeful processing of verbal information involving attentional memory.
Creativity is the purposeful processing of nonverbal information involving attentional memory. Creativity is the formation of patterns of creativity and its application to solve specific problems; larger patterns are formed from a large number of small patterns; patterns are constantly changing.
Attention is a special link in the chain of information supply to a person (it is not a definition).
Memory of attention is a person’s ability to retain and use information about how to act with attention in each specific situation.

Logic is the connections between areas of human memory.

The anthropological theory of creativity set a goal: to separate such concepts as “thinking” and “creativity”. Since our theory differs from generally accepted approaches, we will consider the main postulates, the conceptual idea of ​​which boils down to the fact that thinking and creativity are different areas of human intelligence. We will try to prove this a little later, but for now we will start with the postulates.

Postulate 1. There can be no thinking in creativity, there can be no creativity in thinking.
Postulate 2. Thinking “works” with the products of creativity, and creativity with the products of thinking or with a creative product (double creativity).

Anthropological theory examines ways of processing information: non-verbal (in creativity) and verbal (in thinking).

Unlike thinking, creativity does not create new information; it processes only the information that a person owns more efficiently.

We believe that creativity is the goal of life: you need to do something that no one has done before, you need to be a developer, contemplation, the search for information, start not with books, but with your own understanding, which is then compared with what is discovered when reading bibliographic sources according to this topic. A person gets used to stereotypes; he believes that he has studied himself well, his inner world, and sometimes has no idea about the secret universe hidden inside himself. The name of this universe is creativity. In the creative process, existing restrictions are removed, as a result of which a creative product can be obtained. Constraints, in this case, are stored in the memory of attention and affect the control of a person’s attention. Limitations should be understood as: elements of a person’s worldview, attitudes, prejudices, etc.

A creative product can only be obtained in a state of creativity; it is impossible to create a creative product based on the criteria of a creative product. Let us list some criteria for a creative product: integrity; a lot of hidden information; impersonality or neutrality (no negative, maybe a little positive); unpredictability; equivalence (nothing stands out clearly).

Creativity is a special state of a person in which his worldview, prejudices, and predispositions do not affect the process of information processing. Creativity is a process, or better yet, a state. Creativity influences a person, he becomes calmer and more balanced, creativity and creative experience are formed.
For creativity, the amount of information accumulated by a person on the topic under study (what can be remembered without much difficulty) is of great importance. This means that a preparatory stage is required in creativity. In creativity, a large amount of information is processed in a small period of time, and this is only possible in the case of processing non-verbal information.

We believe that the concept of “creative thinking” is not advisable to use due to its incorrectness.
Firstly, creativity occurs without the participation of the focus of attention, while in thinking the focus of attention plays a significant role. And the focus of attention cannot be both absent and present at the same time.

Secondly, creativity cannot process verbal information. Languages ​​were created by mankind and for man. These languages ​​are “unknown” to creativity. You cannot “teach” creativity in these languages. It cannot build logic based on information presented in these languages. Creativity can only work with non-verbal information. A creative product can be verbal. Thinking processes only verbal information. Thus, information processing in creativity and thinking is different.

Creativity and thinking are different spheres of a person, and therefore the concept of “creative thinking” is incorrect. Moreover, we believe that creativity is not an activity. Activities consist of actions, and those, respectively, of operations. What is a creative action and what is a creative operation? Is it possible to give a description of creative action and creative operation? If some activity is carried out, then each step can be represented, or there is a general idea about it. Creativity is a “black box”; a person does not know how information is processed in it, and, therefore, there is no idea about it. Suppose we know what is happening in the “black box,” but in this case the person will leave the sphere of creativity because the memory of attention will begin to work.

Creative development will be possible when a person makes this the goal of his life, when he makes colossal efforts in this direction, since this is the enrichment of a person with knowledge about creativity.

Creativity is working with creativity patterns, imitation of creativity. There are “small” and “large” templates, the first ones do not have direct practical use, but on their basis “large” templates are formed, which are divided into relatively stable and unstable (created for each specific case). Creativity does not require a lot of concentration, unlike creativity. Creativity is primarily used to shape the style and form of presentation of content. Creativity, unlike creativity, does not temporarily remove existing restrictions, but rather adds them in order to circumvent some of the restrictions. Creativity begins to develop along with the experience of creativity.

Creativity is not a technology, but an art that requires a person to concentrate maximum attention, use all available opportunities, and strive for perfection. In our opinion, each person has his own idea of ​​​​creativity and the creative process, and at the same time, the true idea of ​​​​creativity is inside a person, it is, as it were, hidden. In this context, a parable is appropriate about how the gods hid the secret of human existence from people, and, having gone through a large number of different secret places, decided to hide it inside the person himself. Perhaps the time has come to try to unravel one of the mysteries of nature, whose name is Creativity.

Creativity is one of the most sought-after personality traits in the modern world. The presence of this quality is welcomed among young professionals; hopes for success and a career are associated with it. Creativity is required in business, in school, and in any field of professional activity.

However, constantly using this concept, people often vaguely understand its meaning, knowing only that creativity is somehow connected with. Let's understand this phenomenon and the possibilities of its development.

This phenomenon is mental, and psychology has been studying it successfully for a long time. Let's start with the fact that the concept of “creativity” can be literally translated by the somewhat clumsy Russian word “creativity”. But creativity, although related to creativity, is not synonymous with it.

Creativity is usually understood as a special type of activity aimed at creating something new: new things, ideas, methods of activity, etc. The term “creativity” was introduced by the famous psychologist and creativity researcher J. Guilford in the 50s of the 20th century. He united under this concept qualities that provide a person with the opportunity to create something new, original, and non-standard.

Creativity and creativity: what is their difference

In short, creativity is a special type, and creativity is related to this activity. Moreover, not only a certain internal potential and willingness to create, but also a set of mental qualities that ensure external activity, purposefulness, determination in creative activity.

Therefore, not all people with a high level of creativity can be classified as creative, but only those who are active enough to bring their ideas to life, organize and lead projects, and defend their point of view.

Creativity includes not only personality traits related directly to the creative process, but also such features that provide a person with a high level of activity:, and.

Creativity and Intelligence

For a long time it was (and is still considered) the most important quality of a professional. As an ability for mental activity, it is necessary in any field, but it is not enough for success, and even more so for creativity. For quite a long time, intelligence quotient (IQ) was the determining factor when hiring a specialist. Having a high IQ was prestigious, and it opened up wide opportunities for a person.

But by the 50s of the last century, it became clear that in those areas that require a creative approach, intellectual specialists are not always effective. Psychologists J. Guilford and E. Torrance (USA) conducted large-scale long-term studies that demonstrated that, it turns out, the ability to be creative is not directly related to the level of intelligence. And often people with a high IQ (more than 150%) turned out to be too rational for creativity, too pragmatic, calculating and... logical. But a low level of intelligence - less than 100% - also did not contribute to creativity.

To establish criteria for creativity and the connection of this quality with intelligence, J. Guilford and E. Torrance developed special tests that determine the level of creative activity and introduced the concept of “creativity quotient” (Cr), similar to IQ. As studies have shown, in which more than 150 thousand people took part, the most optimal level for creativity is a level of intelligence slightly above average. But a prerequisite for creativity is a person’s tendency to a special type of thinking, which J. Guilford called multidirectional.

Structure of creativity

Like any other ability, creativity is a combination of personality traits. We can distinguish three groups of individual psychological characteristics that ensure success in creative activity: cognitive, emotional and volitional.

Cognitive component

Cognito is translated from Latin as “cognition,” and cognitive abilities are associated with the development of cognitive processes, which occupy a major place in the structure of creativity. These primarily include a special type of thinking characteristic of creative people.

Creative thinking

J. Guilford called the thinking underlying creative abilities divergent (directed in different directions), E. de Bono - lateral (lateral) or unconventional, T. Buzan - radiant. Despite the difference in terms, the essence of this type of thinking is the same - it is non-linear, in contrast to unidirectional, strict and ordered logical.

Creative thinking is also distinguished by a number of features that allow people who possess it to make non-standard decisions and generate original ideas.

• Originality is not just the ability to find new solutions and create new images, but also the need for this, as well as the spontaneity of out-of-the-box thinking.
• Divergence is the ability to see different options for the development of events and ways to solve problems.
• Flexibility is the ability to switch from one problem to another, look for answers in different areas of knowledge, thereby making the thought process more effective.
• Speed ​​– high speed of thinking and mental reactions in general.
• Associativity is the ability to create associations between various blocks of information and areas of knowledge, to include unexpectedly emerging images and ideas into the thought process.
• Imagery – the predominance and development of imaginative thinking; in creativity it is not logical concepts that dominate, but images; it is in this form that new ideas arise.

The combination of these qualities creates a completely special type of thinking that is inherent in creatives. It seems strange and illogical, but it is effective when there is a complex problem that requires a creative approach. This is why creative people often find it difficult to solve intelligence test tasks, since these tasks require one, only correct solution. A creative person sees several solutions and is faced with the problem of choice.

Another important cognitive process in the structure of the cognitive component of creative abilities is. As a process of creating new images, it is considered the basis of creativity, its inner core. Imagination allows a person to combine elements of his experience, creating completely new designs endowed with original properties and qualities. No type of creative activity is possible without a well-developed imagination.

Perception, attention and memory

Other cognitive processes also play an important role because they ensure the acquisition and retention of information - the necessary material for creativity. We can even talk about a special type of creativity, which allows a creative person to see in the world around him what people with a low level of creativity do not notice.

In psychology there is such a thing as sensitivity, that is, sensitivity to external stimuli or influences. A high level of sensitivity is part of creativity. Creatives are able to feel the smallest changes in the world around them - they see many shades of color, hear the nuances of sounds, and notice changes in the mood of the people around them. Creative people are open to any new knowledge coming from the outside world or born from their own thinking. Such sensitivity is largely innate and is associated with the peculiarities of the processes of higher nervous activity. But if desired, sensitivity can be developed if you know what and how to develop.

Emotional component

Creativity is not limited to the cognitive sphere. Creativity is not only creative thinking, a special perception of the world and a developed imagination. Cognitive processes create potential, an opportunity for creativity, but whether a person will achieve success in some type of creative activity largely depends on his emotional and qualities.

From the point of view of the emotional sphere, creative people are distinguished by the following individual characteristics:

• high emotional tone and positive attitude;
• brightness and strength of emotions, which allows us to talk about creatives as people with burning hearts;
• peace and yourself in this world, which in turn determines high self-esteem;
• the ability to use creative activity as a “cure” for bad mood, blues and lack of energy;
• active life position, intransigence in defending one’s point of view, perseverance and even stubbornness.

Strong emotions support a high level of activity of creative individuals, allow them to stand out from the crowd, make their life bright, lively, and varied. But on the other hand, constant high activity and intensity of emotions create the danger of “”, overload of the nervous system and a kind of rollback, which is often expressed in and even. This, alas, happens to creative individuals if they do not have the ability to relieve emotional stress.

The development of volitional qualities, which play a significant role in the regulation of creative activity, is also very important.

Volitional component

The volitional qualities of a person perform two functions in the structure of creativity: stimulating and inhibiting. Incentive is manifested in maintaining activity, which is necessary for the implementation of a creative plan. It is not enough to find an original solution, you also need to implement it.

No matter how “masterpiece” the idea of ​​an artist or sculptor may be, it will become a work of art only as a result of the hard work of the creator. A brilliant book is born in the head, but it will become available to readers only after many days and nights of hard work, after the writer proves to the publisher the need to publish his masterpiece and the book is edited, laid out, and the edition is printed. No matter how important an invention is, it will not become a reality and will not be available to people if the scientist or designer does not put effort into it.

No one will ever know how many great inventions and brilliant works of art remained “on the couch” without becoming a reality, because their creator was too lazy for this.

To intensify productive activity aimed at realizing a plan, strong-willed qualities are needed:

• independence;
• initiative;
• determination;
• self confidence;
• perseverance;
• persistence.

The ability and desire to achieve success, despite the difficulties, distrust and skepticism of others - this is what distinguishes creatives and without which productive creative activity is impossible. After all, creativity is the creation of something new, and something new is always perceived with distrust. This is the conservative nature of society, and this conservatism and inertia are completely justified, since new things are not always safe.

Development of creativity

The issue of development was not considered at all for a long time, since these abilities were considered a special gift, innate or given by God. And indeed, due to the characteristics of the psyche, there are people who are more predisposed to creativity. However, psychologists have now proven that creativity, to one degree or another, is inherent in all people. We can say that the ability to be creative is one of the basic characteristics of humans as a species. And it is precisely this that ensures the progressive development of civilization.

But still, everyone’s creative potential is different, and not everyone found themselves in favorable conditions in childhood for its realization. Therefore, the development of creativity is a rather pressing problem.

Since the mid-20th century, psychology has been actively developing methods for developing creative abilities. Most trainings are aimed at developing creative thinking, developing imagination and the ability to find original solutions.

The non-standard, unconventional nature of creative thinking also determined the originality of exercises for its development, which often resemble games. I will introduce you to several similar exercises. When starting to implement them, remember that creativity lies beyond the boundaries of strict classical logic. The purpose of these exercises is to free our thoughts, to direct them away from the beaten path of everyday life.

Exercise “Seeing the unusual”

This exercise can be done at home on the couch, at the computer, on the way to work and in a free moment in the office - anywhere. Look around. At first glance, you are surrounded by familiar things, familiar people and ordinary interior details. And on the second or third?

Concentrate, look more carefully and be sure to notice something unusual or interesting. Here on the desktop, carelessly thrown pens and pencils formed into some kind of letter, sign, rune. What does it mean, do you think? But an autumn leaf floats across a puddle. Where is he going, what adventures await him?

Do you think that nothing unusual is happening around you? In vain. Let go of your thoughts, locked in the cage of the rational, give freedom to your imagination, take a closer look - and you will definitely see a lot of amazing things.

Exercise "Designer"

Imagine that you need to decorate the interior of your apartment in an original way. Where to get ideas? They are literally scattered around us, we just need to let our thoughts go free, get off the beaten and boring path of logical thinking.

Choose a few very ordinary items, for example, a lemon, a pencil, a pine twig, a mobile phone. Now isolate their properties from these objects - color, material, smell, functions, etc. Then think about how these properties can be used in interior design.

For example, the walls of a nursery can be painted lemon yellow, and the living room can be painted pine green. Make the kitchen wall panels wooden and ribbed, like a pencil shirt, and place a touch panel in the living room, with which you can adjust the lighting and turn on music (mobile phone). Think about what other properties of these items can be used, or choose other items.

Exercise “Favorite melody”

I think we all have music that we like, that we listen to in moments of sadness or joy. Remember this melody and describe it. The easiest way to describe music is in the language of emotions, because it conveys the mood in its purest form. There are cheerful and sad melodies, cheerful and calm.

But we want to develop non-standard thinking, so we will describe the melody in a different language. For example, tell me what color your favorite melody is. There are probably many shades in it. What are they? How they merge and intertwine, creating a canvas of color. Canvas... What material is your melody made from? Perhaps this is spring grass and trickles of melt water? Or the gray roadbed leading to a fairyland? Or multi-colored New Year's tinsel?

Don’t be afraid to fantasize, fantasy frees our thinking, allows us to see the world wider, more diverse, more enchanting.

Try these exercises, and then come up with your own, and you will understand that developing creativity is not only useful, but also a very exciting activity that allows you to relax, take a break from the daily routine and too rational affairs.