By Jimmy Wilson, Emerging Scholar
Guilford’s Address: A New Dawn for Creativity Research
It is rare that a field of inquiry like this can point back to a singular moment of inception, but in the field of creativity research, Joy Paul Guilford’s 1950 Address to the APA stands out as a catalyst for an entirely new branch of study which is still growing and changing to this date. Matt and Cyndi note several interesting themes in the talk:
- Guilford’s prescient inclusion of “thinking machines” (computers) in creativity
- Developing potential in overlooked students
- Need for evolution in curriculum and standards versus a revolution in curriculum and instruction.
In this post, I am going to focus on one of the most important effects of this address, the acceleration of creativity as a field of study, and – the question most relevant to us as teachers and researchers- what does the field look like today? One recent research article concerns itself with the trends and themes of creativity research
Recent Trends in Creativity Research
For practitioners and emerging scholars alike the literature of recent years in creativity research can be overwhelming. Since Guilford gave his speech almost 75 years ago, creativity has grown exponentially as a field. Thankfully, creativity scholars Molly Holinger, Gregory Boldt, and James Kaufman recently published an article that analyzes the keywords and themes of four of the most prominent journals from the past 14 years of creativity journals.
What are the four main creativity journals in the study?
Research on creativity is included in many different publications but four journals solely concern themselves with the study of creativity: Thinking Skills and Creativity (TSC), Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts (PACA), Journal of Creative Behavior (JCB) and Creativity Research Journal (CRJ). Other notable journals that concern themselves with specific aspects of creativity include Gifted Child Quarterly and the Roeper Review (Creativity and Education) or creativity in organizations (The Leadership Quarterly or Creativity and Innovation Management). The journals here were analyzed because they are established
Here is a table of them with brief description, impact factor* and some findings from Holinger and colleagues (2024). More of these tables and a deeper dive can be found at the Creativity Research Journal here.
Additionally, the study found that Thinking Skills and Creativity was the most specialized journal of the four and Creativity Research Journal was the most generalized.
Top Ten (of Fifty) Themes in order of prevalence
- education/K-12
- creative problem-solving/creative cognition
- research methodology
- analytic thinking/reasoning
- cognitive flexibility/divergent thinking (inc. tests)
- visual art/artists
- STEM (i.e. science, technology, engineering, math)
- creative products/outcomes
- culture/society
- statistical terms
I definitely encourage you to take at the astonishing breadth and depth of the categories that Holinger and colleagues compiled in their article. They encompass everything from creative aggression and malevolence to politics and creativity, to business, to personality and play. Furthermore, they organize themes of the research into seven simple categories:
- traits
- abilities
- domains (different subjects of creativity)
- measurement
- theory
- factors that impact creativity
- contexts for studying creativity
I can’t help but wonder if Guilford imagined that thousands of topics across hundreds of articles would garner multiple papers published in well regarded journals just to capture their scope and patterns.
The last 20 years have seen exponential growth in research on creativity. It can be difficult for emerging scholars and teachers to wrap their heads around all the incredible work going on around the globe that carries on Guilford’s legacy and exemplifies the progress made since Guilford excoriated fellow psychologists for their “appalling neglect” of the field (1950). Holinger, Boldt, and Kaufman give us all a road map not only of the topics and themes within the field, but also of four leading journals and what sorts of themes they each emphasize.
*A note on Impact Factors
An impact factor is “a measure of the average number of times articles from a two-year time frame have been cited in a given year” (American Psychological Association). The average impact factor of journals can vary significantly across different fields, but here is a general sense of impact factors
Psychology: In the field of psychology, the average impact factor tends to be around 2 to 3. However, top-tier journals like Psychological Science and Annual Review of Psychology have much higher impact factors, often exceeding 5.
Education: For education journals, the average impact factor is typically lower, around 1 to 2. Leading journals in this field, such as Review of Educational Research and Educational Psychology Review, have higher impact factors, often above 3.
1: Scimago Journal & Country Rank – Psychology 2: Scimago Journal & Country Rank – Education (This section on impact factor was written in collaboration with Microsoft Copilot).
References
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Journal impact factors – APA Publishing. Https://Www.Apa.Org. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/resources/impact-factors
Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5(9), 444–454. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0063487
Holinger, M., Boldt, G. T., & Kaufman, J. C. (2024). Recent trends in creativity research: An analysis of keywords in four prominent creativity journals. Creativity Research Journal, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2024.2322857
Scimago Lab. (n.d.-a). Scimago Journal rankings- Education. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?category=3304
Scimago Lab. (n.d.-b). Scimago Journal Rankings- Psychology. Retrieved August 1, 2024, from https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php?area=3200
Emerging Scholar: Jimmy Wilson
My name is Jimmy Wilson, and I am the Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast’s Emerging Scholar in Residence.
I’m here to share commentary on some of my favorite episodes from the show, making connections to research, posting scholarly questions, and highlighting tips or activities shared by our guests.