Psychology of Human Thought

Abstract

Creativity refers to original thinking that leads to new productions that have value in their social context (see Runco & Jaeger, 2012). Creative thinking can be distinguished from routine thinking, in which regular cognition yields run-of-the-mill, common ideas. Many human activities involve regular thinking; creativity comes into play when a new idea or a new solution is sought. The topic of creativity, as a fundamental aspect of human thinking, can be understood through a “7 C’s” approach (Lubart, 2017). Just as the “Seven Seas” refer historically to all the major bodies of water on Earth, the 7 C’s of creativity refer to all the main aspects of the topic helpful to mapping its territory: Creators (person-centered characteristics), Creating (the creative process), Collaborations (co-creating), Contexts (environmental conditions), Creations (the nature of creative work), Consumption (the adoption of creative products) and Curricula (the development and enhancement of creativity). In this chapter, the main concepts for each “C” will be surveyed and presented.