| CODE | IOT5024 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Creativity: Psychological Perspectives | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | The Edward de Bono Institute for Creative Thinking and Innovation | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Creativity may be defined as the production of novel and useful ideas, or as the combination of existing ideas in a new way. Psychology refers to the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes, and is concerned with mental illness and well-being. This study-unit on creativity from a psychological perspective thus involves investigating the behaviour and mental processes that underlie creativity, and the relationship between creativity and mental health. Indicative Content: - The Creative Process and the Creative Person: Various models of the creative process will be discussed, together with the characteristics of creative people and the environmental influences on creativity. This will shed light on the issue of nature and nurture as applied to creativity. - The Psychological Correlates of Creativity: The relationship between creativity and intelligence, memory, knowledge, motivation and perception shall be explored. - Creativity and Psychopathology: Many famous creative individuals have been troubled with mental illness. The link between creativity and psychopathology shall be discussed with reference to manic-depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and savant syndrome. - Creativity and Well-Being: There have also been many successful creative individuals who led psychologically healthy lives. Creativity can enhance psychological well-being, and vice versa. The relationship between creativity and mental health will be explored with reference to self-disclosure, stress-relief, mindfulness and Flow. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - describe the main characteristics of creative people; - explain their own creativity and that of others through appropriate models of the creative process; - explain how aspects of the environment may enhance or hinder creativity; - discuss the relationship between creativity and a variety of psychological correlates including intelligence, memory, knowledge, motivation and perception; - discuss the relationship between creativity and mental health. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - adjust aspects of the environment to enhance their own creativity and that of others; - critically analyse creativity through an examination of the psychological processes underlying it; - apply strategies to maximise their creative output and that of others. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Gilbert, E. (2016). Big magic: Creative living beyond fear. London: Bloomsbury. - Kaufman, C. & Sternberg, R. (2010) (eds.). The Cambridge handbook of creativity. UK: Cambridge University Press. - Sternberg, R. (1999) (ed.). Handbook of creativity. UK: Cambridge University Press. Supplementary Readings: - Amabile, T. (1996). Creativity in context. Oxford: Westview Press. - Cropley, D., Cropley, A., Kaufman, J., & Runco, M. (2010). The dark side of creativity. UK: Cambridge University Press. - Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. NY: Harper Perennial. - Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. NY: Harper Perennial. - Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Finding flow: The psychology of engagement with everyday life. NY: Harper Perennial. - Kyaga, S. (2015). Creativity and mental illness. The mad genius in question. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. - McDonnell, R. (2014). Creativity and social support in mental health. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. - Sternberg, R. (2003). Wisdom, intelligence, and creativity synthesized. UK: Cambridge University Press. Other readings will be provided in electronic format throughout the course of the study-unit. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Workshop | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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