Doktorski studij na FSB: Uvod u znanstveno istraživački rad 2016/2017

Borna Doračić

ROBERT STERNBERG IN PSYCHOLOGY: THEORY,

CREATIVITY & INTELLIGENCE

UDC 159.9:159.954

Essay

Summary

There are various definitions of both creativity and intelligence, two terms which have a

significant influence on how one develops during his or her lifetime. A number of different

scientists have provided their view on creativity and intelligence, providing a broad spectre of

theories. One of the most influential psychologists of the last century, Robert Sternberg, also

provided his view on this point. This paper provides a brief review of his theory of

intelligence (i.e. successful intelligence, which presents one person’s ability to perform well

in everyday life) and creativity (i.e. the investment theory of creativity).

Key words: Intelligence; Creativity; Mental processes, Robert Sternberg, Innovation

1. Introduction

Both intelligence and creativity are concepts with many views and definitions. What

defines an intelligent person. What defines a creative person. Genetics or environment? Or

both? General definition of intelligence is the ability to observe and gather information,

retaining it as knowledge in addition to recalling it when needed for application. Higher level

of intelligence assumes competence to grasp complex notions and ideas, to learn rather

quickly, while also learning from previously gained experiences [1].

Those who develop new or enhance an existing product or idea are called creative. They

connect bits of information together in unique and innovative ways. It can be said that

creative people, or people with superior creative capabilities, have a greater expanse of

information floating around in their cognitive workplace and cognitive memory, making them

more prone to finding and generating even more information and ideas [2].

In this paper, a concise review of Robert Sternberg's theory of intelligence and

creativity will be presented. Robert Sternberg is an American psychologist and

psychometrician, a full professor at Cornel University, who was previously a professor in

many other universities, including Oklahoma State University, Yale University and

University of Wisconsin. He is the author of triarchic theory of intelligence and many other

influential theories related to wisdom, creativity, thinking styles, etc., which makes him one

of the most important and most cited psychologists of the 20th century.

Borna Doračić Robert Sternberg in Psychology: Theory, Creativity & Intelligence

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2. Successful intelligence

A term provided by Sternberg is successful intelligence, defined by how well a person

does in their everyday life, rather than by tests and scales. If you are successfully intelligent

you can make the environment in which you reside adapt to your requirements, as well as

adapting yourself to the environment. Along with the genetics, this is that environment part of

what makes a person more or less intelligent. People live in the different cultures that form

parts of one’s personality, intelligence included. So, a person deemed as highly intelligent in

one culture, may not be seen as such in another. This is something that cannot be measured,

since every culture would have its own criteria of intelligence. To be successfully intelligent a

person would have to be analytical, practical and creative, but not only that. Using those

components in the right manner and at the right time is what makes it effective [3].

2.1 Analytical intelligence

What distinguishes intelligence from the conventional label of 'being smart' achieved by

learning and studying from books, is the competence for profound comprehension of

information, behaviour and environment [1]. However, this is exactly what analytical

intelligence is. Learning and processing new things successfully, carrying out intellectual

tasks and solving problems. Critical and analytical thinking are the main skills needed to be

componentialy intelligent, how this element of successful intelligence is also called. If a

person is able to do well on, for example, traditional IQ tests and exams, they have high

analytical intelligence [3].

2.2 Practical intelligence

Most people have what is called the common sense. It is a very basic skill. Nearly

everybody can make decisions, see and understand objects and events without much

explanation. This is practical intelligence, based on implied knowledge that a person gains

during their lifetime. This type of intelligence is not learned from a book or a classroom, but

is rather an unspoken set of information that people use and compare to already acquired

knowledge [4].

2.3 Creative intelligence

To be creatively intelligent is to be able to solve tasks while presented with novel ideas.

Creative aspects of thinking give a person the ability to transition between conventional and

unconventional ways of thinking. When faced with a problem requiring creativity, one needs

creative intelligence. However, not all problems that need creative intelligence also require

creativity. According to Sternberg's theory, the creativity entails more than just creative

intelligence. A person needs to possess knowledge, different ways of thinking, personality

traits, and certain motivational attributes. This is how people can be creatively intelligent but

not creative. A person may very well think in innovative ways, but then again may not be

persistent or courageous enough, consequently not creative enough. Therefore a problem

requiring creative intelligence tends to be not as complex as one needing both creative

intelligence and creativity, or as Sternberg called it - full creativity. For example, writing a

novel would require full creativity [5].

As previously mentioned, using created product in the right manner is needed for full

creativity. This is where we encounter differentiation between creative and innovative

thinking. Product - creativity, manner - innovation. A creative individual possesses traits and

competences which allow them to solve problems, therefore creating a product. These are

basic aspects of a creative process. Successfully implementing that product into the world is

what requires innovation. Having the need for certain cognitive capabilities for both creativity

Borna Doračić Robert Sternberg in Psychology: Theory, Creativity & Intelligence

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and innovation makes those two terms somewhat related, however not the same. Creativity

usually requires an individual, whereas innovation often needs more: people, concept, right

time and place. Innovation is more on the organizational and systematic level [11]. It is the

stage where created novelties are introduced and administrated and already established

concepts are modified [12]. Here, we can also use writing of a novel as an explaining

platform. It would take creativity to think of rarely used words, or ways to describe something

common in a new way. Composing and arranging those words and descriptions is where

creativity meets innovation. When the finished novel reaches the publishing stage, innovation

takes over. It edits the product and introduces it to the public using its sources and, of course,

innovative thinking. Whilst creativity is leaning towards process, innovation is an activity

more concerned with the product [12].

3. Social intelligence

Intelligence is associated with many aspects of human behaviour. From creative

intelligence, emotional, spatial, existential, to most common, general intelligence. An

important part of general intelligence is social intelligence, also a significant element of

creative process. Social intelligence comes into play when a person needs to manage

situational obligations. Meaning, it is an intelligence that enables a person to be aware of

others as well as their own presence, of the environment and of the state of the setting they’re

in. These abilities can be measured as social intelligence featured in the form of three

components: social skills or performance, social awareness and social information processing

[6].

Being socially intelligent means that a person can successfully understand and

somewhat predict other people’s behaviours and emotions. It’s also crucial for understanding

events in different situations, both new and current [7].

For creative people this is very important since social intelligence is related to creative

process - it involves development of a creative persons’ knowledge, skills and ability to

understand themselves, their behaviour, and interaction with the environment for achieving

that final product [8].

4. Basic mental processes

Up until recently, creativity was a term solely linked to artists, writers. It did not have

much relation to business, science and engineering. Therefore, it did not have much

connection and backing with intelligent thinking. In order to assimilate creativity with

intelligence, Sternberg explained three basic mental processes that drive intelligent behaviour

in all people, regardless of their background.

According to Sternberg's theory, those processes are [3]:

- Metacomponents

- Performance components

- Knowledge-acquisition components

Metacomponents serve as a management part of our mind. They are in charge to make

decisions, to find a solution to a problem and predict the outcome of situations. Instructions

made by metacomponents are then carried out by the components responsible for their actual

performance. Performance components allow us to accumulate information in our short-term

memory, and then manipulate these information by comparing them, and applying them to

different situations. While doing tasks as making decisions, or comparing solutions, we learn

and deposit gained information. This is operated by knowledge-acquisition components [3].

Borna Doračić Robert Sternberg in Psychology: Theory, Creativity & Intelligence

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5. The Investment Theory of Creativity

Sternberg's theory includes previously mentioned metacomponents that are especially

important to outline and redefine problems that could be solved with creative thinking. In

addition, metacomponents are important for observing and assessing a person’s creative

project. No matter how creative a person is, no one reaches their peak of creativity every time

a creative problem occurs. It’s important for a creative person to be able to make a distinction

between what is useful or valuable, from what is basically worthless [5].

Another point of view developed by Sternberg is that creativity is a decision. Based on

his research, along with his colleague Todd Lubart, he developed “The investment theory of

creativity”, coming to conclusion that there is more to creativity than the creative intelligence

[5]. In his words “creative thinkers are those who buy low and sell high in the world of ideas”.

Fundamentally, a creative thinker “buys low” by proposing an idea that is considered

unpopular, however “sells high” by influencing and persuading others of value and

significance of that idea. Nonetheless he thinks that there are certain people who, even though

they possess all predispositions to think creatively, seem to have something preventing them

to do so. Perhaps they just need to make a decision to be creative [4].

There must be a distinction between creative intelligence and being creative and

intelligent. People who work in different fields need different levels of intelligence, and

different types of creativity. An engineer and an artist use different types of creativity for

different purposes. Developing a mathematical formula isn’t the same as creating an artwork.

Regardless of one’s IQ, being creative is something that comes from within [9].

While conducting tests for creativity, intelligence is the leading cognitive concept taken

into consideration. A so called threshold effect is the main aspect that connects intelligence

and creativity. This means that a person must have a certain minimum of intelligence to be

able to demonstrate creative problem solving and thinking in both divergent and convergent

manner [10].

6. Conclusion

Creativity can be a foundation for self-actualization, as a source of happiness. It can also

help people to manage their emotions and reduce stress. Creative people find ways to reduce

negative emotions, building up the resilience to depression [2]. Because of their cognitive

capacities, creatively intelligent people are more aware of the state in which things are around

them. If they are more aware that something could and should be better, the object of their

creativity input is never quite right. In their minds anyway.

There is this immense pressure in being creative. It assumes developing something that

hasn't been done before. In a way, same happens when deemed intelligent. Expectations are

high. Both intelligence and creativity seem to be related to, and dependent on, each other.

Albert Einstein once said that creativity is intelligence having fun.

Borna Doračić Robert Sternberg in Psychology: Theory, Creativity & Intelligence

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REFERENCES

[1] L. Gottfredson, “Mainstream Science on Intelligence: An Editorial With 52 Signatories, History, and

Bibliography,” pp. 13–23, 1994.

[2] S. H. Carson, “A Harvard Lecturer Explores the Psychology of Creativity.” [Online]. Available:

http://www.extension.harvard.edu/inside-extension/harvard-lecturer-explores-psychology-creativity.

[Accessed: 11-Jan-2017].

[3] Y. Williams, “Robert Sternberg in Psychology: Theory, Creativity & Intelligence.” [Online]. Available:

http://study.com/academy/lesson/robert-sternberg-in-psychology-theory-creativity-intelligence.html.

[Accessed: 01-Jan-2017].

[4] R. Sternberg, “Augmented Theory of Successful Intelligence.” [Online]. Available:

http://www.robertjsternberg.com/successful-intelligence/. [Accessed: 01-Jan-2017].

[5] R. Sternberg, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized. New York: Cambridge University Press,

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[9] K. Kersting, “What exactly is creativity?,” American Psychological Association, 2003. [Online].

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[10] R. Sternberg, Ed., Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

[11] T. Babalis, Y. Xanthakou, M. Kaila, and N. Stavrou, “Research attitude and innovative-creative

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[12] N. Nordin and M. Malik, “Undergraduates ’ Barriers to Creative Thought and I nnovative in a New

Millennial Era,” Procedia - Soc. Behav. Sci., vol. 201, no. February, pp. 93–101, 2015.

Defined: 11.01.2017.

Delivered: 28.01.2017.

Supervised by Kalman Žiha

Borna Doračić, borna.doracic@fsb.hr

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval

Architecture, Ivana Lučića 5, 10 002, Zagreb