ROBERT STERNBERG IN PSYCHOLOGY: THEORY, CREATIVITY & INTELLIGENCE

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1 Doktorski studij na FSB: Uvod u znanstveno istraživački rad 2016/2017 Borna Doračić ROBERT STERNBERG IN PSYCHOLOGY: THEORY, CREATIVITY & INTELLIGENCE Summary UDC 159.9: Essay 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 20 th century.

2 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 2

3 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]. 3

4 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. 4

5 REFERENCES [1] L. Gottfredson, Mainstream Science on Intelligence: An Editorial With 52 Signatories, History, and Bibliography, pp , [2] S. H. Carson, A Harvard Lecturer Explores the Psychology of Creativity. [Online]. Available: [Accessed: 11-Jan-2017]. [3] Y. Williams,. [Online]. Available: [Accessed: 01-Jan-2017]. [4] R. Sternberg, Augmented Theory of Successful Intelligence. [Online]. Available: [Accessed: 01-Jan-2017]. [5] R. Sternberg, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized. New York: Cambridge University Press, [6] A. L. Dumitrescu, D. Badi, C. Beatrice, and C. Du, The Association of Social Desirability and Social Intelligence with Smoking among Undergraduates, vol. 159, pp , [7] A. Maltese, M. Alesi, A. Giuseppa, and M. Alù, Self-esteem, defensive strategies and social intelligence in the adolescence, Procedia - Soc. Behav. Sci., vol. 69, no. Iceepsy, pp , [8] S. Intelligence, A. S. A. Condition, F. O. R. The, O. F. Communicative, C. Of, and T. H. E. Future, Social intelligence as a condition for the development of communicative competence of the future teachers -, vol. 116, pp , [9] K. Kersting, What exactly is creativity?, American Psychological Association, [Online]. Available: [Accessed: 01-Jan-2017]. [10] R. Sternberg, Ed., Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge University Press, [11] T. Babalis, Y. Xanthakou, M. Kaila, and N. Stavrou, Research attitude and innovative-creative thinking : Differences between undergraduate male and female students, Procedia - Soc. Behav. Sci., vol. 69, no. Iceepsy, pp , [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 , Defined: Delivered: Supervised by Kalman Žiha Borna Doračić, borna.doracic@fsb.hr Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, Ivana Lučića 5, , Zagreb 5

Critical Perspectives of Construct of Intelligence

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