Trust the process

In creativity research it is often claimed that creativity pertains to persons and products as well as processes. However, most studies have focused on the creative potential of persons and their creative products in detriment of looking at the creative process itself or investigating all three facets of creativity in the same study. In this article, we report on a study that investigated children's creative potential, iterations in their creative process, and the effects of these factors on their creative products. Twenty-seven children aged 10–12 participated in a LEGO building task and were asked to build creative products in a five-step iterative process (for a total of 135 creative products). Children’s creative potential was then assessed with an Alternative Uses Task. Finally, children’s creative products were evaluated by six expert raters using a Consensual Assessment Technique. Results revealed statistically significant effects of iterations in the creative process on children's creative products. Specifically, iterations significantly increased originality but decreased task-appropriateness of the creative products. These results suggest that, in children, iterations in creative processes might facilitate exploration but inhibit exploitation. We found no statistically significant effects of children's creative potential on their creative products, supporting domain specificity in creativity. These findings represent some of the first empirical evidence showcasing the effects of iteration on originality and appropriateness in children’s creative products, emphasizing the importance of investigating creative processes in children

Business · Cognitive psychology · Creative problem-solving · Creativity · Process management · Art Education and Development · Computer Science · Creativity in Education and Neuroscience · Design Education and Practice · Psychology · Social Psychology