Revisiting the Four Stages of Creativity
The Role of Metacognition
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21345328 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeb S Puryear (0000-0002-1163-2965, PJW College of Education University of Montana Missoula Montana USA, corresponding author), Kamila Urban (0000-0003-4547-9804, Institute for Research in Social Communication Slovak Academy of Sciences Bratislava Slovakia), Marek Urban (0000-0003-2772-1388, Institute of Psychology The Czech Academy of Sciences Prague Czech Republic) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Creative Behavior (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0175 • E-ISSN: 2162-6057 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/jocb.70126 |
| OpenAlex | W7167224807 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 74 |
Wallas' four‐stage model has long served as a heuristic for understanding creativity, but contemporary metacognitive theory clarifies the mechanisms within each stage. This article reconceptualizes the model through the lens of metacognition, focusing on the role of knowledge, regulation, and experiences. In the Preparation stage, declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge guide planning and problem representation. In the Incubation stage, stepping back from effortful processing while remaining open to associations represents a regulatory decision. In the Illumination stage, the sudden “Aha!” moment is best understood as a metacognitive experience that flags a candidate solution and signals further regulation. In the Verification stage, ideas are judged against internalized standards through monitoring, with subsequent regulatory decisions determining whether ideas are pursued, adapted, or discarded. Across stages, transitions are emphasized, and creativity is framed as a dynamic, self‐regulatory system. Revisiting Wallas' model in this way highlights that each stage involves distinct forms of knowledge, monitoring, and regulation, offering a more precise account of processes underlying his framework. This perspective yields testable hypotheses about stage‐specific regulation and points to interventions, such as explicit instruction and metacognitive feedback, that can strengthen creativity
Creativity · Heuristic · Learning theory · Metacognition · Moment (physics) · Perspective (graphical) · Point (geometry) · Creativity in Education and Neuroscience · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |