The Science of Creativity

Hansika Kapoor, a creativity researcher from India focusing on dark creativity, discusses how even good ideas can lead to harmful actions. Angie Miller, working with the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, highlights the impact of arts degrees on career paths, emphasizing the value of creative education. Taylor Worley shares intriguing findings on 'slow looking,' revealing how taking time to appreciate art enhances emotional connection and understanding. Together, they unveil groundbreaking research that reshapes our views on creativity and art.

We're going to leave the podcast studio and travel to Yale University for the 2025 creativity research conference! This episode has six interviews with leading-edge creativity researchers and the next episode has five more. There were over two hundred researchers at Yale, from around the world, including Japan, India, Europe, and South America. This is the official American Psychological Association creativity research conference. In this episode, you'll hear about research that is SO NEW that it hasn't even been published yet. Top creativity researchers attend this conference each year so that they can find out about the latest research findings, and now you can hear about it, too. This episode takes you to the conference room floor. Listen to this episode and the next one, because there is too much great research for just one episode! Dr. Sawyer invited six researchers to tell us about their latest research findings, and there are five more in the next episode. Chapters 1:49 Conference welcome from Roni Reiter-Palmon 2:49 Kristin Lamb: Imagination and Creativity 9:40 Ahmad Rahimi: Using Large Language Models to Assess Student Creativity with Games 13:43 Interlude 14:41 Shoshi Kesari: Improv Theater with Adults 20:34 Denis Dumas: Children and the balance between originality and appropriateness 31:15 Michael Mumford: Creativity research from the 1970s to today 42:11 Outro 43:19 Closer Resources Conference web site Conference detailed schedule of presentations Music by license from SoundStripe: "Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich Copyright (c) 2025 Keith Sawyer

Dr. Leidy Klotz is a professor at the University of Virginia, and the author of the book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less. In this episode, we talk about how his research contributes to our understanding of how to approach and solve problems and how to change and innovate. This is an insightful conversation between two psychologists who really love to study how people think and act! Dr. Klotz's research is about so much more than creativity, but his research is linked to a lot of creativity topics, including editing during the process, architectural design, and education. Please take a look at Dr. Leidy Klotz's book, which is called Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less, and visit his web site at leidyklotz.com. Music by license from SoundStripe: "Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich Copyright (c) 2024 Keith Sawyer

Dr. Amy Climer is a thought leader in creativity and innovation. She argues that creativity emerges from a deliberate process. Creativity can be learned, practiced, and repeated. Researchers have discovered a lot about how to teach this effectively, and this is the theme of her new book, Deliberate Creative Teams. In Dr. Climer's view, creativity is an intentional, structured process. For over 20 years, she's been facilitating creativity workshops with teams and organizations. She helps companies learn how to foster an innovative culture through her company Climer Consulting. She's the developer of the Deliberate CreativeⓇ Team Scale and the ClimerⓇ Cards, both powerful tools for enhancing team creativity. For more information: Amy's company: Climer Consulting Amy's book: Deliberate Creative Teams Music by license from SoundStripe: "Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich Copyright (c) 2024 Keith Sawyer

Dr. Yoed Kenett studies the types of thinking and knowledge that support creativity. His research helps us understand the core mental processes of creativity, including associative thinking and question formulation. In this episode, we talk about the practical implications of his research and we show how that research can be used to enhance your creativity. He's done research at the Hebrew University at Jerusalem; Bar-Ilan University; Brown University; and the University of Pennsylvania. Since 2020, he's been a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences at The Technion: Israel Institute of Technology.

How can leaders foster creativity in their teams? How can you inspire people to reach their potential? Today's guest, Dr. Adam Galinsky, has spent decades studying these questions, doing research in social psychology, leadership, and organizational behavior. His latest book, Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others, gives research-based advice for how to increase motivation, creativity, and collaboration. These are important skills for leaders but also for everyone in their daily lives. Adam is also the co-author of Friend & Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both. Adam Galinsky is a professor at Columbia Business School. For more information: Adam's web site Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others Friend & Foe: When to Cooperate, When to Compete, and How to Succeed at Both Music by license from SoundStripe: "Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich Copyright (c) 2025 Keith Sawyer

Dr. Robert Sternberg, a professor of psychology at Cornell University, is one of the best-known psychologists in the United States. He's done groundbreaking research on the most important issues in psychology, including scientific studies of wisdom, love, hate, leadership, and of course, creativity. Dr. Sternberg is known for reforming college admissions requirements to include measures of creativity, which he did while a dean at both Tufts University and at Oklahoma State University. He's published literally thousands of books and scientific articles and his research has been cited by other scholars over 250,000 times. Dr. Sternberg's research represents the best that we have in The Science of Creativity. For more information: Robert J. Sternberg, 2007. Wisdom, Intelligence, and Creativity Synthesized. Robert J. Sternberg, 2002. Defying the Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of Conformity. Music by license from SoundStripe: "Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich Copyright (c) 2025 Keith Sawyer

Dr. Anna Abraham, a neuroscientist and creativity expert at the University of Georgia, shares fascinating insights into the complexities of the creative brain. She debunks common myths, linking creativity to emotional well-being and inclusive education. The discussion highlights the role of neuroscience in creativity, showing it as a networked process rather than a single function. Abraham also advocates for expanding creative opportunities in schools and emphasizes that creativity is a skill anyone can develop through practice and community engagement.

John Hendrix is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. His latest book is a graphic novel called The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. In this episode, John and I talk about his new book and about his own creative process. John's work has appeared in numerous publications, such as Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, The New York Times, Time Magazine, National Geographic, among many others. His images also appeared in advertising campaigns for ESPN/ABC, AT&T, Pfizer, and Target. I interviewed John about his creative process for my 2025 book Learning to See: Inside the World's Leading Art and Design Schools. John is the Kenneth E. Hudson Professor of Art and the founding Chair of the MFA in Illustration and Visual Culture program at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. For more information: John Hendrix Illustration: www.johnhendrix.com The Mythmakers: The Remarkable Fellowship of C. S. Lewis & J. R. R. Tolkien Sawyer's new book Learning to See will be published in April, 2025. Music by license from Soundstripe: "Uptown Lovers Instrumental" by AFTERNOONZ "Miss Missy" by AFTERNOONZ "What's the Big Deal" by Ryan Saranich Copyright (c) 2024 Keith Sawyer

The perfect podcast for the Christmas season! This is a special Christmas episode of The Science of Creativity. Many of the traditions that we love—gift-giving, Santa Claus, kissing under the mistletoe—were invented across the generations, and are always evolving. This special holiday episode gives you the creation story of the secular, non-religious traditions that we celebrate at Christmas. The collective creation of these Christmas traditions is what I call social innovation, a kind of collective creativity where everyone plays a role. Five hundred years ago, Christmas was a wild party, where young men got drunk and roamed in packs around town. Children didn't start getting gifts until about 200 years ago. In the late 1800s, the Santa Claus myth was invented, along with the elves and the sleigh and the workshop at the North Pole. It started two thousand years ago, in Ancient Rome, it picked up steam in the 1800s, and we're still creating new Christmas traditions today. Chapters 0:00 Teaser 1:11 Introduction to the Special Episode 2:12 Tradition and Invention 5:28 Wassailing 12:23 Toys 16:06 Santa Claus 21:25 The War on Christmas 25:24 The Holiday for Everyone 27:54 Closer 28:44 Outro Music by License from Soundstripe: "Blues for Oliver" by Cast of Characters "Silent Night" by Cast of Characters "O Christmas Tree" by O Christmas Tree Jazz Trio "Just Walkin'" by Ryan Saranich "Uptown Lovers" by AFTERNOONZ Notes The Pagan Origins of Christmas: Saturnalia, Yule, and Other Pre-Christian Traditions | History Cooperative Wikipedia entries: "The war on Christmas" and "Wassailing" and "Syncretism" Copyright (c) 2024 Keith Sawyer