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The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities
Inspiration is a motivational state that compels individuals to bring ideas into fruition. Creators have long argued that inspiration is important to the creative process, but until recently, scientists have not investigated this claim. In this article, we review challenges to the study of creative...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4070479/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25009483 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00436 |
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author | Oleynick, Victoria C. Thrash, Todd M. LeFew, Michael C. Moldovan, Emil G. Kieffaber, Paul D. |
author_facet | Oleynick, Victoria C. Thrash, Todd M. LeFew, Michael C. Moldovan, Emil G. Kieffaber, Paul D. |
author_sort | Oleynick, Victoria C. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Inspiration is a motivational state that compels individuals to bring ideas into fruition. Creators have long argued that inspiration is important to the creative process, but until recently, scientists have not investigated this claim. In this article, we review challenges to the study of creative inspiration, as well as solutions to these challenges afforded by theoretical and empirical work on inspiration over the past decade. First, we discuss the problem of definitional ambiguity, which has been addressed through an integrative process of construct conceptualization. Second, we discuss the challenge of how to operationalize inspiration. This challenge has been overcome by the development and validation of the Inspiration Scale (IS), which may be used to assess trait or state inspiration. Third, we address ambiguity regarding how inspiration differs from related concepts (creativity, insight, positive affect) by discussing discriminant validity. Next, we discuss the preconception that inspiration is less important than “perspiration” (effort), and we review empirical evidence that inspiration and effort both play important—but different—roles in the creative process. Finally, with many challenges overcome, we argue that the foundation is now set for a new generation of research focused on neural underpinnings. We discuss potential challenges to and opportunities for the neuroscientific study of inspiration. A better understanding of the biological basis of inspiration will illuminate the process through which creative ideas “fire the soul,” such that individuals are compelled to transform ideas into products and solutions that may benefit society. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4070479 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-40704792014-07-09 The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities Oleynick, Victoria C. Thrash, Todd M. LeFew, Michael C. Moldovan, Emil G. Kieffaber, Paul D. Front Hum Neurosci Neuroscience Inspiration is a motivational state that compels individuals to bring ideas into fruition. Creators have long argued that inspiration is important to the creative process, but until recently, scientists have not investigated this claim. In this article, we review challenges to the study of creative inspiration, as well as solutions to these challenges afforded by theoretical and empirical work on inspiration over the past decade. First, we discuss the problem of definitional ambiguity, which has been addressed through an integrative process of construct conceptualization. Second, we discuss the challenge of how to operationalize inspiration. This challenge has been overcome by the development and validation of the Inspiration Scale (IS), which may be used to assess trait or state inspiration. Third, we address ambiguity regarding how inspiration differs from related concepts (creativity, insight, positive affect) by discussing discriminant validity. Next, we discuss the preconception that inspiration is less important than “perspiration” (effort), and we review empirical evidence that inspiration and effort both play important—but different—roles in the creative process. Finally, with many challenges overcome, we argue that the foundation is now set for a new generation of research focused on neural underpinnings. We discuss potential challenges to and opportunities for the neuroscientific study of inspiration. A better understanding of the biological basis of inspiration will illuminate the process through which creative ideas “fire the soul,” such that individuals are compelled to transform ideas into products and solutions that may benefit society. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-06-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4070479/ /pubmed/25009483 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00436 Text en Copyright © 2014 Oleynick, Thrash, LeFew, Moldovan and Kieffaber. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
spellingShingle | Neuroscience Oleynick, Victoria C. Thrash, Todd M. LeFew, Michael C. Moldovan, Emil G. Kieffaber, Paul D. The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
title | The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
title_full | The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
title_fullStr | The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
title_full_unstemmed | The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
title_short | The scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
title_sort | scientific study of inspiration in the creative process: challenges and opportunities |
topic | Neuroscience |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4070479/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25009483 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00436 |
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