Creativity Research Audio Journal (CRAJ)

Ep.158. Everyday Creativity: A Systematic Literature Review

"Everyday Creativity: A Systematic Literature Review" by Ana Luisa Ilha Villanova and Miguel Pina e Cunha Summary This article from the Journal of Creative Behavior presents a systematic literature review of "everyday creativity," aiming to clarify its definition and characteristics. The authors highlight the lack of a comprehensive, singular definition for this concept, often referred to as "little-c creativity," in contrast to "Big-C creativity" which denotes genius-level achievements. The review proposes a more inclusive understanding by integrating individualistic and sociocultural perspectives, emphasising that everyday creativity involves producing something original and meaningful that can be either a personal "creative experience" or a "creative product" judged by one's immediate social circle. The paper also explores everyday creativity through the "4 Ps" framework (person, process, product, and press), revealing its habitual, ubiquitous, and personally significant nature in daily life, and ultimately suggesting future research avenues to expand its study beyond the traditional creativity field.

Ep.157. Augmented Creativity: Bridging the real and virtual worlds to enhance creative play

"Augmented Creativity: Bridging the real and virtual worlds to enhance creative play" by Fabio Zünd, Mattia Ryffel, Stéphane Magnenat, Alessia Marra, Maurizio Nitti, Mubbasir Kapadia, Gioacchino Noris, Kenny Mitchell, Markus Gross, Robert W. Sumner Summary This paper introduces "Augmented Creativity," a concept leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) on mobile devices to enhance real-world creative activities and education by bridging physical interaction with digital experiences. The authors present six prototype applications demonstrating this concept, including a colouring book app that animates children's drawings, a music app for tangible song arrangement, and AR games promoting physical movement and cooperation. Other applications involve a city-wide gaming framework for urban exploration, a system for authoring interactive narratives, and an approach to visual robot programming that makes abstract concepts tangible. Ultimately, the work aims to use AR to direct attention back to classic creative play while offering engaging digital enhancements, fostering both creativity and learning.

Ep.156. Beauty in the Eye of Expert and Nonexpert Beholders: A Study in the Appraisal of Art

"Beauty in the Eye of Expert and Nonexpert Beholders: A Study in the Appraisal of Art" by Paul Hekkert and Piet C. W. Van Wieringen Summary This scholarly article, "Beauty in the Eye of Expert and Nonexpert Beholders: A Study in the Appraisal of Art," by Paul Hekkert and Piet C. W. Van Wieringen, delves into how both professional art experts and non-experts perceive and evaluate art. Published in The American Journal of Psychology in 1996, the study investigates the criteria and agreement (or disagreement) in judgments of art between these two distinct groups. It particularly focuses on how factors like originality and craftsmanship influence their assessment of aesthetic quality, noting that experts tend to prioritise originality more highly than non-experts. The research aims to provide a more detailed understanding of art appreciation differences by using a methodology that more closely resembles real-world art appraisal scenarios.

Ep.155. The Influence of Art Expertise and Training on Emotion and Preference Ratings for Representational and Abstract Artworks

"The Influence of Art Expertise and Training on Emotion and Preference Ratings for Representational and Abstract Artworks" by Jorien van Paasschen, Francesca Bacci, David P. Melcher Summary This research article explores how art expertise and training influence emotional and preference ratings for both representational and abstract artworks. The study involved art experts and novices, with a subgroup of novices receiving brief art historical training, rating artworks in both laboratory and museum settings. Key findings indicate that while art experts rate artworks higher in terms of beauty and personal preference, basic emotional responses (valence and arousal) remain consistent across all observer groups, suggesting a universal element to immediate emotional reactions to art. Interestingly, artworks viewed digitally in the lab were often preferred over those seen in the museum, and prior exposure to artworks generally led to higher ratings of beauty and liking.

Ep. 154. Who Cares About Imagination, Creativity, and Innovation, and Why? A Review

"Who Cares About Imagination, Creativity, and Innovation, and Why? A Review" by Marie J. C. Forgeard and James C. Kaufman Summary This research article investigates how academic papers articulate the importance of imagination, creativity, and innovation (ICI). The authors reviewed 200 empirical studies across various disciplines, including psychology, business, and education journals, to determine if and how researchers explain why these concepts are worthy of study. The findings reveal that a significant majority of articles (71%) offered little to no explicit discussion on the importance of ICI, often treating them as dependent variables to be predicted rather than predictors of other outcomes. While reasons for studying ICI varied by journal type, with "business, economics, and productivity" being the most common, the overall trend suggests researchers often assume their audience already understands the inherent value of ICI, missing opportunities for deeper justification.