The Psychology of Creativity:

History of Creativity Research 23
and yet another with the creative product. But a complete theory will handle process, person, and product – plus the
sociocultural environments that affect all three aspects. I personally believe that evolutionary psychology has the
best opportunity to provide such comprehensiveness, but later developments may prove me wrong (Simonton,
1999a). The second front concerns predictive precision. It is one matter to explicate a phenomenon, quite another
to make precise predictions that can be subjected to empirical tests. For good reasons the maturity of any science is
gauged by predictive power, not just explanatory utility. It is for this reason that I have several times proposed
mathematical models that predict certain key features of creativity (Simonton, 1979, 1985, 1997, 1999c). Yet I am
almost alone in doing so. To be sure, it is conceivable that psychology can never be an exact science, or at least not
with respect to elusive phenomena like human creativity. Still, it is worth a try.
4. We need to develop better practical applications. After all, creativity can be considered among the most
important of all human activities. Our homes and offices are filled with furniture, appliances, and other
conveniences that are the products of human inventiveness. We amuse ourselves with the comics in the daily paper,
take novels with us to while away the hours on the plane or at the beach, go to movie theaters to see the latest
blockbuster, watch television shows and commercials, play games on the computer, attend concerts from classical
and jazz to rock and soul, visit museums that display the artistic artifacts of cultures and civilizations – again all
implicitly bearing ample testimony to the consequences of the creative mind. The buildings we enter, the cars we
drive, the clothes we wear – even the music we hear in the elevators – are all exemplars of some form of creativity.
Given these consequences for everyday lives, psychologists must learn how to promote creative development and
expression (see, e.g., Nickerson, 1999). It is probably especially urgent to discover how to encourage creativity in
those who have tended to be underrepresented among creators, such as women, minorities, older persons, and
denizens of the developing world.
If psychologists pursue the directions just indicated, I prophesy not only that creativity will continue to
have a history, but also that creativity research will make history.