2013 Theses Bachelor's

Coffee with Dietrich Ernst and Macon Reinhart: A Dialogue on the Psychology of Creativity

Schmid, Emily

This paper explores the topics within psychology of creativity such as past studies on expertise, brain function, and memory, in addition to past models for understanding how those deemed as creative individuals solve problems in novel ways. Within this paper, various older models of creativity are explained, a new definition of creativity is posed, and ultimately, the model presented in the text as the basis for all creativity analyses is the constraint model devised by Patricia D. Stokes. The reader will learn about where creativity has come from, how it had been studied, and why Stokes’ model in particular is the most appropriate to use when studying creativity. Utilizing the structure of a conversational novel, this paper discusses creativity constraints within art (with painters Umberto Boccioni, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, and Frederic Bazille), and constraints within literature (A. S. Byatt, Italo Calvino, Milan Kundera, and Annie Dillard). This model is then applied specifically with the writer Franz Kafka as a supplemental exploration of creative constraints in literature.