Something Old, Something New: Revisiting Guilford's Conception of Creative Problem Solving

Abstract

Over the course of his career, Guilford produced a remarkable body of research on creative thought. Today, this research is remembered primarily for its articulation of the notion that divergent thinking plays a key role in creative thought. However, a number of other capacities relevant to understanding creative thought were identified in the course of this research effort. In this article, I review this research program as a whole with special reference to those capacities that warrant more attention in current studies of creativity. Implications for current research are discussed.