In the foregoing sections, you have read that there are variations in psychological attributes like intelligence, aptitude, personality and so on. Here, you will learn that there are differences in the potential for creativity across individuals and the manner in which creativity is expressed. Some are highly creative and others are not so creative. Some may express creativity in writing, still others in dance, music, poetry, science and so on. Manifestations of creativity can be observed in a novel solution to a problem, an invention, composition of a poem, painting, new chemical process, an innovation in law, a breakthrough in preventing a disease and the like. Despite differences, one common element among these is the production of something new and unique.

We generally think of creativity in terms of creative persons like Tagore, Einstein, C.V. Raman, Ramanujan etc. who have made outstanding contributions in different spheres. In recent years, our understanding of creativity has broadened. Creativity is not just limited to a selected few — the artist, the scientist, the poet or the inventor. An ordinary individual who is engaged in simple occupations like pottery, carpentry, cooking, etc. can also be creative. However, it has been said that they are not working at the same level of creativity as an eminent scientist or a writer. Hence, we can say that individuals vary in terms of the level and the areas in which they exhibit creativity and that all may not be operating at the same level.

One important debate in understanding the variations in creativity has been the relationship of creativity with intelligence. Let us take an example of two students in a class. Sunita is regarded by her teachers as an excellent student. She does her work on time, scores the highest grades in her class, listens to instructions with care, grasps quickly, reproduces accurately but she rarely comes out with ideas which are her own. Rita is another student who is just average in her studies and has not achieved high grades consistently. She prefers to learn on her own. She improvises new ways of helping her mother at home and comes up with new ways of doing her work and assignments. The former is considered to be more intelligent and the latter as more creative.

How do we explain variations in the potential for creativity? As in the case of other mental and physical characteristics, such variations can be attributed to the complex interaction of heredity and environment. There is no disagreement that creativity is determined by both heredity and environment. Limits of the creative potential are set by heredity; environmental factors stimulate the development of creativity. How much of the creative potential can be realised, when and in what specific form and direction is largely determined by environmental factors such as motivation, commitment, family support, peer influences, training opportunities, etc.

Due to the varied expressions of creativity, tests have been developed to assess creativity in different fields. A general feature of most of the creativity tests is that they are open-ended. They permit the person to think of different answers to the questions or problems in terms of her/his experiences, whatever these may have been. These help the individual to go in different directions. Some famous psychologists who have developed creativity tests are Guilford, Torrance, Khatena, Wallach and Kogan, Paramesh, Baqer Mehdi, and Passi.