Domain Specificity of Creativity

Recent research findings have challenged the idea that creativity is domain-general.  Domain Specificity of Creativity brings together the research information on domain specificity in creativity -- both the research that supports it and answers to research arguments that might seem to challenge it.  The implications for domain specificity affect how we move forward with theories of creativity, testing for creativity, and teaching for creativity.  The book outlines what these changes are and how creativity research and applications of that research will change in light of these new findings.

• Summarizes research regarding domain specificity in creativity
• Outlines implications of these findings for creativity theory, testing, and teaching
• Identifies unanswered questions and new research opportunities

Dr. John Baer is a Professor of Educational Psychology at Rider University. He earned his B.A. from Yale University (double major, psychology and Japanese Studies, magna cum laude) and his Ph.D. in cognitive and developmental psychology from Rutgers University.

His research on the development of creativity and his teaching have both won national awards, including the American Psychological Association's Berlyne Prize and the National Conference on College Teaching and Learning’s Award for Innovative Excellence. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Creative Behavior; Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts; and the International Journal of Creativity and Problem Solving.

His books include Being Creative Inside and Outside the Classroom; Creativity and Divergent Thinking: A Task-Specific Approach; Creative Teachers, Creative Students; Creativity Across Domains: Faces of the Muse; Reason and Creativity in Development; Are We Free? Psychology and Free Will; Essentials of Creativity Assessment; Creatively Gifted Students Are Not Like Other Gifted Students; and Teaching for Creativity in the Common Core Classroom. He has published more than one hundred journal articles, research papers and chapters for edited books.

Dr. Baer has taught at all levels from elementary through graduate school. He has been a teacher and program director in gifted education and served as a Regional Director in the Odyssey of the Mind creative problem solving program. Dr. Baer is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and he has received research grants from the National Science Foundation, the Educational Testing Service, the National Center for Educational Statistics, the Carnegie Foundation, and Yale, Rutgers, and Rider Universities.