Teaching the Foundations of the Field: A Content Analysis of Potential Creativity Texts Maria J. Avitia University of Connecticut Jonathan A. Plucker University of Connecticut A comparative review was conducted on 7 current books on creativity for consideration as potential text for an undergraduate creativity course, and their content was analyzed based on 13 themes. Choice of books and themes were generated by surveying 13 leading scholars in the field. Themes included Theories and Definitions, Measurement and Assessment, Types of Creativity, and Motivation, among others. A summary of each book is given with the price and which themes it covers, as well as how themes have changed in importance between this analysis and a similar one from 12 year prior. Keywords: creativity, creativity text, content analysis In 2000, Plucker and Beghetto published an unconventional book review in which popular creativity books were content ana- lyzed for their appropriateness for undergraduate creativity courses. Leading scholars in the field were asked for their recom- mendations for both books to consider, and content that should be included in this type of undergraduate course. The review provided a helpful guide to instructors of creativity courses, which were becoming more prevalent at that time. Over the past decade, the number of creativity courses and the number of potential texts has grown substantially, with courses now regularly taught in psychology, education, business, and en- gineering. This prevalence of creativity and innovation courses reflects a broad acknowledgment in the academic community that these topics are critically important constructs across several do- mains. In addition, the science of creativity has advanced rapidly since the turn of the century, calling into question the appropri- ateness of classic texts on creativity and related topics. As a result, another review of potential texts is timely. Method Our methodology closely followed that of Plucker and Beghetto (2000). We asked 13 leading creativity researchers for their re- sponses to two questions, a) What concepts do you believe to be important for an undergraduate creativity course? and b) Which books should we consider including in this content analysis? Nine experts responded within 2 weeks. The book list was tallied and three books received more than five votes: Kaufman’s (2009) Creativity 101, Sawyer’s (2012) Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation (2nd ed.), and Runco’s (2007) Creativity Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice. One other book had at least two nominations: Kaufman and Sternberg’s (2010) Cam- bridge Handbook of Creativity. Simonton’s (2009) work on genius was also recommended by two experts, although it was done generically in both cases and not related to a specific book title; we chose to include his book, Genius 101, which is intended to be an undergraduate textbook. Richards’ (2007) Everyday Creativity and Robinson’s (2011) Out of Our Minds: Learning to Become Creative, popular books among academics, were included to expand the diversity of the texts. As with the selection of books, suggestions for the content analysis were tallied to see what themes were most popular. These suggestions were then compared to the criteria used in the prior review. Although many of the themes stayed the same, some of the names were altered to fit current views. For example, Systems Theory was broadened to Theories and Def- initions, and Content Specificity/Generality was changed to Domain Specificity/Generality. Some of the constructs nomi- nated during the earlier review were not mentioned by the experts for the current review (e.g., Historiometry, Computer Modeling, Audience), and other constructs were added (e.g., Cognition and Development, Personality, Mental Health, Neu- ropsychology). Although not mentioned by the surveyed ex- perts, the theme of Education seems reasonable to include given that many college-level courses on creativity are offered within schools of education. The final pool of books and themes is included in Table 1. This article was published Online First May 12, 2014. Maria J. Avitia and Jonathan A. Plucker, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut. The authors extend special thanks to Drs. Dean Keith Simonton, Greg- ory Feist, James C. Kaufman, Lisa Smith, Jeff Smith, John Baer, Liane Gabora, Paul Silvia, and Sandy Russ for their contribution to this review. However, the content and opinions expressed in this review are solely the responsibility of the authors. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Maria J. Avitia, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Connecticut, Neag School of Education, 249 Glenbrook Road, Unit 3064 Storrs, Con- necticut 06269. E-mail: maria.avitia@uconn.edu This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts © 2014 American Psychological Association 2014, Vol. 8, No. 3, 378 –382 1931-3896/14/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036760 378