James C. Kaufman
| James C. Kaufman | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 21, 1974 Great Neck, New York, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Creativity, Cognitive Psychology, Educational Psychology, Personality Psychology |
| Institutions | University of Connecticut |
| Alma mater | Yale University, University of Southern California |
| Influences | Robert J. Sternberg, John L. Horn |
|
Website http://www.jamesckaufman.com |
|
James C. Kaufman (born September 21, 1974) is a psychologist known for his research on creativity. He is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. Previously, he taught at the California State University, San Bernardino, where he directed the Learning Research Institute. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University in Cognitive Psychology, where he worked with Robert J. Sternberg.
Born in Great Neck, New York, he attended the University of Southern California as an undergraduate, where he worked with both John L. Horn and famed novelist T. Coraghessan Boyle. His parents are psychologists Alan S. Kaufman and Nadeen L. Kaufman.
He is a prolific researcher and editor who is best known for his theoretical contributions to the study of creativity. His most prominent theoretical work, with Ron Beghetto, is the Four-C Model of Creativity. This model explores the idea of expanding traditional conceptions of eminent creativity ("Big-C") and everyday creativity ("little-c") to include "mini-c"—creativity that is inherent in the learning process—and "Pro-c"—creativity at a professional level that has not yet had a historical impact. Kaufman and Beghetto have further proposed the construct of creative metacognition, which refers to both knowing one's creative strengths and weaknesses as well as recognizing appropriate times and contexts to express one's creativity.
In addition, with Robert Sternberg and Jean Pretz, he developed the propulsion model of creative contributions, outlined in the book The Creativity Conundrum. With John Baer, he developed the Amusement Park Theoretical (APT) Model of Creativity.
Kaufman's empirical work has focused on a few different key areas. Most media attention has focused on his research on creativity and mental illness. He coined “the Sylvia Plath Effect,” after finding that female poets were more likely to be mentally ill than other writers, in a paper in the Journal of Creative Behavior, and his work on poets dying young has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, BBC, CNN, and newspapers and magazines across the world. He has recently focused on issues of creativity and fairness, arguing that creativity should be a supplemental part of college admissions
...
Wikipedia