Psychology
Maria Castro 
CreativeGeniusEducationandCareer.pptCreative Genius
Education and Career
III. Education and Career
A. Education
1. Simonton's study of 20th century achievers.
(Plot level of education and eminence.)
H.S.
B.A.
M.A.
M.S.
Ph.D.
Eminence
d. Why a curvilinear function?
-. Development of creative potential may be stifled by excessive training.
-. Creative achievers tend to discontinue their education when they feel they have learned enough to continue on their own.
III. Education and Career
A. Education (cont.)
-. celebrities: linear, positive trend (the more education the better).
-. leaders: curvilinear (peak just above a bachelor's degree).
-. artists: curvilinear (peak just below a bachelor's degree).
-. scientists: curvilinear (peak falls between bachelor's and doctorate).
d. Why a curvilinear function?
-. Development of creative potential may be stifled by excessive training.
-. Creative achievers tend to discontinue their education when they feel they have learned enough to continue on their own.
B. Career
1. Three consistent themes.
a. Creators typically decide on and start their careers at an early age.
b. Quality of work is positively related to quantity.
c. Tend to produce their first and best works at more or less equivalent ages.
2. Relation between career age and annual productivity is a single-peak curvilinear function.
Simonton graph.
Ericsson & Ward (2007): See notes page for explanation.
Fig. 2. The development of expert performance (measured by adult standards) as related to age. Elite performers typically reach their peak career performance in the middle to late 20s for many vigorous sports, and one or two decades later (i.e., one or more decades past physical maturation) for less vigorous sports such as chess and billiards, as well for as the arts and sciences. All performers, including the most "gifted" or "talented," need a minimum of approximately 10 years of intense involvement in the domain before they can win at an international level in highly competitive domains of expertise.
