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Furious Activity vs. Understanding: How much expertise is needed to evaluate creative work?
Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts
  • Learning Research Institute, Learning Research Institute
  • John Baer, Rider University
  • David H. Cropley, University of South Australia
  • Roni Reiter-Palmon, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2013
Disciplines
Abstract

What is the role of expertise in evaluating creative products? Novices and experts do not assess creativity similarly, indicating domain-specific knowledge’s role in judging creativity. We describe two studies that examined how quasi-experts (people who have more experience in a domain than novices but also lack recognized standing as experts) compared to novices and experts in rating creative work. In Study One, we compared different types of quasi-experts with novices and experts in rating short stories. In Study Two, we compared experts, quasi-experts, and novices in evaluating an engineering product (a mousetrap design). Quasi-experts (regardless of type) seemed to be appropriate raters for short stories, yet results were mixed for the engineer quasi-experts. Some domains may require more expertise than others to properly evaluate creative work.

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This work has been peer reviewed buy has not yet been published. © 2013 American Psychological Association

Citation Information
Learning Research Institute, John Baer, David H. Cropley and Roni Reiter-Palmon. "Furious Activity vs. Understanding: How much expertise is needed to evaluate creative work?" Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/roni_reiter-palmon/45/