Chaos, complexity, and creative behavior.

The element of surprise and the suddenness of insight make the study of creative behavior a prime candidate for concepts and methods from nonlinear dynamical systems (NDS) theory. The first contribution in this area, as nearly as we can discern, was chance-configuration theory (Simonton, 1988), which explained how random flows of idea elements self-organize into the core of a solution to a problem. Further developments in NDS theory and supporting empirical studies expanded to other aspects of the individual and group problem solving processes (Guastello, 2002). Not surprisingly, the flows of ideas that were initially thought to be random were often chaotic, and thus more structured than first appearances might suggest. Creativity phenomena are often parsed into the 4 Ps: person, process, product, and press. Person variables include cognitive abilities, cognitive style, personality, and other individual differences involved in creative behaviors. Process variables include brainstorming and other group or social dynamics. Product variables are usually features of the artwork or invention. Press refers to the manner in which the new idea or innovation spreads. This special issue of NDPLS contains the latest wave of findings that span all four facets of creative behavior. We have three new contributions in the category of person issues. Stamovlasis examines the insight process among chemistry students as they progress from simple to more complex challenges, and the roles of field dependence-independence and cognitive complexity. Hristovski, Davids, Araujo, and Passos examine the origins of creative ideas in sports movements, which is a new realm of study for creative behavior. Creative professionals have elevated incidence rates of substance abuse and mental illness; Zausner considers from an artist’s perspective the interplay between the underlying disorder and the generation of original creative imagery. In the category of process topics, Wisdom and Goldstone explore the human version of collective intelligence in group creativity. In doing so, they expand the principles of collective intelligence that were identified from studies of social insects (Sulis, 1997, 2009). Leadership also plays a role in bringing