Major Theorists Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Major Theorists - Essay Example This pool of guilt and pain is where creativity, which is closely related to neurosis, comes from. Creativity is thus motivated by the need to express some of this guilt and pain in a more physical or outward arena as well as the means by which it is expressed. B.F. Skinner is one of the most well-known behaviorists, who believed that people were a product of the environment in which they were raised. Skinner suggested this occurred through operant conditioning as people were rewarded for approved behavior and punished for undesirable behavior. Rewards are thus seen as a means of strengthening behavior, even undesired behavior, while the failure to reward weakens these behaviors. In some situations, punishment can be interpreted as reward, such as when the ignored child receives attention through punishment for bad behavior. Creativity is thus seen as a mere product of the environment working on the individual who possesses latent creative talent. If the environment does not reward creativity, the child will be less likely to engage in it. It is important for the child to have an adult model that demonstrates creative behavior before the child can envision this as a likely activity for them. This is because they see the rewards for the cre ative adult as well as receive rewards from this adult as they engage in their own creative efforts. Humanism rejected the ideas of psychoanalytic theory of personality and creativity as a biological process and the ideas of behaviorism theory of personality and creativity as an environmental process and instead preferred to view creativity as a process in itself that provided individuals with the ability to discover their inner selves. In other words, creativity was an act of self-actualization. The main theorists of humanism are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslow defined self-actualization as the tendency to realize our own potential based on our