Creativity: Beyond the Mind; Behind the Curtain: A Behavioral Interpretation of Improvisational Comedy

Creativity is a beautiful, some believe unexplainable, phenomenon: from the song that makes us cry, to the movie that excites us, to the painting that makes us ponder, and to the comedian that makes us laugh. Mentalistic and innate accounts of creativity often suggest it is something one possesses or expresses. Due to creations seeming complicated, the assumption is that so is the artist and their behavior. An alternative approach is offered here that argues that creativity does not describe behavior but instead represents an outcome of behavior. What makes this account appealing is that it examines some behavior–environmental relations that may account for those behavioral outcomes considered creative. Creativity describes a unique solution or an effect on an audience, and the behaviors that produce that effect is how it is expressed. What is occurring during the creative process that reinforces the artist’s behavior? This article will begin to answer this question by drawing upon the work and training of improvisational comedians who have developed methods and conceptual principles that allow anyone to perform on stage to “create” a scene, even with no prior history. Contingency adduction, successive approximations, and extended tacts will be shown to be fundamental components of at least some “creative acts.”