CREATOLOGY– The Science of Creativity and Innovation

By RAFAEL NELSON M. ABOGANDA

This article is a slightly revised edition of the original article published in the CREATIVITY JOURNAL Volume 1, Number 2 – 4th Quarter 2008
http://www.likhaan.com/blog/2008/11/15/aspects-of-human-creativity-creative-thinking-tools-creatology-and-approaches-to-development-
planning-management/

Creatology is the scientific study of creativity and innovation, and the creative phenomena developed
in the Philippines by a creativity research group headed by this writer and Ricardo S. Cortez
(deceased).
Creatology, in general, is the study and investigation of the total process of creativity and innovation,
the environment and conditions under which this process occurs, the resulting “creative product” and
the ways and means in which it may be facilitated and developed. It also examines the creative
personality of the creator—inventor, innovator, scientist, technologist, entrepreneur, industrialist, writer,
author, poet, artist, etc.
Origin and definition of term
Creatology is a hybrid of the Latin creatus (create) and the Greek logos/logus (science, study).
The study of creativity and innovation, for the most part creativity, is traditionally within the province
of the social sciences more particularly related to psychology and sociology. However, it also correlates
its inferences, deductive or inductive, on the findings of other social, natural and physical sciences
such as anthropology, biology, physiology, neuroscience, physics, mathematics, and historical
researches in some instances.
Thus, the principal objective of creatology is to give a description of the creative performance of the
creator and the resulting product, provide explanation of the processes, methods and techniques;
factors, conditions and settings; and other elements attendant to the act of creation.
Research methodology
The methodology of creatology has been primarily derived from the tools used in psychology and
other related social sciences for the simple reason that the study of creativity in western sciences is
traditionally under psychology. However, new methodologies are emerging in recent investigations. It
has been observed that creatological studies should be an inter-disciplinary and intra-disciplinary
investigation going beyond the psychological-sociological traditions in the advanced countries. It has
also been theorized that creatology can evolve into a new branch of social science having its own
research methods.
Nonetheless, the new methodology presently used in creatology has been named “salunggalian”
approach [rooted from Filipino (Tagalog) words salungatan (contradiction) and tunggalian (conflict)]
that deals with the investigation and interpretation of observed data in the creative phenomena under
conditions of contradiction and conflict. The method is akin in process to Hegelian thought in which
two apparently opposed ideas, the thesis and antithesis, become combined in a unified whole, the
synthesis—better known as Hegelian dialectics. Another emerging method is the systems approach, a
local adaptation from management science, cybernetics and psychology-sociology.
The salunggalian method was adopted and used in creatological studies due to observations in case
studies undertaken among Filipino inventors. In the creative studies, there are observable tensions
that exist between two conflicting or interacting forces, elements, or inventive ideas, between new
inventions and old inventions, new products and old products, etc. Usually a creative synthesis
resolves the contradiction and/or conflict or opposing issues.
Research activities and initial findings
Preliminary research activities on creatology commenced many years ago in early 1972. By mid-70’s
more than 120 case studies of Filipino inventors were completed with particular focus on the process
of invention development: from the conception of ideas to R&D and product development, market
launching and commercialization, and product maturity. However, by the end of 1970s, creatological
research has been intermittent due to lack of funds and support from other researchers on creativity
as well as funding institutions.
Nevertheless, initial findings have been summarized, thus:
Observations, measurements and experimentations – Initial studies have been carried out by way of
refractory or uncontrolled investigation. Preliminary observations and experimentations are leading
towards a new concept of creativity, i.e. that “creativity and intelligence are a whole.” The initial data,
however, is insufficient to point to the validity of this new interpretation. Even though many creativity
researchers, both local and foreign, are pointing to this direction as early as 1960s and 1970s until late
1980s. New observations, however, have been brought up in 1990s and early years of this decade
(2000s).
Classification and analysis – Due to insufficiency of data and methods of measurement, no
classification and analysis have been made in detail, though preliminary classification has been done.
Primarily, creatological studies have been classified into four major areas of investigation, initially
patterned after the psychological studies as a starting point, this are: 1) the personality of the creator
(creative person), 2) the conditions in which creation comes about (creative environment), 3) the
process of creating (creative process), and 4) the product created (creative product).
Suppositions – From initial observations and data collected, some preliminary suppositions have been
derived for the furtherance of research activities:
1. Creativity is not an individual totality but has natural (organic), societal, cultural, factorial,
conditional and environmental unity working as a whole.
2. Creativity is a combinatorial act of the creativeness and intelligence of the individual.
Many books by many authors have presented studies and observations similar to these suppositions.
Most of the studies were undertaken under the umbrella of psychology, sociology and anthropology.
Creatology would like to look at the phenomenon in terms of “creativity” per se.
Significance of the current “creatological” studies – This study of creativity under “creatology” is
expected to result in, among others, the following:
1. It will establish the formulation of a new scientific study of creativity that is not totally dependent
on psychological-sociological studies but founded on all the disciplines of the social sciences, of which
psychology is a branch, and correlated with other disciplines beyond social sciences and extending to
related/co-related natural-physical sciences.
2. It will establish a new way or approach in understanding and appreciation of the arts, design,
literature, architecture; the creation of technical inventions and social innovations; and others.
3. It may result in the development of a new science originated in the Philippines.

Note: Creatology was introduced by Rafael Nelson M. Aboganda and Ricardo S. Cortez in early 1972. Its first working paper
was published by the Philippine Inventors Commission (PIC) in October 1972. Researches on creativity under this new
science is currently undertaken by the Likhaan Institute Foundation, Inc. (LIFI), an institutional member of The Likhaan
Group, Inc. [For more information, log on to www.likhaan.com or email to: likhaangroup@likhaan.com]

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