The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise

Part I: Background Chapters: Issues, Methodologies, and Creativity  1. Introduction to Performance and Expertise  2. Key Methodologies in Exploring Performance Expertise  3. Expertise and Creativity – An Overlooked Dimension?  Part II: Expertise in Applied Areas  4. Expertise in Chess and Other Mind-Games  5. Expert Memory and Extreme Memory Performance  6. Musical Expertise  7. Expertise in Dance and Choreography  8. Expertise in Theatre and Film  9. Expertise in Creative Writing  10. Aesthetics and Expertise in Visual Art  11. Expertise in Science  Part III: Facilitation and Handicapping in Performance Expertise  12. Sensitivity and Imagination  13. Passion or Grit? Facilitators of Performance  14. Navigating Obstacles: The Roadblocks to Success  15. Performance Anxiety  16. Performance Enhancement: How Far Is Too Far?

Biography

Kathryn Friedlander, PhD, CPsychol., is a psychology lecturer at the University of Buckingham, where her research interests focus upon expertise development, visual imagery, and motivational drivers in cognitive and creative performance domains.

‘Who becomes an elite performer in complex domains, especially those that demand both skill and creativity? This question is the subject of what is perhaps the oldest debate in the field of psychology, and one of enduring fascination to scientists, practitioners, and lay people alike. In The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise, Kathryn Friedlander synthesises findings from decades of research on this topic. This is a landmark contribution to the field of expertise – a textbook that will be as useful for undergraduate students learning about this area of research for the first time as it will be for scientists doing empirical research. The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise is a first-rate piece of scholarship. I look forward to using it in my own course on expertise and skill acquisition.’

Zach Hambrick, Professor at the Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, USA, and Co-Editor of Journal of Expertise

 

‘A richly informative resource on the varieties of expertise, from the advanced skills of scientists, to the mastery of dancers, musicians, artists and writers. The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise offers an accessible and captivating exploration of the intricacies of elite performance in creative fields.’

William Forde Thompson, Professor at the Faculty of Society and Design, Bond University, Australia, and Author of Music, Thought and Feeling: Understanding the Psychology of Music (2014)

 

‘This unique textbook on creative performance and expertise combines both a high-level and detailed understanding of a wide range of research on creativity performance and expertise with reader-friendly content ensuring that those new to the subject can quickly grasp key concepts and methodologies. I thoroughly recommend this for undergraduate and graduate students as well as serious researchers in the field.’  

Wendy Ross, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, London Metropolitan University, UK

“A Comprehensive Review That’s 30 Years Overdue” - title

“Friedlander’s (2024) book clearly provides a comprehensive review of the psychology of creative performance and expertise.”

“Happily, it’s obvious in Friedlander’s (2024) comprehensive review that she takes a more balanced approach that is more fully informed by the most recent research. I especially appreciate her explicit focus on creativity…”

Simonton, Dean Keith

“…Outstanding Synthesis” - title

I greatly enjoyed Friedlander’s (2024) synthesis of creativity and expertise;  as she notes, creativity tends to not be well-represented in the expertise literature, and her book is a much-needed contribution.

Kaufman, James C.

'Kathryn Friedlander’s The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise is a most welcome addition to the psychological literature. Overtly intended as a textbook, it succeeds marvelously in that capacity.

It is comprehensive, clear, and pedagogy-friendly, with each chapter bookended by initial learning outcomes and concluding challenge questions.

Overall, the volume is a gold mine of classic and current theoretical and empirical references…

…Friedlander’s book is an important step in the right direction. In mapping out and documenting the progress we have already made in understanding expertise and creativity, she reveals interesting paths as yet untaken, which promise future synergies—if we have the nerve to take up the challenge..'

Kozbelt, Aaron

‘Friedlander’s book is brilliant’ (title, though it goes on to make a critique, so somewhat cherry-picking to cite this?)
Friedlander (2024) does an impressive job bringing together research on factors predicting high achievement.'

Delaney & Adams

“The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise is a thorough survey of creativity in the research literature. In this book, Kathryn Friedlander (2024) addresses questions fundamental to every branch of creative expertise”

“It is both expansive and an enjoyable read.”

“Chapter 14 (‘Navigating Obstacles’) should be required reading in conservatories and other spaces where nascent experts toil.”

“This text is an undeniably valuable addition to the study of expertise. I look forward to using it in the classroom.'

Micah Killion

'Kathryn [sic] Friedlander’s The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise (2024) provides readers with a comprehensive picture of expertise at different levels of development, elaborating on factors associated with high performance in a number of fields.

The elegant compendium of research generated by Friedlander in The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise… provides a rich structure for scholars, artists, and practitioners to illuminate pathways for future generations to fulfill and express their expertise and transformational creativity.'

Subotnik, Worrell, & Olszewski-Kubilius

'The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise is certain to be celebrated by readers for its unique, rich and sophisticated synthesis of research and theory on these topics.

…we reiterate the importance of The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise for advancing inquiry and for pointing to important new research directions.'

Ball, Linden & Richardson, Beth

'The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise (Friedlander, 2024) makes a significant contribution to a field of expertise research “disproportionately fixated on chess, music, and sports”

While no single book can capture the full breadth of how performance is learned, trained, prepared, executed, experienced, studied, and evaluated, or its influence on the individuals and communities it impacts, The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise provides a landmark survey of the uniting cognitions and processes underpinning expert performance. By using this book’s insights to broaden our perspectives on what creative performance is and to blur the lines between disciplines, we can deepen our understanding of human creativity and endeavour and push expertise to new bounds.'

Waddell. George

'This book is a timely contribution to the study of creative performance and expertise, It provides an authoritative overview and useful framework for understanding the interaction between these two complex phenomena.'

Ross, Wendy & Penny, Simon