INVENTION AND INVENTIVITY IS A RANDOM, POISSON-PROCESS - A POTENTIAL GUIDE TO ANALYSIS OF GENERAL CREATIVITY

Recent analyses have demonstrated that the time pattern of patents for most inventors was random and fit the Poisson distribution. However, that study was based on high-output inventors in one company. The pres ent study covers a broader spectrum of inventors: random sample by las t name including all levels of output, ones with high level of output, and national award winners. The results were the same. For most inven tors, inventivity, the time pattern of invention, is random and fits t he Poisson distribution at a significance level of 0.10. The data also support Simonton's (1988) chance-configuration theory of creativity a nd Kirton's (1994) adaptor-innovator theory of creativity. The extreme rarity of individuals with generalizable inventive experience leads t o guidelines for empirical studies in general creativity.