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AGE AND BEHAVIOR: PROBLEM SOLVING – INFLEXIBILITY – CREATIVITY - CREATIVITY IN RELATION TO AGE

Lehman (1953) provided information regarding the effect of age on creativity in the sciences, medicine, philosophy, arts, practical invention, and other areas. His work dealt mainly with deceased persons of earlier centuries, but some of his later work focused specifically upon the still living (e.g., Lehman, 1963). Lehman's general method was to tabulate by age groups the frequency with which quality productions were listed in expert historical accounts. For example, in examining the creative years of chemists, Lehman referred to a written history of chemistry in which the names of several hundred chemists and the dates on which they made their contributions were listed. Often, he brought such expert historical listings to university teachers for further evaluation.
Lehman's general finding was that, within most fields of endeavor, the maximum production rate for quality work occurred during the age decade 30-39 years. The rate of creative production did not decline rapidly after the peak years, but was gradual at nearly all ages. For less distinguished work, the peak years were later and the decline was even more gradual. Lehman found the specific relations between creativity and age dependent upon not only the types of measures used (i.e., quantity vs. quality), but also upon the field of endeavor investigated. In some fields the peak years were earlier than in others. But in all fields individual variations were so great that Lehman found it necessary to emphasize that man's usefulness is not limited by his age. The more recent data of Zusne (1976) for psychologists are similar. He investigated the age at which eminent psychologists published their one most significant work. The age pattern coincided remarkably with that of Lehman.
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