Department of Psychology

The goal of the Laboratory for the Development of Creativity is to investigate specific characteristics and principles of creative thinking in all areas of creative human activities and creative thinking procedures, and particularly in mainstream education; high creativity, in conjunction with high intelligence and strong motivation formulate the necessary conditions for the production of exceptional achievements at school.

The Laboratory has been established due to the restrictions that still hold in today’s mainstream Greek educational system for the understanding and development of critical and original thinking, two elements of great importance for human learning and education. Empirical research on creativity and giftedness has proved that the negative result of these one-sided restrictive practices is the formation of stereotypes for individuals of high abilities, skills and talents within the school community and the broader social context.

The specific goals of the Laboratory for the Development of Creativity are as follows:

• Conduct empirical research for the exploration of values, attitudes and beliefs of the Greek school community members, e.g., teachers, students, and parents.
• Design and implement interventions to promote the creative/gifted/talented children’s and adolescents’ learning, school adaptation, relationships with peers and their potential development within family, school and community.
• Develop networks of co-operation with other academic laboratory, centers, departments, institutions, associations and scientific organizations in Europe to exchange good practices and strategies of enriching and differentiating the mainstream syllabus.

Since September 2016 the laboratory has become a Talent Point of the European Talent Support Network

The Laboratory for the Development of Creativity operates in the premises of the School of Philosophy, under the supervision of the Department of Psychology.

Director: Professor of Social Psychology, Aikaterini Gari.

Contact: School of Philosophy, office cell 544, tel. +302107277524, +302107277555 

E-mail: creativity@psych.uoa.gr