Special Issue

  Throughout the history of psychology, creativity and expertise have largely been studied as separate topics. There are scholars of creativity and scholars of expertise—but rarely are the two examined together. This division is as puzzling as it is unfortunate, because most great accomplishments depend on both. Consider science: Einstein required deep expertise in theoretical physics to formulate the general theory of relativity, but he also had to move beyond the boundaries of established knowledge. The same is true of domains such as art, dance, and theater.
  Against this backdrop, we are delighted to present a special issue of the Journal of Expertise devoted to Kathryn Friedlander’s book, The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise (2024, Routledge). With a focus on performing arts, the book represents the first systematic attempt to integrate theories of creativity and expertise into a unified account of exceptional performance.
  The issue is designed to be read as a scholarly conversation between Dr. Friedlander and eminent contributors from both the creativity and expertise communities. Following the Behavioral and Brain Sciences “target article” model, the issue is organized into three parts: a précis of the book by Dr. Friedlander, commentaries by leading scholars from both traditions, and a response to the commentaries. Together, these exchanges illuminate the complex interplay between creativity and expertise and point toward an integrated framework for understanding the highest levels of human achievement.
  Note: The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise, by Kathryn J. Friedlander, was published by Routledge on 22nd August 2024, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003259428

The study of expertise has recently moved into an exciting phase. While previous research had a narrow focus on deliberate practice versus innate aptitude, recent multifactorial models of expertise development have breathed new life into contemporary research. Reflecting these opportunities, The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise explores our understanding of the wide range of factors contributing to greatness in creative domains. With the intention of expanding the conversation around expertise, the book transcends traditional fields such as chess, sports, and music, exploring the intersection of expertise with creativity and the performing arts. The applied chapters therefore cover more unfamiliar fields, including extreme-memory athletes, dance, creative writing, acting, art, and STEM, as well as the more conventional domains of mind games and music. Each applied chapter explores the psychological and opportunity factors that shape success within these domains, offering a close look at how creative experts develop, thrive, or falter. In other dedicated chapters, the book also examines the facilitators of creative performance, including aesthetic sensitivity, creativity, and mental imagery, as well as the obstacles to performance such as burnout, procrastination, and gender-related challenges. The exploration concludes by engaging with pressing issues facing expertise, including the effect of artificial intelligence (AI). Addressing a gap in the market for an approachable guide to the multidimensional complexities of expertise development, this book is suitable as a resource for final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students across a range of disciplines. However, given that the book uniquely synthesizes material from the creativity, gifted and talented, and expertise literatures in a number of unfamiliar domains, it should provide fresh insights for newcomers and seasoned scholars alike.

This article responds to eleven commentaries on The Psychology of Creative Performance and Expertise (Friedlander, 2024) and the accompanying target article published in this special issue (Friedlander, 2025). The special issue reflects both diversity of theoretical starting points and striking convergence around several shared propositions: that creativity and expertise can be treated within a unified explanatory framework; that multifactorial accounts are needed to move beyond single-cause explanations; and that expertise research benefits from engaging a wider range of domains, methods, and developmental trajectories. In addressing the commentaries, I clarify points of agreement and divergence, including the balance between creativity and expertise across chapters, the role of individual differences and structural moderators of opportunity, and questions concerning mechanisms of control and constraint in skilled performance. I also engage with critiques concerning embodied and enacted expertise, metacognition and metareasoning, and memory mechanisms, including the scope of long-term working memory. The response closes by outlining the pressing need for research on creative expertise under rapidly evolving social and technological conditions.