The Blind-Variation and Selective-Retention Theory of Creativity: Recent Developments and Current Status of BVSR

Abstract

This article provides an update on the blind-variation and selective-retention theory of creativity (BVSR), beginning with an overview of its historical development. That brief narrative is then followed by a more extensive summary of recent enhancements in BVSR’s conceptual foundations, including formal definitions of creative, sighted, and blind variations. These enhancements show that BVSR follows as a direct corollary of the three-criterion definition of personal creativity (i.e., the multiplicative function of originality, utility, and surprise). After treating the various types of BVSR as well as the diverse processes and procedures that can generate blind variations, discussion turns to a concise treatment of BVSR’s research implications, which entail both theoretical extensions and empirical investigations. The article closes with an evaluation of the theory’s current status. Whatever BVSR’s limitations, it still captures an essential feature of creativity that is not sufficiently treated by any theoretical alternatives.