A new study of winners of the Nobel Prize in economics finds that there are two different life cycles of creativity, one that hits some people early in their career and another that more often strikes later in life. In this study, the early peak was found for laureates in their mid-20s and the later peak for those in their mid-50s.

The research supports previous work by the authors that found similar patterns in the arts and other sciences.

“We believe what we found in this study isn’t limited to economics, but could apply to creativity more generally,” said Bruce Weinberg, lead author of the study and professor of economics at the Ohio State University.

“Many people believe that creativity is exclusively associated with youth, but it really depends on what kind of creativity you’re talking about.”

Weinberg did the study with David Galenson, professor of economics at the University of Chicago. In the study, the Nobel Prize winners who did their most groundbreaking work early in their career tended to be “conceptual” innovators.

These type of innovators “think outside the box,” challenging conventional wisdom and tend to come up with new ideas suddenly.

But there is another kind of creativity, Weinberg said, which is found among “experimental” innovators.

These innovators accumulate knowledge through their careers and find groundbreaking ways to analyze, interpret and synthesize that information into new ways of understanding.

The long periods of trial and error required for important experimental innovations make them tend to occur late in a Nobel laureate’s career.

“Whether you hit your creative peak early or late in your career depends on whether you have a conceptual or experimental approach,” Weinberg said.

The researchers took a novel, empirical approach to the study, which involved 31 laureates. They arranged the laureates on a list from the most experimental to the most conceptual.

This ranking was based on specific, objective characteristics of the laureates’ single most important work that are indicative of a conceptual or experimental approach.

Conceptual laureates peaked at about either 29 or 25 years of age. Experimental laureates peaked when they were roughly twice as old — at about 57 or 55.

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【获奖者】huòjiǎngzhě laureate a person who has been honored for achieving distinction in a particular field or with a particular award

【积累】jīlěi accumulate gather or pile up especially little by little

一项关于历届诺贝尔经济学奖得主的新研究发现，人们有两段不同的创作生命周期：一段出现在职业发展早期，而另一段往往出现在生命的后期。

这项研究发现，获奖者的年龄分布存在两个高峰值，即25岁左右和55岁左右。

此前在艺术和其它科学领域的研究结果，与此次研究结论相似。

“我们认为，研究成果不仅仅局限于经济学领域，还可以适用于普遍的创新活动，”该研究的主要作者，俄亥俄州立大学经济学教授布鲁斯·温伯格说。

“很多人以为，创造力只与年轻人有关。实际上，这取决于何种创造力。”

温伯格与芝加哥大学经济学教授戴

维·加伦森合作完成了这项研究。在职业生涯早期阶段实现领域突破的诺贝尔奖得主往往是“概念式”创新者。

这一类型的创新者往往不拘一格，灵光乍现。

但是温伯格认为，还有另一种创新路径，适用于“经验式”创新者。

这类创新者会不断在自己的职业生涯中积累知识，综合过往信息找到全新的角度分析、解释问题。

重要的实验创新突破往往需要长期反复试错。这一类创新往往出现在诺贝尔奖得主职业生涯的后期。

“你在职业生涯中达到创造力巅峰的早晚取决于你习惯于哪一种研究路径，概念式还是经验式，”温伯格称。

研究人员采用了一种新颖的经验性研究方法。他们将31位诺贝尔奖得主按照从最“经验式”到最“概念式”的规则进行排序。

概念式诺贝尔奖得主在29岁或25岁左右达到创造力巅峰，而经验式获奖者在年龄是两倍左右的时期达到创造力巅峰

（57岁或55岁左右）。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)