The effect of creative-divergent thinking training on creative-divergent thinking and moral reasoning
by Joseph Peter Donaghy
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education
Montana State University
© Copyright by Joseph Peter Donaghy (1987)
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine by experiment if training in creative-divergent thinking had
an effect on either creative-divergent thinking ability or level of moral reasoning. Forty-six sixth grade
students in a small Montana community were the subjects of the study. Since random assignment to
groups was not possible, a quasi-experimental research approach was used: the Nonequivalent Control
Group Design. The equivalency of the treatment and non-treatment groups was established by
statistically analyzing the results of pretests in the areas of creative-divergent thinking and moral
reasoning.
The treatment group was trained by the investigator using New Directions in Creativity, Mark 1
(Renzulli, 1973). This approach was developed for use with middle-school students for the
enhancement of creative-divergent thinking in terms of ideational fluency, flexibility, originality and
elaboration. The training program consisted of three thirty minute lessons each week for a period of ten
weeks.
Alternate forms of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking ( Torrance, 1974) and the Sociomoral
Reflection Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982) were used to gather pretest and post-test data. The
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used to determine verbal and figural creative-divergent
thinking ability. The Sociomoral Reflection Measure generated a sociomoral maturity score that was
used to determine level of moral reasoning.
Twenty-four null hypotheses were statistically analyzed to determine the effect of the experimental
training. The Student's t-test was used to test treatment effect and the Multiple Analysis of Variance
was used to test interaction. The results of the experiment were mixed.
Both the treatment and non-treatment groups demonstrated significant increases in verbal
creative-divergent thinking and significant decreases in figural creative-divergent thinking. Neither
group demonstrated significant change in moral reasoning ability.
The investigator concluded that the training in creative-divergent thinking had no demonstrated effect
on the moral reasoning of sixth grade students and the effect on creative-divergent thinking was mixed.
Two implications were drawn. One implication concerned the lack of certainty of the results of
creative-divergent thinking training. The second involved a more direct approach to the teaching of
moral reasoning. 'I
THE EFFECT OF CREATIVE-DIVERGENT THINKING TRAINING
ON CREATIVE-DIVERGENT THINKING
AND MORAL REASONING
/
by
Joseph Peter Donaghy
A thesis submitted in p a r t ia l f u l f i l l m e n t
of the requirements f o r the degree
Of
Doctor of Education
MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bozeman, Montana
August■1987., ./
b h lX
£ 1 / 3 S'
ii
APPROVAL
of a thesis submitted by
Joseph Peter Donaghy
This thesis has been read by each member of the the sis committee
and has been found to be s a tis fa c to r y regarding content, English usage,
format, c i t a t i o n s , b ib lio g ra p h ic s t y le , and consistency, and is ready
fo r submission to the College of Graduate S tudies.
CZX A\,
/987
airperson, Graduate Committee
Approved fo r the Major Department
-7-AS""'<f 7
Date
Mead, Major Department
Approved f o r the College of Graduate Studies
Date
Graduate Dean
© COPYRIGHT
by
Joseph Peter Donaghy
1987
Al I Rights Reserved
iii
STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO USE
In presenting t h is thesis in p a r t ia l f u l f i l l m e n t o f the re q u ire ­
ments f o r a doctoral degree at Montana State U n iv e rs ity , I agree th a t
the L ib ra ry shall make i t a va ila b le to borrowers under rules of the
L ib ra ry .
I fu r th e r agree th a t copying of th is thesis is allowable only
fo r s c h o la rly purposes, consistent w ith " f a i r use" as prescribed in the
U. S. Copyright Law.
Requests f o r extensive copying or reproduction of
th is the sis should be re fe rre d to U n iv e rs ity M icrofilm s In te rn a tio n a l,
300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106, to whom I have granted
"the exclusive r i g h t to reproduce and d is t r ib u t e copies o f the d is s e r­
ta tio n in and from m ic ro film and the r i g h t to reproduce and d is tr ib u te
by ab stract in any form at."
S ianature C ^ > ^ ^
Date
O ^ fn /i? V ^
— ~
Joseph Peter Donaghy was born in New York C ity , October 28, 1943
to Joseph and Lucy Donaghy. He graduated from Power Memorial Academy
in 1961 and received a B.S. in H is to ry from Fordham College in 1965.
From 1965 to 1967 Mr.' Donaghy served as a secondary school teacher
with the Peace Corps in E th io p ia . In 1971 he received an M.A. in A f r i ­
can Studies from Howard U n iv e rs ity .
A fte r the b ir t h of his f i r s t c h ild and while working as a "househusband," Mr. Donaghy became interested in c h ild development and earned
an M.A. in Developmental Learning from the U n iv e rs ity o f Alabama in
H u n ts v ille in 1975.
For most of the past ten years Mr. Donaghy has liv e d in Bozeman, Montana w ith his w ife , Mary, and two c h ild re n , Matthew and Sarah. Dur­
ing those years he was involved in various capacities in the f i e l d of
education, from preschool teacher to College in s tr u c to r . C urrently Mr.
Donaghy is a TAG S p e c ia lis t with the Livorno American Schools at Camp
Darby, I t a l y .
V
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The w rite r- takes th is o p portun ity to thank the members of his
examining committee f o r t h e i r in te re s t and thoroughness:
Dr. Lawrence
E lle rb ru ch , Dr. Elnora Old Coyote, Dr. Stanley Easton, and Dr. Stephan
Wilson.
Special g ra titu d e is due Dr. James HauwiH e r , chairperson of
the committee, f o r his patience and encouragement throughout the inves­
t ig a t io n .
The w r i t e r also wishes to thank a l l of the members o f his fa m ily
fo r allow ing him the time and space to pursue th is research.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
L is t of Tables . . ................................................................... ...................■
A b s t r a c t ..........................................................................................................
ix
xi
Chapter
I.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In trod uction ...............................................................................
Education and Moral D e v e lo p m e n t................................. .
Moral Reasoning and Creative-Divergent Thinking .
Statement of the Problem .......................................................
Questions to be A n s w e r e d ................................................... ...
General Procedures ........................................................... . .
Need fo r the Study ...................................................................
L i m i t a t i o n s ....................................................... ... ....................
D e fin itio n of T e rm s ....................................... ... ....................
Summary ........................................................... ............................
2.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
. V .................... ...
In tro d u c tio n ...............................................................................
Moral Reasoning . ' .......................................................................
John Dewey...............................................................................
Jean P i a g e t ................................................................... ... .
Lawrence Kohl b e r g ...............................................
PreconventionaI L e v e l ...............................................................
Stage I ................................■.................................................
Stage 2 ...........................
Conventional Level ............................
Stage 3 ...................................................................................
Stage 4 . ■...................................................
P rin c ip le d L e v e l■ .......................................................................
Stage 5
Stage 6 ...................................................................................
The Measurement of Moral Reasoning .................................
Research Findings andControversies ..............................
I
1
2
4
7
7
8
9
10
11
13
14
14
14
15
17
21
23
23
23
24
24
24
25
25
25
26
28
vi i
TABLE OF CONTENTS -
Continued
Chapter
Page
C r e a t i v i t y .......................................................................................
D e fin itio n s o f C r e a t i v i t y ........................................*
I d e n t if ic a t io n o f C r e a tiv ity ....................................
'
Nurturing Creative-Divergent Thinking ............................
In te llig e n c e and Creative-Divergent Thinking ....................
In te llig e n c e and Moral Reasoning ...........................................
C reative-Divergent Thinking and Moral Reasoning . . . .
Summary . ■................................■....................................................
3.
4.
32
32
35
38
41
43
45
43
PROCEDURES............................................................... .. ........................
50'
In tro d u c tio n ...................................................................................
The S e t t i n g ........................................................................... ’ *
Selection o f Subjects ...............................................................
The T r e a t m e n t .......................................................................' . #
Methods of C o lle c tin g D a t a ...........................
The Sociomoral R eflection Measure ....................................
The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking . . . . . . .
Statement o f Hypotheses ............................................................
E ffe c t of Training on Creative-Divergent Thinking
A b i l i t y . . . . ............................
E ffe c t of Training on Moral Reasoning A b i l i t y . . . .
Organization and Analysis o f D a t a ........................................
Management o f Variables ...........................................................
Precautions Taken fo r Accuracy ................................ . . .
S um m ary.......................................................
50
gg
51
52
55
55
59
61
62
64
64
-65
68
68
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA.......................................................
70
In tro d u c tio n ................................................
Establishment of Comparable Groups .......................................
Demographic D a t a ...................................................................
P retesting f o r Equivalency ...............................................
. Intragroup Pretest to Post-Test Difference . . ; . . . .
Comparison of Groups' Pretest Means to Normed Means . .
Acceptance or Rejection of Hypothesis ................................
Hypotheses Dealing With Treatment E ffe c t ............................
Hypothesis I ...................................................
Hypothesis 2
Hypothesis- 3 ...........................................
Hypothesis 4 . . . ■...............................................................
Hypothesis 5 ....................................• .................... ...
Hypothesis 6 ...........................................................................
Hypothesis 7 .................................................
Hypothesis 2 2 ....................................................................... .
70
71
71
72
74
79
80
81
81
.81
82
82
8-2
84
84
84
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS — Continued
Chapter
Page
Hypothesis 8 ................................................................................
86
Hypothesis 9 .......................................................... ' . . . .
86
Hypothesis 1 0 ...........................................................................
87
Hypothesis 1 1 ...................................
88
Hypothesis 1 2 ........................: ............................................... .
88
Hypothesis 1 3 ...............................................
88
89
Hypothesis 1 4 ...........................................................................
Hypothesis 23 . . .
.......................
89
90
Hypotheses Dealing With In te ra c tio n . . . . .........................
. Hypothesis 15 . . . , ................ .... .
................................
90
Hypothesis 16 ................................................................... ... •
90
Hypothesis 1 7 ................................................................... ... •
91
Hypothesis 1 8 ................................. . . . ............................
92
Hypothesis 19 . . .
...................
93
Hypothesis 2 0 .........................................
93
Hypothesis 2 1 ...............................................
.94
Hypothesis 2 4 ...........................................................................
-94
S u m m a ry ................................................................................................
95
5.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
....................................................
98
I n t r o d u c t i o n ........................ ........................................................■•
Review of the Problem Statement ............................................
Discussion of Findings ..............................................................
P retest to Post-Test Findings ..............................................
Discussion of MixedResults ..................................................
Recommendations f o r Further Research
Educational Im p lica tion s ...............................................................
S u m m a ry................ ' .................................. .......................................
98
99
100
102
103
115
118
HO
REFERENCES C I T E D .................................................................
APPENDIX
...............................................................................................................
128
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table
Page
1.
Comparison of Demographic D a t a ...................................................
72
2.
T-Test Comparisons o f Pretest Mean Scores fo r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on TTCT and S R M .........................
73
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest to Post-Test fo r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on Verbal Creative-Divergent
Thinking (TTCT) . . . . . . ........................................
75
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest to Post-Test f o r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on Figural Creative-Divergent
Thinking (T T C T ).......................................
78
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest to Post-Test f o r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on Sociomoral Reasoning
M a tu rity Score (SRM) ............................................... '’ . . . .
79
Comparison of Study Groups' Means' to Normed Means on TTCT
Form A ...........................................................................................
80
T-Test Comparisons o f Pretest to Post-Test f o r Al I Subjects
on Verbal C reative-Divergent Thinking (TTCT) . . . . . .
83
3.
. 4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
T-Test Comparisons o f Pretest to Post-Test f o r Al I Subjects
on Figural Creative-Divergent Thinking (TTCT) ................
.
85
T-Test Comparisons o f Pretest to Post-Test fo r Al I Subjects
on Sociomoral M a tu rity Reasoning Scores (SRM) ................
86.
T-Test Mean Change Scores and Standard Deviation Comparing
Treatment and Non-Treatment Groups on the TTCT and SRM .
87
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ific a n c e ,fo r Verbal Fluency Using
Sequential Sum of Squares . . .................................... ...
. .
9)
MANOVA Tests o f S ignificance fo r Verbal F l e x i b i l i t y Using
Sequential Sum o f Squares . •....................................................
91
MANOVA Tests o f S ignificance f o r Verbal O r i g in a l i t y Using
Sequential Sum of Squares
92
X
LIST OF TABLES — Continued
Table
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Page
MANOVA Tests o f S ignificance fo r Figural Fluency Using
Sequential Sumof S q u a re s ........................................................
92
MANOVA Tests o f S ignificance fo r Figural F l e x i b i l i t y
Using Sequential Sum of S q u a re s ...........................................
93
MANOVA Tests o f S ignificance fo r Figural O r i g in a l i t y
Using Sequential Sum of Squares . . ■....................................
94
MANOVA Tests o f S ignificance fo r Figural Elaboration
Using Sequential Sum of S q u a re s ...........................................
94
MANOVA Tests of S ignificance f o r Moral Reasoning Using
Sequential Sumof S q u a re s.........................
95
19.
T-Score Conversion Table fo r Verbal Form A of TTCT . . . .
128
20.
T-Score Conversion Table fo r Figural Form A of TTCT
128
. . .
xi
ABSTRACT
The purpose of th is study was to determine by experiment i f t r a i n ­
ing in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g had an e ff e c t on e ith e r c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g a b i l i t y or level o f moral reasoning. F o rty -s ix
s ix th grade students in a small Montana community were the subjects of
the study. Since random assignment to groups was not p o ssible, a quasiexperimental research approach was used: the NonequivaTent Control
Group Design. The equivalency of the treatment and non-treatment groups
was established by s t a t i s t i c a l l y analyzing the re s u lts of pretests in
the areas o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
The treatment group was tra ined by the in v e s tig a to r using New
D irections in C r e a t i v i t y , Mark I ( Renzu11i , 1973). This approach was
developed f o r use w ith middle-school students fo r the enhancement of
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g in terms o f ideational flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y ,
o r i g i n a l i t y and e la b o ra tio n . The t r a in in g program consisted of three
t h i r t y minute lessons each week f o r a period of ten weeks.
A lte rn a te forms of the Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking (Tor­
rance, 1974) and the Sociombral R e fle ction Measure (Gibbs and Wldaman,
1982) were used to gather p re te s t and p o s t-te s t data. The Torrance
Tests of Creative Thinking were used to, determine verbal and fig u r a l
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y . The Sociomoral R e fle ction Measure
generated a sociomoral m a tu rity score th a t was used to determine level
of moral reasoning.
Twenty-four n u ll hypotheses were s t a t i s t i c a l l y analyzed to de te r­
mine the e f f e c t o f the experimental t r a in in g . The Student's t - t e s t was
used to te s t treatment e f f e c t and the M u ltip le Analysis, of Variance was
used to te s t in te r a c tio n . The re s u lts of the experiment were mixed.
Both the treatment and non-treatment groups demonstrated s ig n if ic a n t
increases in verbal c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and s i g n if ic a n t de­
creases in f ig u r a l c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g . Neither group demon­
stra ted s ig n if ic a n t change in moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
The in v e s tig a to r concluded th a t the tr a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g had no demonstrated e ff e c t on the moral reasoning of s ix th
grade students and the e ffe c t.o n c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g was mixed.
Two im plic a tio n s were drawn. One im p lic a tio n concerned the lack of
c e r ta in ty o f the re s u lts o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g t r a in in g . The
second involved a more d ir e c t approach to the teaching of moral reason­
ing.
I
CHAPTER I
DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Intro d u c tio n
Ind ividua l and socie tal moral decision-making has been a concern
of philosophers f o r the past two m ille n n ia .
From P la to , A r i s t o t l e , and
Aquinas w ith in the c la s s ic a l t r a d i t i o n , through Kant and Hegel in the
d ia le c t ic school, to the e x i s t e n t i a l i s t and p o s t - e x is t e n t ia lis t s such
as Kierkegaard, S artre, and Teilhard de Chardin, the question of moral
reasoning as a central pa rt of the human condition has been a major
to p ic of concern (Mann and Kreyche, 1966).
Educators have also viewed m o ra lity , and the development of moral
a t t it u d e s , as a major concern of t h e i r profession.
Herbart, l i k e Soc­
ra te s , considered moral education as the prime focus and goal of the
education of c h ild re n .
In nineteenth century England, Robert Owen made
special provision fo r the moral in s tr u c tio n o f c h ild re n in his " in fa n t
schools."
In America, Horace Mann proposed th a t the proper moral atmos­
phere of schools would-help mold more t r u l y moral adults (Hillesheim
and M e rri1 1 ,1 9 7 1 ).
In our own century, the renowned American educator and philosopher
John Dewey stressed the need to develop the moral in s t in c t s of children,
s ta tin g :
"The c h i l d 's moral character must develop in a n a tu r a l, j u s t ,
and social atmosphere.
The school should provide th is environment fo r
2
i t s p a rt in the c h i l d 's moral development" (Dewey, 1934:
85).
In his
essay Moral P rin c ip le s in Education, Dewey asserted:
The business o f the educator . . . is to see to i t th a t the
greatest possible number o f ideas acquired by c h ild re n and
youth are acquired in such a v i t a l way th a t they become mov­
ing ideas, motive forces in the guidance of conduct (Boyd-'
s to n , 1977: 267).
I'
For the past t h i r t y years the most prominent fig u re in the study
of the growth o f moral reasoning in c h ild re n and young adults has been
Lawrence Kohl berg.
The work of Kohlberg and his associates at Harvard
U n iv e rs ity has helped to re kin dle in te r e s t in the r e la tio n s h ip between
education and moral development.
KohTberg's main focus, which is an
expansion o f the th e o re tic a l work o f Dewey and the em pirical approach
of Piaget, has been the growth of moral reasoning as i t develops through
a series of h ie ra rc h ic a l stages.
A major emphasis has been the need to
f a c i l i t a t e the moral development of c h ild re n through the presentation
and discussion of moral dilemmas.
Education and Moral Development
Teachers are moral educators and schools a re .tra n s m itte rs of moral
values w ith in the s o c ie ty .
Each time a teacher praises or scolds a
c h ild , moral values are communicated.
In the words o f Kohlberg and
T u rie l:
Teachers co n sta n tly act as moral educators. They t e l l ,
c h ild re n what to do, make evaluations of c h ild r e n 's be­
ha vior, and d ir e c t c h ild r e n 's re la tio n s in the classrooms.
Teachers sometimes engage in these d a ily a c t i v i t i e s w ithout
being aware th a t they are engaging in moral education, but
the child re n are aware of i t (1971: 410).
The moral clim ate of the classroom and the school as a whole trans
mits moral values through what has been termed the "hidden c u rric u lu m ."
3
This re fe rs to the unconscious l i f e of the school; i t is th a t which we
take f o r granted in the school experience:
the supervision and evalua­
tio n of c h ild re n , the s tru c tu rin g o f a c t i v i t i e s , and the u t i l i z a t i o n
o f time.
The impact o f the "hidden curriculum " on the liv e s o f child re n has
been documented by Jackson (1968).
In describing th is phenomenon. Jack-
son emphasized three c h a ra c te ris tic s of the school experience w ith which
every c h ild must learn to cope:
crowds, p ra is e , and power.
Although'
we may discuss the be n e fits o f viewing c h ild re n as unique in d iv id u a ls ^
c h ild re n are u s u a lly tre ate d as p a rt o f a Targe group c o n s is tin g of
twenty or more students;
C rea tive-divergent th in k in g is not usu ally
rewarded unless i t is being taught; praise is reserved f o r the c h ild
who is more convergent in thought and who obeys the rules o f the class­
room and school.
Power is in the hands o f the ad u lts :
teacher, and lunchroom aide.
p r in c ip a l,
Al I o f th is has an e ff e c t on the moral
development o f c h ild re n .
Perhaps the most damaging e ff e c t o f the "hidden curriculum " is
th a t no one r e a l l y thin ks about i t .
S im ila r ly , w ithout th in k in g , the
c h ild learns to accept the various rules o f the school and classroom.
The rules are often p r o s c rip tiv e :
what not to do, how not to act.
According to Dewey, rules often became habits and habitual a c t i v i t y
could not lead to t r u l y moral conduct.
Conduct must be thought about
in order f o r i t to be considered t r u l y moral (1908:
141-143)..
Educators have continued to emphasize the importance o f moral
tr a in in g as a goal of education.
In. a 1973 study o f i t s membership,
researchers from Phi Delta Kappa asked respondents to rank-order
4
eighteen educational goals.
Ranked t h i r d behind reading, w r it in g ,
speaking, and lis te n in g s k i l l s , and pride in work and s e lf-w o rth was
the "development o f good character and s e lf- r e s p e c t."
Included in
th is l a t t e r category were moral r e s p o n s ib ilit y , and e th ic a l and moral
b e lie fs (Purple and Ryan, 1976:
5).
In 1975, another group o f researchers from Phi Delta Kappa found
th a t e ig h ty -e ig h t percent o f i t s membership agreed w ith the statement
th a t, "An a c tiv e program o f moral education in the school would be a
h e lpful a d d itio n to the e f f o r t of fa m ily and church to improve the
moral development o f c h ild re n " (Purple and Ryan, 1976:
6).
Thus a
more ac tiv e and open approach to moral education continues to be a
p r i o r i t y of American educators.
Moral Reasoning and C reativeDivergent Thinking
Researchers have attempted to c o rre la te a number o f fa c to rs with
the development o f moral reasoning.
These fa c to rs include age, gender,
level o f in te llig e n c e , r e lig io u s background, and n a t io n a lit y .
Although
some re la tio n s h ip appears to e x is t between age and gender and moral
development, the. degree o f the re la tio n s h ip continues to be debated.
Even though a considerable amount o f research e x is ts w ith regard to the
re la tio n s h ip s between in te llig e n c e and moral reasoning ( c f . Whiteman
and Kaiser, 1964; Arbuthnot, 1973; Hoffman, 1977; Karnes and Brown,
1981), the re s u lts are f a r from conclusive.
Kohlberg has indicated
th a t in te llig e n c e is a necessary fa c to r in making high level moral de­
c isions but th a t i t is not a s u f f ic i e n t explanation (Kohlberg in
Lickona, 1976).
I f moral decision-making is a t le a s t in p a rt a
5
co g n itiv e a c t i v i t y , in te llig e n c e must be viewed as an important
fa c to r.
A re la tio n s h ip which has not been thoroughly inve stigate d is th a t
between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
In
the
present study the in v e s tig a to r has-attempted to determine the e ff e c t of
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g t r a in in g on the level o f moral reasoning in
s ix th grade c h ild re n .
The dearth of research in th is area may be due to the erroneous
b e l ie f th a t in te llig e n c e and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g are so c lo s e ly
linked as to be inseparable.
But th is linkage has been questioned.
As
e a rly as .1898, Dearborn, in a study of f a c u lt y and students at Harvard
U n iv e rs ity , found th a t the more i n t e l l i g e n t subjects were appreciably
less imaginative (Dearborn, 1898).
In more recent em pirical studies
( Getzels and Jackson, 1962; Wallach and Kogan, 1965; Wallach and Wing,
1969), in v e s tig a to rs have also determined th a t in te llig e n c e and
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g are separable phenomena.
MacKinnon, a f t e r studying c re a tiv e a r c h ite c ts , mathematicians,
physical s c ie n t is t s , in d u s tr ia l researchers, engineers, and w r ite r s ,
stated:
As f o r the re la tio n s h ip between in te llig e n c e and crea­
t i v i t y . . . , we have found w ith in our c re a tiv e samples
e s s e n tia lly zero re la tio n s h ip between the two v a ria b le s ,
and t h is is not due to a narrow r e s t r i c t i o n in range of in ­
te llig e n c e . . . .
I t is c le a r ,th a t being more i n t e l l i g e n t
does not guarantee a corresponding increase in creativeness
(MacKinnon, 1962: 116).
Further support f o r the d is t in c t io n between in te llig e n c e and
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g was offered by Torrance.
In a 1967 tabu­
la t io n o f 178 c o r re la tio n c o e ffic ie n ts o f in te llig e n c e and c r e a t i v i t y
6
th a t had been reported in the l i t e r a t u r e , he found a median c o rre la tio n
of .20 (Torrance, 1967:
147).
Breaking down the data f u r t h e r , Tor­
rance found the median c o r re la tio n c o e f f ic ie n t between in te llig e n c e and
verbal c r e a t i v i t y to be . 21, and between in te llig e n c e and f ig u r a l crea­
t i v i t y to be .06.
In concluding the argument f o r the s e p a r a b ility o f in te llig e n c e
and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g , support was found in the th e o re tic a l
view o f A r i e t i .
In a volume devoted to the psychological process of
c r e a t i v i t y , A r i e t i stated th a t "an e x c e p tio n a lly high IQ is not a pre­
re q u is ite f o r c r e a t i v i t y . "
In f a c t , as a r e s u lt o f his years as a
p ra c tic in g p s y c h ia t r is t , he believed th a t an in d iv id u a l w ith a very
high level of in te llig e n c e may be too s e l f - c r i t i c a l , too r i g i d , and may
be too fa s t to adapt to the ge nerally uncreative c u ltu ra l environment
( A r i e t i , 1976:
342).
Thus in te llig e n c e at i t s upper e x tre m itie s may
have a negative impact on developing beyond the conventional level of
moral reasoning.
I f , as has been argued, in te llig e n c e and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing are separable, then to understand more completely the c o rre la te s of
moral development i t would be worthwhile to in v e s tig a te the r e la t io n ­
ship between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning because
c r e a t i v i t y may in fa c t have a p o s itiv e e ff e c t on the development of
moral reasoning.
While a more complete argument w i l l be offered in Chapter 2, fo r
the moment we can consider the fin d in g s of W illiam Kay, a B r it is h re ­
searcher in the area o f moral development.
He has argued th a t i t is
"c le a r th a t mature m o ra lity is only possible when the agent is an
7
autonomous, dynamic, c re a tiv e person" ( Kay, 1975:
142).
Kay has also
asserted th a t "Since moral problems are also in v a ria b ly characterized
by the fa c t th a t they are amenable to many d i f f e r e n t s o lu tio n s , crea­
t i v i t y is ever more necessary" (1975:
147).
Statement o f the Problem
The major problem o f th is study centered on the re la tio n s h ip be­
tween c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
The purpose of
the in v e s tig a tio n was to conduct an experimental study o f the e ff e c t of
tr a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g on the moral reasoning of s ix th
grade students; i f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g increases, would moral
reasoning also increase?
Questions to be Answered
The fo llo w in g general questions were investigated in terms of
s p e c ific n u ll hypotheses:
1.
Does t r a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g have an e ff e c t
upon c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y ?
2.
Does t r a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g have an e ffe c t
upon moral reasoning a b i l i t y ?
3.
W ill these e ff e c ts , i f found, be generalizable across sub­
categories of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t thinking?
I t was the in te n tio n o f the in v e s tig a to r to study the e ff e c t of
t r a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g on moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
The in v e s tig a tio n was not designed to delve in to the area o f moral
behavior.
Neither was i t designed to consider the e f f e c t o f emotions.
8
r e lig io u s b e l i e f , in te llig e n c e , or other fa c to rs th a t may influence
m o ra lity .
General Procedures.
This study was conducted during the l a t t e r h a lf of the 1984-85
school year.
A quasi-experimental procedure called the nonequivalent
control group research design was used in t h is in v e s tig a tio n .
This
design is fre q u e n tly used in educational research when the subjects of
the research cannot be randomly assigned to groups.
The design in ­
volved the s e le c tio n , from already e x is tin g groups, of a treatment and
a non-treatment group.
Both groups were subject to p re te s tin g and post­
te s tin g but only the treatment group was exposed to the treatment.
The
subjects of th is study were a l l of the members of two s ix th grade
classes.
In order to e s ta b lis h equivalency of the two groups of students
involved, p re te s tin g was conducted during e a rly February.
On the f i r s t
day both groups were administered the Sociomoral R e fle ction Measure,
Form A (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982).
On the fo llo w in g day, Figural Form
A of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thihkingf(Torrance, 1973) was
administered to both groups.
On the t h i r d day. Verbal Form A of the
Torrance Tests was administered to both groups.
m inistered by the in v e s tig a to r.
Al I te s ts were ad­
Results of the p re te s tin g are d is ­
cussed in Chapter 4.
The Sociomoral R e fle ction Measure is a group-administered measure
o f moral reasoning based on Kohl berg's i n d iv id u a lly administered Moral
Judgment Interview (Kohlberg and Colby, 1983).
The Torrance Tests of
9
Creative Thinking is a group-administered measure o f verbal and fig u r a l
aspects of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
Over a period o f ten weeks, during the spring o f 1985, the inves­
t i g a t o r u t i l i z e d New D irections in C r e a t i v i t y , Mark I ( RenzulI i , 1973)
to t r a in the treatment group in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
The t r a i n ­
ing took place three afternoons a week w ith each session la s tin g t h i r t y
minutes.
A dditio nal home assignments were used to re in fo rc e the le s ­
sons.
P o s t-te s tin g occurred near the end o f May 1985.
Results were
s t a t i s t i c a l l y tested f o r treatment e ffe c ts (Student's t - t e s t ) and i n t e r ­
action e ffe c ts (MANOVA) using the Honeywell CP6 computer a t Montana
State U n iv e rs ity .
Results are presented in Chapter 4.
Need fo r the Study
This in v e s tig a tio n was useful f o r the fo llo w in g reasons:
1.
A d e f in it e research gap existed w ith regard to the e ff e c t of
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tr a in in g on moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
A fte r
a thorough search of the l i t e r a t u r e only one study, concerning college
students, was located.
2.
A b e tte r understanding o f the association between c re a tiv e -
divergent th in k in g and moral reasoning could have led to a more sub­
s ta n tia l inclu s io n of both of these in the c u r r ic u la r o ffe rin g s fo r
both c h ild re n in classrooms and te a c h e rs -T n -tra in in g .
3.
The use of New D irections in C r e a tiv ity ( RenzulI i , 1973) as
the method of treatment added to the research data on th is p a r tic u la r
approach to c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tr a in in g .
TO
4.
This study added to the accumulating data on the Sociomoral
R eflection Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982) as a device f o r gathering
moral reasoning inform ation on a group-administered basis.
5.
The study contributed to the already appreciable data base
th a t e x is ts f o r the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Torrance,
1973).
L im ita tio n s
The fo llo w in g lim it a t io n s of the study were id e n t if ie d :
1.
The review o f the l i t e r a t u r e was confined to the l i b r a r i e s of
Montana State U n iv e rs ity , the U n iv e rs ity of Montana, Eastern Montana
College, and Teachers College Columbia U n iv e rs ity .
In a d d itio n , ERIC
network searches were conducted in 1984 and 1986.
2.
The experimental treatment involved n in ety minutes a week over
a ten week period.
3.
The study population was lim ite d to a s in g le , small-town
school system in western Montana.
4.
The study population consisted of s ix th grade students.
5.
Random assignment of subjects to groups was not p o ssible, thus
a quasi-experimental research design was used.
6.
The questionnaire method of c o lle c tin g data on moral reasoning
level is r e l a t i v e l y new.
In th is method i t is assumed th a t the respond­
ents can accu rate ly re p o rt in w r itin g t h e i r evaluation o f a moral
dilemma.
This assumption appears to be warranted based on the high
concurrent v a l i d i t y , .85, reported between the Sociomoral R eflection
Measure and the Moral Judgment. Interview developed by Kohlberg (Gibbs
11
and Widaman, 1982).
The Moral Judgment Interview is the c l i n i c a l i n t e r ­
view which is considered the hallmark tool f o r measuring moral reason­
ing a b i l i t y .
7.
There continues to be a lack o f agreement as to what c o n s ti­
tutes c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y .
The Torrance Tests of Crea­
t i v i t y Thinking measured fo u r c h a ra c te ris tic s of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g :
flue ncy, f l e x i b i l i t y , o r i g i n a l i t y , and e la b o ra tio n ,
The
Torrance Tests are w idely used and are considered the standard of com­
parison in determining c re a tiv e p o te n tia l (Tannenbaum, 1982:
273).
D e fin itio n of Terms
The fo llo w in g key terms are used in t h is study:
C re a tiv ity /C re a tiv e T h in kin g .
" C r e a t iv it y is a combination of the
f l e x i b i l i t y , o r i g i n a l i t y , and s e n s i t i v i t y to ideas which enables the
learner to break away from usual sequences of thought in to d if f e r e n t
and productive sequences, the r e s u lt of which gives s a tis fa c tio n to
him self and po s s ib ly others" (Jones, 1972:
Divergent T h inking.
7).
That aspect o f c re a tiv e thought which is
characterized and measured in term's o f:
Fluency:
. the a b i l i t y to produce many ideas or s olu tions to
problems.
F le x ib ility :
the a b i l i t y to produce ideas or solu tio n s to prob­
lems from d i f f e r e n t perspectives and a w illin g n e s s
to change d ire c tio n .
O r i g in a l i t y :
the a b i l i t y to produce unusual and unique ideas and
solu tio n s to problems.
12
E laboration:
the a b i l i t y to expand or embellish ideas and solu­
tio n s to problems ( Renzu11i , 1973).
Moral Development.
Growth in moral th in k in g from the lowest, or
egocentric stage, to the highest, or universal stage, in v o lv in g the
transform ation of c o g n itiv e s tru c tu re s .
Growth depends on both cogni­
tiv e development and social in te ra c tio n ( Duska and Whelan, 1975:
Moral Dilemma.
7).
When two norms of equal social value come into
c o n f l i c t , such as saving a l i f e versus obeying the law, a person faces
a moral dilemma in evaluating and choosing the proper course of action
(Gibbs and Widaman, 1982:
Moral Judgment.
44).
Making a moral judgment involves concentration on
the reasons f o r making a moral choice when presented w ith a moral
dilemma ( Duska and Whelan, 1975:
Morali t y .
43).
That which concerns the judgment of the goodness or
badness of human action and character.
Moral Reasoning.
The a b i l i t y to u t i l i z e co g n itiv e processes in
order to "solve" a moral dilemma.
For the purpose of th is study, moral
reasoning is viewed as separate from moral behavior.
Moral Stages.
Two stages of moral reasoning a t each o f three
lev e ls have been i d e n t if ie d .
The three lev e ls are Preconventional
(egocentric concern). Conventional (concern fo r those in your society)
and Post Conventional (concern on a universal b a s is ).
Research i n d i ­
cates th a t people pass through these stages in an in v a ria n t sequence
(Fenton, 1978).
Norm.
"A s o c ia lly valued and m o rally prescribed a c tio n , e . g . ,
saving a l i f e
( l i f e norm) or obeying the law (law norm).
Norms can be
13
thought o f as sociomoral truism s, since i t is o r d i n a r i l y taken fo r
granted th a t one should save a l i f e or obey the law" (Gibbs and Wida­
man, 1982:
44).
Summary
Mention has been made of the continuing in te r e s t o f educators in
the area of moral development.
From Socrates to Owen, from Mann to
Kohl berg, educators have viewed moral development as a major goal of
the educational process.
I t has been pointed out th a t schools tend to
go about the development o f moral reasoning in an unconscious manner,
through what is ca lle d the "hidden c u rric u lu m ."
A case has been t e n t a t i v e l y made f o r the re la tio n s h ip between
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
The purpose of th is
study was to determine in an experimental design, whether tr a in in g in
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g would have an e ff e c t on e ith e r the c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g a b i l i t y or the level o f moral reasoning in c h ild re n .
Other fa c to rs , such as emotion or in te llig e n c e , were not considered as
in te g ra l to th is study.
14
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
In tro d u c tio n
In t h is chapter f iv e to p ic s , central to the questions under inves­
tig a t io n in t h is research p r o je c t, w i l l be covered:
(T) moral reason­
ing viewed from the perspectives of John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Law­
rence Kohl berg; (2) c r e a t i v i t y as both a process and a p e rs o n a lity
t r a i t ; (3) the re la tio n s h ip between in te llig e n c e and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g ; (4) the re la tio n s h ip between in te llig e n c e and moral reason­
ing; and (5) the re la tio n s h ip between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and
moral reasoning.
This review was based upon l i t e r a t u r e contained w ith in the
l i b r a r i e s o f Montana State U n iv e rs ity , the U n iv e rs ity o f Montana,
Eastern Montana College, and Teachers College Columbia U n iv e rs ity .
In
a d d itio n , ERIC computer searches were conducted during the spring of
1984 and summer o f 1986.
. Moral Reasoning
The development of moral reasoning in children and young adults
has become an in c re a s in g ly important issue in American education during
the past century.
From John Dewey in the f i r s t h a lf of t h is century to
Lawrence Kohlberg in the second h a l f , ah increasing amount o f research
15
has been conducted concerning the to p ic of moral development.
Ques­
tio n s have been raised as to how, when, and under what conditions i t
occurs, and how and to what extent i t can be f a c i l i t a t e d .
In other
research, attempts have been made to c o rre la te the development of moral
reasoning w ith age, gender, and in te llig e n c e .
Few researchers have
looked in to the association o f moral reasoning and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g which was the central to p ic of t h is study.
John Dewey
In 1909, John Dewey distinguished between "moral ideas" and "ideas
about m o ra lity " ( Boydston, 1977:
257).
He f e l t th a t schools usu ally
stressed the former a t the expense of the l a t t e r and th a t l i t t l e moral
growth could be expected in c h ild re n as a r e s u lt.
By concentrating on
moral ideas in school, c h ild re n were not allowed to become a c tiv e ly
involved in the process o f working out and developing t h e i r own ideas
of moral behavior.
In the essay Moral P rin c ip le s in Education ( Boydston, 1.977:
269-
285), Dewey discussed the three resources he f e l t were v i t a l in b u ild ­
ing the moral character o f c h ild re n .
F i r s t , the school experience i t ­
s e l f was to be viewed as p a rt o f l i f e and not an e n t i t y separate from
the real world.
Second, the methodology o f learning and working w ith in
the school s e ttin g was stressed; the actual studies and curriculum of
the school were seen to be in need o f re v is io n .
T h ird , the children
had to become fu n c tio n in g , decision-making, a n a ly tic a l members of the
school community i f moral character was to develop.
In stressing th a t the school and school experiences should be
viewed as p a rt of the real world, Dewey wrote:
16
There cannot be two sets o f e th ic a l p r in c ip le s , one fo r
l i f e in the school, and the other f o r l i f e outside the school.
. . . .
The moral r e s p o n s ib ilit y o f the school, and o f those
who conduct i t , is to s o c ie ty (Boydston, 1977: 269).
In Dewey's view, c h ild re n had to be given the o p p o rtu n ity to engage
in social l i f e while at school i f they were to be expected to eve n tu a lly
p a r tic ip a te f u l l y in American democracy as a d u lts .
A c tiv e , p o s itiv e
p a r t ic ip a t io n , ra th e r than commandments concerning behavior, was con­
sidered a means o f achieving th is goal:
The school cannot be a preparation f o r social l i f e except­
ing as i t reproduces, w ith in i t s e l f , ty p ic a l conditions of
social l i f e . . . . The only way to prepare f o r social l i f e
is to engage in social l i f e (Boydston, 1977: 272).
The t r a d it io n a l stress on in d iv id u a l, lock-step achievement and
competition was not viewed by Dewey as amenable to the growth of moral
character.
He believed th a t memory work and r e p e titio n dulled rather
than enhanced moral awareness.
In order to increase moral awareness
in students, Dewey stressed the need to develop the areas o f re c ip ro ­
c i t y , communication, cooperation, and p o s itiv e personal achievement.
Because the curriculum , in Dewey's opinion, set the whole tone of
the school, he f e l t th a t the curriculum should stress a growing in s ig h t
in to the human c o n d itio n .
In a d d itio n , c h ild r e n 's need to be cre a tiv e
also had to be. considered in curriculum planning:
What the normal c h ild continuously needs is not so much
is o la te d moral lessons upon the importance o f tru th fu ln e s s
and honesty, or the beneficent re s u lts th a t fo llo w from a
p a r tic u la r act o f p a trio tis m , as the formation o f habits or
social imagination and conception (Boydston, 1977: 283).
Dewey concluded th is essay by s ta tin g th a t i f a c h i l d 's moral
judgment is to develop, he must be given the chance to analyze and
judge his world and be ready to face the consequences o f his decisions.
17
John Dewey, l i k e Piaget and Kohl berg, was a developmental 1st.
He
f e l t th a t moral development occurred as the re s u lt of cooperation and
p a r tic ip a tio n in social l i f e .
Dewey believed th a t there were:
three lev e ls o f behavior and conduct: ( I ) behavior which is
motivated by various b io lo g ic a l, economic, or other non-moral
impulses or needs ( e . g . , fa m ily , l i f e , work) and which yet.has
important re s u lts f o r morals; ( 2) behavior or conduct in which
the in d iv id u a l accepts w ith r e l a t i v e l y l i t t l e c r i t i c a l r e f l e c ­
tio n the standards and ways of his group as those are embodied
in customs or mores; (3) conduct in which the in d iv id u a l thinks
and judges f o r h im s e lf, considers whether a purpose is good or
r i g h t , decides and chooses, and does not accept the standards
of h i s group w ithout r e f le c t io n (Dewey, 1908: x ) .
As w i l l be noted l a t e r , th is looks much l i k e Kohlberg1s more
recent form ulation of the preconventional, conventional, and p rin c ip le d
le ve ls o f moral judgment.
Kohl berg, o f course, acknowledges his debt
to Dewey.
Jean Piaget
In his 1932 work. The Moral Judgment of the C h ild , Piaget set the
stage f o r fu tu re in v e s tig a tio n s of moral development.
Following in the
t r a d i t i o n o f the great French s o c io lo g is t Emile Durkheim, who viewed
rules as the basis of moral behavior, Piaget u t i l i z e d his c l i n i c a l
in ­
terview method to study how c h ild re n in Geneva, Switzerland, viewed the
game o f marbles.
He was e s p e c ia lly inte reste d in how c h ild re n perceived
and practiced the rules of the game because for. Piaget, as f o r Durkheim,
the fo llo w in g p r in c ip le obtained:
Al I m o ra lity consists in a system of ru le s , and the
essence of a l l m o r a lity is to be sought fo r in the respect
which the in d iv id u a l acquires f o r these rules (P iaget, 1965:
13).
18
In h i s research, Piaget was concerned w ith respect f o r rules as
i t developed w ith age.
Children below two years o f age were unaware
o f rules and t h e i r play seemed to be a purely motoric a c t i v i t y .
Piaget
found th a t between the ages o f two and s ix years c h ild re n became in ­
cre a s in g ly aware o f rules but th a t they observed the rules in an ego­
c e n tric manner; they im itated what they saw old er c h ild re n doing w ith ­
out any r e f le c t io n .
Since rules in general came from powerful figu res
in the c h i l d 's environment (parents, teachers, and in the case of
marbles, old er c h ild r e n ) , rules were viewed as unchangeable.
By the age o f s ix years c h ild re n seemed to believe th a t rules were
"laws" and th a t they had always existed and could not be changed by
anyone.
marbles.
Some c h ild re n even thought th a t God created the rules of
This heteronomous view of rules persisted u n t i l about the
age of ten.
During, the years from seven to ten child re n g ra d u a lly began to
re a liz e th a t rules served a re g u la to ry fun ctio n in t h e i r social i n t e r ­
actions w ith other c h ild re n .
During these years c h ild re n watched other
game p a rtic ip a n ts c lo s e ly to make sure the ru le s were being s t r i c t l y
obeyed.
The preadolescent years, from age ten to fourteen, witnessed the
development of an autonomous view o f ru le s .
Rules were not approached
as something th a t required the mutual consent of the p a rtic ip a n ts in
the game; the rules could even be changed i f the players agreed to the
changes.
Part of th is development from heteronomy to autonomy came
from the increase in cooperative play of child re n and also in p a rt from
developmental advances in c o g n itio n .
19
Duska and Whelan (1975) noted several important points in Piaget's
study of the development of respect f o r r u le s :
1.
Through age seven or e ig ht c h ild re n are submissive to a l l
rules th a t govern t h e i r liv e s .
2.
The heteronomous c h ild does not f u l l y understand the rules
in his l i f e and cannot c o n s is te n tly obey them.
3.
Children, develop t h e i r understanding o f rules through coopera­
t iv e in te ra c tio n with other c h ild re n , th is cooperation with
equals leads eve n tu a lly to a sense of autonomy.
4.
Only the autonomous c h ild can c o n s is te n tly obey rules because
he is capable of understanding and respecting the basis fo r
the ru le s .
In The Moral Judgment of- the C h ild , Piaget also inve stigate d the
c h i l d 's sense of ju s t i c e .
In a d d itio n to s itu a tio n s th a t concerned
s te a lin g and ly in g , the subjects were presented w ith p a irs of s to rie s
where, f o r example, one c h ild broke many cups while tr y in g to help a
parent and another c h ild broke one cup w hile being disobedient.
U n til
around the age of e ig h t yea rs, c h ild re n seemed unable to focus on the
in te n tio n o f the acto r in the s to ry .
G u ilt was judged on the basis o f
the amount of damage done or what Piaget termed "o b je c tiv e responsi­
b ility ."
This was p a rt of heteronomous th in k in g or moral realism.
The stage la b e lle d "s u b je c tiv e r e s p o n s ib ility " followed and was
seen to be the r e s u lt o f the c h i l d 's in te ra c tio n w ith his peers.
This
stage began to emerge around the age of ten years and began to s o l i d i f y
near the age o f twelve.
During th is autonomous stage the inte n tio n s
o f the actors in the hypothetical s to rie s were taken in to consideration
and tended to modify c h ild r e n 's responses to the questions posed by
Piaget.
20
An in te re s tin g question presented by Piaget d e a lt w ith the punish­
ments thought appropriate by his subjects.
punishment had to be " r e t r i b u t i v e . "
To the heteronomous c h ild ,
The anger of the a ll-p o w e rfu l
a d u lt had to be assuaged by punishment th a t was s w ift and severe.
To
the c h ild who had reached the autonomous stage, however, punishment
had to serve to restore social s o l i d a r i t y ; punishment should f i t the
transgression and the in te n t o f the transgressor.
This was re fe rre d to
as "re c ip ro c a l punishment."
The e f f e c t of c h ild r e n 's in te ra c tio n s with each other on t h e ir
emerging sense of j u s t ic e cannot be overstressed.
Piaget maintained,
th a t:
The sense of j u s t i c e , though n a tu r a lly capable o f being r e in ­
forced by precepts and the p ra c tic a l example o f the a d u lt, is
la r g e ly independent of these influences and requires nothing
more f o r i t s development than mutual respect and s o l i d a r i t y
which holds, among c h ild re n themselves (1965: 198).
P iage t's basic fin d in g was th a t as the c h ild matures and his
social world expands the basis o f moral decision-making also changes.
The young c h ild begins w ith a moral view th a t constrains his a ctio ns,
th a t is based on the rules la id down by more powerful in d iv id u a ls .
With the passing of time and the broadening of social in te ra c tio n s , a
m o ra lity based on cooperation emerges w ith a basis in social considera­
tio n s .
P iage t's pioneering empirical study o f moral development in chi I i
dren had a tw o -fo ld e f f e c t :
i t stim ulated a great deal o f fu r th e r re ­
search and i t provided a conceptual frame around which to b u ild fu tu re
research in moral development.
V
21
Lawrence Kohlberq
The most p r o l i f i c and in f l u e n t i a l researcher i,n the area o f moral
development over the past t h i r t y years has been Lawrence Kohlberg9 cur­
r e n t ly d ir e c to r o f the Center fo r Moral Education a t Harvard U niversity.
His 1958 d is s e rta tio n a t the U n iv e rs ity o f Chicago la id the groundwork
f o r expanded research in to the cognitive-developmental approach to
moral reasoning.
According to KohTberg:
The approach is c a lle d c o g n itiv e because i t recognizes
th a t moral education, l i k e in t e lle c t u a l education, has i t s
basis in s tim u la tin g the a c tiv e th in k in g of the c h ild about
moral issues and decisions. I t is ca lle d developmental be­
cause i t sees the aims o f moral education as movement through
moral stages (1975).
In 1955 Kohlberg i n i t i a t e d a lo n g itu d in a l study o f f i f t y middleclass and working-class boys, ages ten, th ir te e n and sixteen years, in
Chicago.
Every three years since th a t tim e ,th e s e subjects have been
studied using what is now c a lle d the Moral Judgment In te rv ie w .
During
the in te rv ie w , the subject is asked to consider s itu a tio n s in which
moral norms are in c o n f l i c t ( i . e . , l i f e versus property r ig h ts ) and to
propose and j u s t i f y solu tio n s to the dilemmas.
Kohlberg's work is based p r im a r ily on the th e o re tic a l approach of
Dewey and the research-based approach o f Piaget.
Kohl berg, in f a c t ,
has stated (1971) th a t the o rig in s o f his p o s itio n on c o g n itiv e moral
development ard to be found in the works o f Dewey such as Ethical P rin ­
c ip le s Underlying Education (1909).
In th is work Dewey presented a
developmental view o f moral education stressing the ro le o f th in k in g in
the organization o f one's moral outlook.
Dewey also emphasized th a t
development takes place in stages and th a t development/ both i n t e l l e c ­
tual and moral, was the major aim o f education.
Kohl berg, l i k e Dewey,
\
22
fe e ls th a t the aim of moral education should be the s tim u la tio n of move­
ment toward the next higher stage o f moral thought ra th e r than indoc­
t r i n a t i o n in to the conventional m o ra lity of the school and nation.
Kohlberg1s debt to Piaget is based on both the em pirical study
described in The Moral Judgment o f the Child (1932) and on P iaget's
more p r o l i f i c work in the area o f c o g n itiv e stage development.
Kohl-
berg has summarized P iage t's fin d in g s in the l a t t e r area s ta tin g th a t
stage development is characterized as follo w s (1969):
1.
The notion of stages implies th a t there are q u a lit a t iv e
d iffe ren ces in the way each c h ild solves problems a t d i f ­
fe re n t stages.
2.
There is an in v a ria n t sequence to the stages th a t the
c h ild proceeds through. Except in cases of.extreme
d is tr e s s , movement is forward not backward and stages
are not skipped.
3.
Each stage represents a stru cture d whole - - the c h ild
responds to a dilemma according to his reasoning a t th a t
le v e l. In d iv id u a ls are con sistent in t h e i r level of
reasoning. 4
4.
The stages are h ie ra rc h ic a l in te g ra tio n s , each stage is
more d if f e r e n t ia t e d and more integrated than the preced­
ing one; they are l i k e b u ild in g blocks. Each stage com­
prehends lower stage thought and has a preference fo r
higher stage thought when such thought is encountered.
Like Dewey and Piaget before him, Kohlberg fee ls th a t the moral
judgments th a t people make can be arranged in a hierarchy o f le v e ls .
H is research has led to a more d e f in it e hierarchy of three le v e ls , each
composed of two stages, w ith a stage defined as a stru ctu re d whole th a t
leads to consistent thought in the area of moral reasoning.
Moral reasoning is seen as the thought process an in d iv id u a l goes
through in deciding what one ought to do w ith regard to a given moral
dilemma.
Kohlberg has devised a technique using moral dilemma s itu a tio n s ,
23
where moral norms are in c o n f l i c t , to determine an in d iv id u a l's pre­
dominant level o f moral reasoning.
The fo llo w in g is a b r i e f descrip­
tio n o f th is hierarchy.
Preconventional Level
At t h is le v e l, which is p a ra lle l to Dewey's f i r s t level and to
P iaget's heteronomous stage, the c h ild views a moral dilemma in terms
o f the needs o f the in d iv id u a ls involved.
Dilemmas are resolved with
reference to power, punishment, and personal pleasure.
Stage I
This is a somewhat simple stage; decisions tend to be made on the
basis o f what a u th o r ity says or what physical punishments may ensue.
The c h ild views the world in egocentric terms and does not consider the
in te re s ts or viewpoints of other people.
Most child re n fu n c tio n at
th is stage between the ages of fo u r and e ig h t years.
Stage 2
By the age of nine to eleven years the c h ild is more capable of
ro le -ta k in g and thus appreciating the viewpoint o f others.
Moral d e ci­
sions tend to be based on the needs o f the c h ild and sometimes on the
needs o f others.
Many decisions are based on the idea of exchange in a
quasi-economic sense; th is has been re fe rre d to as a "market-place men­
ta lity ."
This c h a ra c te riz a tio n is based on the c h i l d 's w illin g n e s s to
make decisions p r im a r ily in consideration o f what is to be gained per­
s on ally.
Increasing in te ra c tio n w ith peers f a c i l i t a t e s the development
o f th is stage.
24
Conventional Level
At th is level the youth has acquired a "member-of-society" per­
spective.
Moral judgments are based on what the fa m ily , peer group, or
s ocie ty expect o f the "good" or "nice" in d iv id u a l.
the maintenance o f the social order.
There is lo y a lt y to
Moral c o n f lic t s can be resolved
a t e ith e r an interpersonal or community level by appealing to what
a u th o r ity (peers, Iaw^, mores) views as proper.
This leve l is often
attained between the ages o f twelve and eighteen years and corresponds
to Dewey's second stage.
Stage 3
Pleasing or being he lp fu l to others is the major goal of th is
stage.
One earns the approval of s ig n if ic a n t others by being nice or
good as re fle c te d in the b e lie fs of fa m ily , frie n d s or teachers.
Func­
tio n in g a t t h is stage w i l l allow f o r the re s o lu tio n o f c o n f lic t s among '
people who know each other.
Stage 4
The o r ie n ta tio n at th is stage is to the rules and laws th a t have
been established by one's p a r t ic u la r socie ty.
An in d iv id u a l is expected
to do his duty and show respect f o r duly con stitu te d a u th o r ity .
Any
action th a t is contrary to the established law appears to threaten the
s o l i d a r i t y and cohesion of the socie ty.
Functioning at th is stage w i l l
u s u a lly allow f o r the adequate s e t t li n g o f societal as well as i n t e r ­
personal c o n f lic t s .
25
P rin c ip le d Level
At t h is level the in d iv id u a l possesses what can be termed an
"anthropological p e rspe ctive," he sees beyond the norms and laws of his
p a r tic u la r s o c ie ty and r e fle c ts on the p r in c ip le s upon which any good
s o c ie ty is based.
Few people in the contemporary world (perhaps ten
percent) appear to advance to th is le v e l, according to the research of
Kohlberg and his associates.
In f a c t , since fewer than one percent of
subjects fu n c tio n beyond stage f i v e , stage s ix is often viewed as a
th e o re tic a l con struct.
This level p a r a lle ls Dewey's t h i r d level and
P iaget's autonomous le v e l.
Stage 5
Called the "socia l con tract stage," th is stage is a d ir e c t out­
growth of the awareness o f the r e l a t i v i t y o f personal values and
opinions.
The in d iv id u a l c r i t i c a l l y examines the standards and values
o f . h i s s o c ie ty and keeps open the p o s s i b i l i t y th a t unjust laws can be
changed a f t e r being r a t i o n a l l y evaluated.
At most nine percent of a d u lt
Americans is able to fu n c tio n at th is stage w ith any degree of re g u la r­
ity .
Stage 6
Attained by fewer than one percent o f a d u lt Americans, th is stage '
can be viewed in terms o f Kant's "universal im p e ra tiv e ":
one should
act in a way th a t one would want a l l others to act in the same s itu a tio n
(Kohlberg, 1973).
ju s tic e ."
I t also involves John Rawls' concept o f " d i s t r i b u t i v e
Rawls suggested th a t moral dilemmas could be best resolved
by tem porarily wearing a " v e il o f ignorance."
By viewing the s itu a tio n
26
from the perspective of each actor and not knowing which acto r you are,
one should be able to make an adequate moral decision (Raw!Si 1973).
Decisions at th is stage are based on conscience working in accord with
self-chosen, universal p r in c ip le s o f r e c ip r o c it y , e q u a lity o f human
r ig h t s , and respect f o r the d ig n it y of human beings as in d iv id u a ls .
Although these stages have t h e i r basis in the works o f Dewey and
Piaget, Kohlberg has gone f a r beyond them in his research and t h e o r e ti­
cal form ulations.
Kohl berg's theory is both more complex and more spe­
c i f i c than his predecessors and he has taken the study of moral reason­
ing well beyond the. years o f childhood and has expanded the area of
research to other c u ltu re s .
The Measurement of Moral Reasoning
The curren t approach to measuring moral reasoning a b i l i t y can be
traced to P iaget's pioneering work. The Moral Judgment o f the Child
(1932).
In th is research he u t i l i z e d his " c l i n i c a l in te rv ie w " approach,
in an attempt to determine how c h ild re n viewed the rules of the game of
marbles.
This involved asking a series of open-ended questions to
in d iv id u a l c h ild re n .
Although an ove ra ll scheme of questioning e x is te d ,
Piaget was w i l l i n g to fo llo w where the c h ild led.
During the 1950's Kohlberg developed an approach to measuring moral
reasoning th a t was based p r im a r ily on P iaget's method.
Kohlberg de­
veloped a series of moral dilemmas th a t were to be i n d iv id u a lly admin­
is te re d to subjects;
Each dilemma had a series of both closed and open-
ended questions th a t were to be asked during the in te rv ie w .
Kohl berg's
instrument, the Moral Judgment Interview and Scale (Kohlberg and Colby,
1983), has been re fined over the intervening years and is now considered
the standard measuring device in the f i e l d of moral reasoning.
27
The Moral Judgment Interview and Scale is a production-task
measure o f an in d iv id u a l's stage level o f moral reasoning.
A minimum
of twenty-one questions in v o lv in g three moral dilemmas must be asked.
Proper scoring o f the s u b je c t's responses leads to two indices:
Moral M a tu rity Score and the Global Stage Score.
the
The former score
ranges from 100 points (pure stage one) to 500 points (pure stage f iv e )
and is considered a w e ll- d if f e r e n t ia t e d psychometric score.
The l a t t e r
score ranges from stage one through f iv e and tr a n s itio n a l lev e ls ( i . e. ,
stage three and o n e -h a lf); as the name in d ic a te s , i t is a more global
measure of moral reasoning le v e l.
Judgment Interview and Scale:
There are two drawbacks to the Moral
i t requires workshop tr a in in g to adminis­
te r and score and i t must be in d iv id u a lly administered.
In an attempt to s im p lify the measurement o f moral reasoning. Rest
developed the Defining Issues Test (1974).
This m u ltip le -c h o ic e in s tr u ­
ment has been w idely used.since i t requires only minimal tr a in in g and
time to adm inister and score.
I t s major shortcoming is th a t i t may not
measure spontaneous moral reasoning but ra th e r re c o g n itio n .
In Rest's
words, the Defining Issues Test addresses "what people recognize and
appreciate in moral arguments" not "what moral arguments they spontane­
ously produce" (Rest, 1975:
748).
Recently a colleague of Kohlberg has developed two groupadmin i s tra b le measures o f moral reasoning:
the Sociomoral R eflection
Measure (Gibbs et a l . , 1982) and the Sociomoral R e fle ction Objective
Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1984).
These instruments seem to be c lo s e ly
aligned to the Moral Judgment Interview and Scale.
Both o f these
28
instruments are intended to be group-admin is te ra b ie and require only
s e l f - t r a i n in g f o r use.
The Soeiomoral R eflection Measure Iik e the Moral Judgment I n t e r ­
view and Scale is a production-task measure in which subjects must
j u s t i f y t h e i r p r e s c rip tiv e decisions w ith regard to moral dilemmas th a t
are adapted from Kohl berg.
Questions are p re c la s s ifie d by norm which
allows the ra te r to concentrate on stage assessment alone.
This in s t r u ­
ment has been more f u l l y discussed in Chapter 3.
The Sociomoral R eflection Objective Measure also uses Kohl bergbased moral dilemmas but concentrates on the s u b je c t's recognition in
using sixteen m u ltip le -c h o ic e question arrays.
three sub-questions.
Each a rra y consists of
The s u b je c t's choice of stage s p e c ific responses
leads to m a tu rity and global scores s im ila r to those derived from the
Moral Judgment Interview and Scale and the Sociomoral R eflection Meas­ *1
2
3
u re .
The Sociomoral R eflection Objective Measure is viewed by i t s
developers as an o b je c tiv e index of social reasoning useful at high
school age and above.
I t is computer scorable and requires l i t t l e
tr a in in g to in te r p r e t.
Research Findings and Controversies
Edwin Fenton (1978:
52-59) has li s t e d eleven major research f i n d ­
ings w ith regard to the work o f ' Kohlberg and his a s s o c ia te s :
1.
People th in k about moral issues in six q u a l i t a t i v e l y d i f ­
fe re n t stages.
2.
The most r e lia b le way to determine a stage of moral thought
is through an inte rv ie w .
3.
A stage is an organized system of thought.
29
■ 4.
An in d iv id u a l reasons at predominantly (although not exclu­
s iv e ly ) one stage.
5.
The stages are natural steps in e th ic a l development.
6.
Al I people move through these stages in in v a ria n t sequence
(w ith most stopping at stage fo u r ) .
7.
People can understand arguments at one stage beyond t h e ir
own predominant stage.
8.
Higher moral stages are b e tte r at resolving dilemmas than
lower ones.
9.
Stage growth takes place p r im a r ily by encountering re a ll i f e or hypothetical moral dilemmas which set up c og nitive
c o n f l i c t and d is e q u ilib riu m .
10.
Deliberate attempts to f a c i l i t a t e stage growth have been
successful in schools..
11.
Moral judgment is a necessary but not s u f f ic i e n t condition
f o r moral actio n .
The above fin d in g s have not gone unchallenged.
As Kohlberg1s
theory of cognitive-moral development gained p o p u la rity during the Tate
1960's and 1970's, c r i t i c i s m and controversy arose.
Fraenkel (1978) -suggested th a t some of Kohl berg's claims were
exaggerated.
Among other th in g s , he challenged the concept of the
u n iv e r s a lit y of the stages.
Fraenkel f e l t th a t although research has
shown the existence of these stages in nine d if f e r e n t c u ltu re s , these
are too few to claim u n iv e r s a lit y in view of the number o f cultures
found in the world.
Fraenkel also expressed concern over the fa c t th a t some people
seem to feel th a t higher stages are " b e tte r " than lower stages.
Kohl-
berg does not claim th a t higher stages are "b e tte r" but th a t they are
more adequate a t resolving moral dilemmas.
30
Kurtines and G rie f (1974) perceived a problem with the v a r i a b i l i t y
and complexity of the scoring o f the Moral Judgment In te rv ie w .
They
considered the amount o f tr a in in g needed to conduct the in te rv ie w and
the amount o f judgment required to score the re s u lts to be problematic.
This c r i t i c i s m has been countered to some extent by the recent pu b lica ­
tio n o f a revised manual w ith s im p lifie d scoring techniques (Kohlberg
and Colby, 1983).
There are many who support Kohl berg's research.
In an a r t i c l e
aimed a t defending Kohl berg's approach to moral reasoning, Broughton
(1978) asserted th a t the Moral Judgment Interview was not meant to be
a psychometric instrument but ra th e r a measure of the form of reasoning
in the in d iv id u a l.
He also pointed out th a t even in te llig e n c e te s ts ,
which some would consider, the epitome o f psychometric t e s t in g , were
open to human judgment and in te r p r e ta tio n .
Broughton's main p o in t was
th a t the stages developed by Kohlberg are inductive generalizations
based on the research evidence and not philosophic t r u t h .
In a recent study conducted by Nisan and Kohlberg (1982) the fin d -,
ings of e a r l i e r c ro s s -c u ltu ra l stud ies, which had been c a rrie d out by
Kohlberg and other o f his associates, were reaffirm ed.
The researchers
found th a t in t h e i r study o f ru ral and urban subjects in Turkey there
was support f o r the contention th a t the stages are universal in charac­
t e r and fo llo w an in v a ria n t sequence of development.
Walker (1982), in a study which attempted to induce regression and
stage skipping in f i f t h through seventh grade students, found th a t he
was unable to succeed a t e ith e r o f these tasks, thus supporting the
concept of in v a ria n t sequence.
31
In a study of the stepwise and ir r e v e r s ib le sequence o f moral
development, H olstein (1976) examined changes in f i f t y - t w o teenagers
and t h e i r parents over a three year period.
wise growth by le v e l, not stage, does occur.
She determined th a t step­
I t was also reported th a t
subjects at stage f iv e at the beginning o f the study tended to re ve rt
to stage fo u r a t the end of the study.
A recent monograph (Colby, e t a l . , 1983) reported the fin d in g s of
a twenty year study of Kohl berg's o r ig in a l group of subjects from his
1958 d is s e rta tio n .
The Moral Judgment Interview showed a high degree
o f in te rn a l consistency and was f e l t to be a r e lia b le and v a lid measure
o f Kohl berg1s moral stages.
I t was also found th a t the s u b je c ts , re in ­
terviewed every three to fo u r years, proceeded through the developmental
stages in the hypothesized sequence, w ith no skipping o f stages.
In
a d d itio n , the subjects used a coherent s tru c tu ra l o rie n ta tio n in the
way they thought about moral dilemmas.
This lo n g itu d in a l study was
supportive of a l l o f the basic assumptions o f Kohlberg's theory of
moral development.
Another controversy which arose re c e n tly concerns the apparently
d if f e r e n t approach taken by males and females when confronted w ith a
moral dilemma.
According to G illig a n (1 9 8 2 ), the care o r ie n ta tio n of
females w ith regard to moral reasoning is confounded by the ju s tic e
o rie n ta tio n of Kohl berg.
The claim is th a t female s elf-conce pt is tie d
to a sense of connectedness to other people while male self-concept is
tie d to a sense of being separate from others.
Thus when women are
confronted w ith a moral decision they tend to weigh
others more h e a v ily than the need f o r ju s t ic e .
r e s p o n s ib ilit y to
Such decision-making
32
would tend to prevent women from r is in g to Kohl berg's higher lev e ls of
moral reasoning.
The existence of a b u i l t - i n sex bias was supported
in a recent study by Blake and Cohen (1984).
In analyzing several
studies of the moral reasoning of males and females they found th a t a
dichotomy does appear to e x is t.
In summary, we can see th a t the issue of moral development has
been a major concern of tw entieth century educators.
The review of
Dewey, Piaget, and Kohlberg indicated a consensus concerning the develop­
mental aspects of moral reasoning.
Current research seems to support
the view o f moral development as an in v a ria n t sequence o f h ie ra rc h ic a l
stages.
C r e a tiv ity
The second v a ria b le to be considered by the in v e s tig a to r was
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
C r e a t iv it y has been defined and redefined
many times from various points of view.
Some d e f in it io n s center on the
process involved in c r e a t i v i t y while others emphasize p e rs o n a lity t r a i t s
th a t are associated w ith recognized c re a tiv e in d iv id u a ls .
In th is sec­
tio n several o f these d e fin itio n s w i l l be considered, as well as methods
of id e n tify in g c r e a t i v i t y , and ways o f n u rturing c r e a t i v i t y .
D e fin itio n s of C r e a tiv ity
MacKinnon (1970) c a lle d c r e a t i v i t y a "m u lti-fa c e te d phenomenon"
and considered the c re a tiv e process to be a complex set o f c o g n itiv e ,
emotional, and m otivational fa c to rs th a t were present to some extent in
a l l people.
He f e l t th a t the process consisted of fiv e sequential
33
steps:
prepa ratio n, concentrated e f f o r t , withdrawal from the problem,
in s ig h t, and v e r i f i c a t i o n .
Preparation occurred when an in d iv id u a l's
experiences, and co g n itiv e and technical s k i l l s were brought to bear
upon a problem.
This was followed by a period of concentrated e f f o r t
in an attempt to solve the problem.
I f a s o lu tio n was not found q u ic k ly ,
tensions and fr u s tr a t io n s would a ris e .
These fe e lin g s led to a period
o f withdrawal from the problem, o r, as i t is sometimes c a lle d , incuba­
tio n .
Through unconscious e f f o r t , the next step, in s ig h t, often f o l ­
lowed when a possible path to a s o lu tio n became apparent.
The f in a l
step involved the v e r if ic a t i o n and a p p lic a tio n of the s o lu tio n .
The analysis o f the c re a tiv e process described by MacKinnon was
s im ila r to th a t described by Stein (1974) who f e l t th a t the process of
s c i e n t i f i c c r e a t i v i t y consisted of fou r steps:
prepa ratio n, hypothesis
form ation, te s tin g of hypothesis, and communication of r e s u lts .
Both MacKinnon and Stein were q u ite close to what is considered
the tr a d it io n a l view of the c re a tiv e process, th a t of Wallas (1926).
His was also a fo u r step process:
( I ) preparation, which consisted of
gathering inform ation and probing the problem in an intense manner;
(2) incubation, which occurred when the problem receded in to the uncon­
scious but progress towards.a s o lu tio n continued; (3) illu m in a tio n ,
when a possible s o lu tio n was discovered; and f i n a l l y , (4) v e r i f i c a t i o n ,
the te s tin g of the proposed s o lu tio n .
Dellas and Guier (1970), in an extensive review o f the research on
the id e n t i f i c a t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y , concluded th a t the roots of c r e a t i v i t y
were to be found in the p e rs o n a lity and m otivational aspects of an
d iv id u a l's character.
In t h e i r a n a ly s is , the p e rs o n a lity t r a i t s of
in ­
34
recognized c re a tiv e adults and young people were congruent.
However,
these t r a i t s were not as sharply delineated in the school-age group.
The review of research c ite d above supports the fin d in g s o f Mac­
Kinnon (1970) who described the fo llo w in g t r a i t s among recognized crea­
t iv e a d u lts :
independence of thought and a c tio n , openness to e xp eri­
ence, c u r io s i t y , wide range o f info rm a tio n , in tu itiv e n e s s , and courage ■
o f the mind and s p i r i t to question th a t which socie ty accepts.
These
p e rs o n a lity t r a i t s would seem to encourage and strengthen an in d iv id u a l's
movement toward p rin c ip le d moral reasoning.
Perhaps the foremost name in the area of c r e a t i v i t y research in
the middle p a rt of t h is century is th a t of E. Paul Torrance.
In 1962
Torrance li s t e d e ig h ty -fo u r "e xp erim enta lly derived p e rs o n a lity corre­
late s o f h ig h ly c re a tiv e a d u lts ."
The top fiv e c h a ra c te ris tic s were:
acceptance of d is o rd e r, adventuresomeness, strong a ff e c t io n , a ltru is m ,
and awareness of others.
Another researcher. Hare, also contributed to the p ic tu re of the
c re a tiv e p e rs o n a lity when he described the cre a tiv e person as one who
was:
e s s e n tia lly a non-conformist with the capacity to pursue nonconforming and c re a tiv e ideas in the face of so c ie ta l pres­
sures to see things as others have seen them and leave things
as others have found them (1982: 157).
V i r t u a l l y a l l of the p e rs o n a lity descriptors of the cre a tive
in d iv id u a l c ite d above, and e s p e c ia lly Hare's d e f i n i t i o n , seem to p o int
to the possible u t i l i t y of cre a tiv e th o u g h t.in the area o f moral reason­
ing.
The essence of a moral dilemma s itu a tio n is th a t there is no easy
or simple s o lu tio n .
A person who is able to deal with ambiguity and not
35
be discouraged, who is able to use i n t u i t i o n as well as lo g ic , and who
has the courage to question accepted ways o f behavior may possibly
th in k and act in a more m o rally mature manner than his less, cre ative
peers.
The d e f i n i t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y w ith which the researcher is most
comfortable also seems to ind ica te a possible re la tio n s h ip between the
emergence of autonomous moral reasoning and c re a tiv e thought:
C r e a t iv it y is a combination o f the f l e x i b i l i t y , o r ig i n ­
a l i t y , and s e n s i t i v i t y to ideas which enables the lea rne r to
break away from usual sequences of thought in to d i f f e r e n t
and productive sequences, the r e s u lt of which gives s a tis fa c ­
tio n to him self and po ssibly to others (Jones, 1972: 7).
I d e n t if ic a t io n o f C r e a tiv ity
There are two main approaches to the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f cre ative
p o te n tia l in c h ild re n :
the matching of in d iv id u a l c h ild re n to t r a i t s
th a t are associated with c re a tiv e people and the standardized te s tin g
o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y .
Often teachers are asked to consider t h e i r students and rate them
in terms o f a given l i s t of character t r a i t s of c re a tiv e people.
A
widely used example of such an approach is the Renzulli-Hartman Scale
f o r Rating Behavioral C h a ra c te ris tic s o f Superior Students (Barbe and
Renzulli , 1981)..
Ten behavior c h a ra c te ris tic s of c re a tiv e in d iv id u a ls ,
derived from the research l i t e r a t u r e , are lis t e d and the c h ild under
consideration is rated with regard to evidence o f s im ila r behaviors
which he e x h ib its on a scale o f:
or almost always.
I.
seldom, occa sio n a lly, considerably,
The c h a ra c te ris tic s l i s t e d on th is scale are:
Displays a great deal of c u r io s i t y about many th in g s ; is
co n sta n tly asking questions about anything and everything.
36
2.
Generates a large number o f ideas or solu tions to problems
and questions; often o ffe rs unusual, unique, cle v e r re­
sponses.
3.
Is u n in h ib ite d in expressions o f opinion; is sometimes
ra dical and s p ir it e d in disagreement; is tenacious.
4.
Is a high r is k ta k e r; is adventurous and speculative.
5.
Displays a good deal o f in t e lle c t u a l p la yfulne ss; fa n ta ­
sizes, imagines ( " I wonder what would happen i f . . . " ) ;
manipulates ideas ( i . e . ,. changes, elaborates upon them);
is often concerned w ith adapting, improving, and modify­
ing i n s t i t u t i o n s , objects and systems.
6.
Displays a keen sense of humor and sees humor in s itu a ­
tio n s th a t may not appear to be humorous to others.
7.
Is unusually aware o f his impulses and more open to the
ir r a t i o n a l in him self ( fr e e r expression of feminine in ­
te re s ts f o r boys, greater than usual amount of independ­
ence f o r g i r l s ) ; shows emotional s e n s i t i v i t y .
8.
Is s e n s itiv e to beauty; attends to aesthetic cha racte r­
i s t i c s of th in g s .
9.
Is nonconforming; accepts d is o rd e r; is not inte reste d in
d e t a ils ; is i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c ; does not fea r being d i f ­
fe re n t. 1
0
10.
C r i t i c i z e s c o n s tru c tiv e ly ; is u n w illin g to accept a u th o ri­
ta ria n pronouncements w ithout c r i t i c a l examination ( Barbe
and Renzulli , 1981: 159-160).
Occasionally, c h ild re n are asked to rate t h e i r peers,w ith regard
to c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and behavior in school or non-school
s e ttin g s .
Children in the f i r s t few grades of elementary school might
be asked to answer questions s im ila r to the fo llo w in g :
Pretend th a t your class found a puppy in the playground.
1.
What three students would th in k up lo ts of names f o r the
puppy?
2.
What three students would make-up the most unusual names?
3.
What three students would come up with the best names?
(Roger Taylor, 55-56)
37
Older students might be asked:
1.
What three students in your class are the most curious?
2.
What three students l ik e to take chances?
3.
What three students are most l i k e l y to question a u th o rity ?
(Roger Ta ylor, 56)
While ra tin g scales seems to be gaining in p o p u la rity , standardized
te s ts remain the.major method used f o r assessing c re a tiv e p o t e n t ia l.
Prominent persons in the area of standardized te s tin g o f c r e a t i v i t y
are J . P. G u ilfo rd and E. P. Torrance.
These two researchers were p r i ­
m a rily responsible f o r the development of the C r e a tiv ity Tests fo r C h il­
dren (G u ilfo rd , 1971) and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Tor­
rance, 1974).
Both o f these te s ts re s t on the divergent production section of
G u ilfo rd 's S tructure o f the I n t e l l e c t approach to d e fin in g in te llig e n c e .
G u ilfo rd (1967) believed th a t in te llig e n c e draws on many independent
mental a b i l i t i e s ; nearly one hundred and twenty have been id e n t if ie d so
fa r.
He approximated th a t nearly twenty percent of mental a b i l i t y was
in fa c t c re a tiv e a b i l i t y .
Divergent production was viewed by G uilfo rd
(1959) as one of the basic processes in c re a tiv e th in k in g and was broken,
down in to the fo u r areas o f fluency (many ideas and solu tio n s to a prob­
lem), f l e x i b i l i t y (ideas and s olu tions from many c a te g o rie s ), o r i g i n a l ­
i t y (ideas and s olu tions which were unique or novel), and elaboration
(d e ta ils added).
Divergent production a b i l i t y was needed f o r a task
when m u ltip le responses were necessary to a problem w ith no generally
acceptable s o lu tio n , whereas convergent production was useful when only
one response was appropriate and acceptable.
38
' The C r e a tiv ity Tests f o r Children (G u ilfo rd , 1971) consists of
eleven subtests which require c h ild re n to :
name a s to r y , th in k o f un­
usual uses f o r common o b je c ts , develop synonyms, w rite sentences each
using two nouns from a l i s t o f nouns, th in k up occupations th a t are
associated with a horse or a b o t t l e , th in k of items th a t could be made
from c e rta in shapes, fin d hidden l e t t e r s , discern f ig u r a l commonalities'
in alphabet l e t t e r s , make objects out o f several geometric shapes, and
add decorations to simple p ic tu re s .
The Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1974), although
based on the work o f G u ilfo rd in the area o f divergent th in k in g , have
gone well beyond the C r e a tiv ity Tests f o r Children in norming and in
the c o lle c tio n o f data on r e l i a b i l i t y and v a l i d i t y .
As the Torrance
Tests o f Creative Thinking have been selected fo r use in t h is study,
they are discussed at greater length in Chapter 3.
Nurturing Creative-Divergent Thinking
Before discussing ways of nu rtu rin g c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g in
c h ild re n , we should be aware of fa c to rs th a t diminish the c re a tiv e
impulse.
Torrance (1964) discussed several fa c to rs which researchers
view as i n h ib i t i n g c r e a t i v i t y .
both s o c ie ty and school.
F i r s t is the success o rie n ta tio n of
Emphasis on accomplishing as others have
accomplished tends to lead to a decrease in ris k - ta k in g on the part of
students.
Second is p e e r-o rie n ta tio n which seems to be a common phe­
nomenon beginning in the upper elementary years and continuing through
high school.
This places pressure on the c h ild to conform to group
norms ra th e r than to th in k independently or be d i f f e r e n t in any way.
39
A t h i r d fa c to r is the overt or covert sanction against asking questions
in the classroom.
This tends to put a I id on s e l f - i n i t i a t e d explora­
tion s on the pa rt of the student and re in forces passive acceptance in
lea rning .
This also supports the g e n e ra lly held b e l ie f th a t divergent
th in k in g , th in k in g th a t is d if f e r e n t from the average, is abnormal and
should be discouraged.
F in a lly there is the b e l ie f th a t work and play
are d i f f e r e n t and should be kept separate.
Since school is the work of
c h ild re n , the atmosphere should be workI ike and not p la y f u l.
An atmos­
phere th a t discourages playfulness also discourages c r e a t i v i t y .
In the same study, Torrance (1964:
98-108) offered a number of
ways to f a c i l i t a t e c r e a t i v i t y in the classroom:
1.
Reward various kinds of ta le n ts and cre a tiv e achievements.
2.
Help c h ild re n recognize the value of t h e i r c re a tiv e
ta le n ts .
3.
Teach c h ild re n to use cre a tiv e problem-solving processes.
4.
Develop c re a tiv e acceptance of r e a l i s t i c lim it a t io n s in
a problem s itu a tio n .
5.
Avoid equating divergency w ith mental illn e s s and d e lin ­
quency.
6.
Modify the misplaced emphasis th a t is placed on sex-roles.
7.
Help h ig h ly c re a tiv e c h ild re n become less ob jectionable.
8.
Develop school pride in c re a tiv e achievement.
9.
Reduce the is o la t io n o f h ig h ly cre a tiv e c h ild re n .
10.
Provide sponsors or patrons f o r c e rta in h ig h ly cre a tive
c h ild re n .
11.
Develop values and purpose in the cre a tive c h ild .
■40
In a review of his twenty-two year research in to the e ff e c t of
teachers on the c re a tiv e achievement of students, Torrance found th a t
c re a tiv e adults most fre q u e n tly remembered:
being made to feel comfortable w ith t h e i r c r e a t i v i t y and f e e l ­
ing o f uniqueness, being given a c t i v i t i e s th a t provided oract ic e in cre a tiv e s k i l l s , sharing the joys of c re a tiv e a t t a i n ­
ments, [te ache rs] providing experiences th a t enlarged and
enriched fu tu re career images'; and being acknowledged fo r
making c re a tiv e c o n trib u tio n s (1981).
In lin e w ith these fin d in g s , consider what Anderson (1965) called
the
Personally Open System" of education.
Such a system is s tim u la tin g
and accepting o f the uniqueness in in d iv id u a ls .
In the school s e ttin g
th is approach can be f a c i l i t a t e d by u t i l i z i n g , among other th in g s , semi­
nars, class discussion, term papers, student p ro je c ts , or any means th a t
allows the student a choice o f to p ic and i t s development.
According to
Anderson, such methods permit and stim ulate o r i g i n a l i t y , experimenta­
t io n , i n i t i a t i v e and o f f e r a promising environment fo r the development
of c r e a t i v i t y .
In discussing the nurturance o f c r e a t i v i t y in c h ild re n one should
keep in mind Smith's in s ig h t:
I t is important to understand th a t c r e a t i v i t y is akin to
love: the capacity f o r i t is present in a l l people at b i r t h .
The environment in to which i t is placed determines to a great
degree whether or not i t develops to i t s f u l l e s t p o te n tia l
(Smith, 1966: 6-7).
The method o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tr a in in g th a t was used
in the present research. New D irections in C r e a t i v i t y , Mark I ( Renzulli ,
1973), was based to a large degree on the research studies of both G u il­
ford and Torrance.
This approach is explained in Chapter 3.
41
In te llig e n c e and Creative-Divergent Thinking
As was mentioned in Chapter I , a possible reason f o r the lim ite d
amount of research in to the re la tio n s h ip between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g and moral reasoning may have to do with the in v e s tig a tio n s of
in te llig e n c e and moral reasoning.
Since in te llig e n c e and c re a tiv e -
divergent th in k in g are sometimes held to be inseparable, the studies
th a t have been conducted concerning in te llig e n c e and moral reasoning
may appear to make studies o f the other re la tio n s h ip superfluous.
In
th is sectio n, three research studies involved with the re la tio n s h ip be­
tween in te llig e n c e and c r e a t i v i t y are reviewed.
Getzels and Jackson (1962) studied two groups o f g ifte d students:
those in the top twenty percent o f in te llig e n c e , but below the top
twenty percent in c r e a t i v i t y , and those in the top twenty percent of
c r e a t i v i t y , but below the top twenty percent in in te llig e n c e .
The
f i f t y - f o u r students who made up the two groups were drawn from a group
of fou r hundred g ifte d students.
In te llig e n c e was based p r im a r ily on
the S tanford-Binet Scale while c r e a t i v i t y was based on f iv e measures of
divergent th in k in g .
The researchers determined th a t, in f a c t , c r e a t i v i t y and i n t e l l i ­
gence were separable phenomena.
Differences were found between the two
groups of students in the areas of achievement m o tiv a tio n , teacher per-',
ception, career asp iratio ns', fantasy, and values.
Getzels and Jackson
concluded th a t diffe ren ces did e x is t between the h ig h ly c re a tiv e and the
h ig h ly i n t e l l i g e n t student.
42
In another study o f the re la tio n s h ip between in te llig e n c e and
c r e a t i v i t y , Wallach and Kogan (1965) chose to l i m i t t h e i r d e f i n i t i o n of
c r e a t i v i t y to the areas o f fluency and o r i g i n a l i t y o f ideas and to a
p la y fu l and permissive a tt it u d e toward tasks on the p a rt o f the sub­
je c t s , one hundred and f i f t y - o n e f i f t h grade students from suburban New
England.
They found th a t t h e i r ten measures of c r e a t i v i t y had a ra ther
Tow c o r re la tio n w ith each other (.4 ) but had an even lower c o rre la tio n
(.1 ) w ith measures of in te llig e n c e .
to be l i t t l e
They concluded th a t there appeared
or no re la tio n s h ip between number and uniqueness of ideas
on the one hand and in te llig e n c e on the oth er.
The conclusion reached
by Wallach and Kogan was the same as th a t o f Getzels and Jackson:
crea­
t i v i t y and in te llig e n c e were separable.
Wallach and Wing (1969).studied c r e a t i v i t y and in te llig e n c e in fiv e
hundred college freshmen.
In te llig e n c e was defined as Scholastic A p ti­
tude Test scores (mean verbal 616, mean math 644) while c r e a t i v i t y was
measured by te s ts o f ide ation al flue ncy and uniqueness.
C orrelations
between in te llig e n c e and ideational flue ncy were low, ranging from -.02
to -.0 7 .
C orrelations between in te llig e n c e and uniqueness of ideas were
also low, ranging from .03 to .05.
None of these c o rre la tio n s were
s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t from zero.
This study also supported making a
d is t in c t io n between in te llig e n c e and c r e a t i v i t y .
C e rta in ly a re la tio n s h ip e x is ts between in te llig e n c e and c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g .
One cannot create w ithout at le a s t some appreciable
amount o f in te llig e n c e , nor can one u t i l i z e in te llig e n c e f u l l y w ithout
some c re a tiv e capacity.
The research seems to show th a t a close r e la ­
tio n s h ip e x is ts between c r e a t i v i t y and in te llig e n c e in the mid-range of
43
i n t e lle c t u a l a b i l i t y but th a t as in te llig e n c e increases beyond the mid­
range the re la tio n s h ip weakens ( Renzu11i , 1978).
In te llig e n c e and Moral Reasoning
A number o f researchers in recent years have inve stigate d the
re la tio n s h ip between in te llig e n c e and moral reasoning; the re s u lts of
t h is research have been mixed.
Whiteman and Kasier, in a study of the
moral judgments of seven through twelve year old c h ild r e n , found th a t
the research data "in d ic a te d c le a r ly th a t m a tu rity o f moral judgment is
a fun ctio n o f increases in mental age ra th e r than of advances in chrono­
lo g ic a l age alone" (1964:
847).
A decade l a t e r Arbuthnot, based on his reading o f the e x is tin g
l i t e r a t u r e , hypothesized th a t the m a tu rity o f c h ild r e n 's moral judgments
would be s i g n i f i c a n t l y correlated w ith various te s ts of a n a ly tic and
ab stract reasoning.
To t e s t his hypothesis, Arbuthnot chose his sub­
je c ts from lower middle-class ju n io r and senior high school students.
U t i l i z i n g several in te llig e n c e measures, such as the C a lifo r n ia Test of
Mental M a tu rity and the Otis and Lorge-Thorndike Scales, he found not
very high c o rre la tio n s ranging from .34 to .55 between in te llig e n c e and
moral judgments based on Kohlberg1s moral dilemmas.
Arbuthnot f e l t th a t
t h is showed a "con sisten t pattern of small to moderate c o rre la tio n s
. . . " (Arbuthnot, 1973:
945), but c o rre la tio n s nonetheless.
In a recent study of the moral development o f nine to f i f t e e n year
old g ifte d c h ild re n , Karnes' and Brown (1981) used S tanford-B inet and
WISC-R scores in comparison to moral development scores derived from
Rest's Defining Issues Test (1972) which is based on Kohlberg' s stages.
44
A r e l a t i v e l y strong c o r re la tio n o f .7 was found between in te llig e n c e
and moral development.
However, other in v e s tig a to rs have found the re la tio n s h ip between
in te llig e n c e and moral reasoning less convincing.
Hoffman's (1977)
subjects consisted of seven and e ig h t year old and eleven and twelve
year old m iddle-class Jewish c h ild re n .
moral tasks he found l i t t l e
Administering fo u r Piaget-based
c o r re la tio n w ith S tanford-B inet scores.
Hoffman concluded th a t age was a more powerful fa c to r than in te llig e n c e
in the development of moral reasoning.
A recent in v e s tig a tio n by Sager (1983) attempted to examine the
re la tio n s h ip between academic giftedness and the development of moral
reasoning.
According to the researcher, there was no o v e ra ll associa­
tio n between high in te llig e n c e and the development of moral reasoning
in her study population o f t h i r d and fo u rth grade students.
Bull (1969) reported on a lengthy study in which i t was concluded
th a t, among seven to seventeen year old B r it is h c h ild re n , in te llig e n c e
i t s e l f did not assure mature leve ls of in s ig h t or actio n with regard to
moral issues.
Colby, Kohlberg, Gibbs, and Lieberman (1983) in t h e i r report of a
twenty year study o f moral development recorded ra th e r lim ite d c o rre la ­
tio n s between moral m a tu rity scores and I.Q. of from .17 to .27 in
childhood and adolescence.
Beyond the age of tw e n ty -fo u r, however,
c o rre la tio n s became somewhat stronger ranging from .37 to .60.
Perhaps
i t is the in te ra c tio n of in te llig e n c e and experience which accounts fo r
th is increased re la tio n s h ip .
45
The ambivalent nature of the research fin d in g s was expressed in an
otherwise c a r e f u lly w ritte n book by Arbuthnot and Faust (1981).
At one
point they stated th a t "the evidence is cle a r th a t moral judgment matu­
r i t y scores are re la ted to in te llig e n c e " (p. 86) yet l a t e r they spoke
of a "moderate c o r r e la tio n " between these variables (p. 113).
The general b e l ie f is th a t in te llig e n c e does have some association
w ith level of moral reasoning but the degree o f t h is re la tio n s h ip con­
tinues to be debated.
In Kohl berg's opinion, in te llig e n c e is a neces­
sary but not s u f f ic i e n t explanation o f high moral reasoning (Kohlberg
in Lickona, 1976).
Creative-Divergent Thinking and Moral Reasoning
Several c o rre la tio n a l studies o f c r e a t i v i t y and moral reasoning
have been conducted during the past decade.
In a d d itio n , one research
study looked in to the e ff e c t of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tr a in in g on
moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
In a study of one hundred and f o r t y - s i x female college sophomores,
Doherty and Corsini (1976) hypothesized a re la tio n s h ip between level of
c r e a t i v i t y and level of moral reasoning.
They used measures of fluency
and uniqueness o f th in k in g to gauge level of c r e a t i v i t y and fou r of
Kohlberg' s dilemmas to determine level o f moral reasoning.
Their f i n d ­
ings indicated th a t c r e a t i v i t y scores had a " s i g n i f i c a n t p o s itiv e asso­
c ia tio n " w ith moral m a tu rity scores
( r = .39, p < .001).
Doherty and
Corsini also saw evidence o f a threshold e ff e c t of c r e a t i v i t y on moral
reasoning.
Below the median c r e a t i v i t y le v e l, c r e a t i v i t y had a zero-
order c o r re la tio n w ith moral m a tu rity ( r = .05).
At the higher level
46
of c re a tiv e th in k in g , the c o r re la tio n was both p o s itiv e and s ig n if ic a n t
( r = .48, p < .001).
Although the reported c o rre la tio n s are p o s itiv e
they are not p a r t i c u l a r l y strong.
These researchers f e l t th a t fo r high
creatives "there seems to be a q u a lit a t iv e jump in moral problem s o lv ­
ing a b i l i t y " (Doherty and C o rs in i, 1976:
282).
A Canadian researcher, Tan-Wiliman, conducted two studies and
found somewhat c o n f lic t in g r e s u lts .
In a 1980 study o f the e ff e c t of
c r e a t i v i t y t r a in in g on moral reasoning in teacher education students,
she found a p o s itiv e r e la tio n s h ip .
One hundred and nine prospective
teachers w ith a median age o f twenty-three years were exposed to v a r i ­
ous aspects of c r e a t i v i t y tr a in in g during the course of an educational
psychology class.
P retesting and p o s t-te s tin g of c r e a t i v i t y were based
on Torrance's "Unusual Uses Test" and "Ask-and-Guess Test" and resulted
in separate and combined scores f o r flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , and o r i g i n a l ­
ity .
Rest's Defining Issues Test was used to measure moral reasoning
le v e l.
C orrelations between the various c r e a t i v i t y scores and moral
reasoning level ranged from .24 to .41.
Tan-Wiliman stated th a t ". . .
i t would appear th a t t r a in in g fo r c re a tiv e th in k in g is l i k e l y to i n f l u ­
ence moral reasoning and po ssibly vice versa" (Tan-WiI Iman, 1980:
262).
Although the re s u lts o f th is experiment indicated a p o s itiv e r e la t io n ­
ship between c r e a t i v i t y and moral reasoning, the c o rre la tio n s were not
very high.
In 1981 Tan-Willman approached her research from a s l i g h t l y d i f ­
fe re n t angle by in v e s tig a tin g c re a tiv e th in k in g and moral reasoning in
academically g ifte d secondary school students.
The verbal form of the
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking was used to measure flu e n c y .
47
f l e x i b i l i t y , and o r i g i n a l i t y .
Rest's Defining Issues Test was used to
measure level o f moral reasoning.
One hundred and f i f t e e n male and
female, middle and upper middle class students, sixteen and seventeen
years o f age, a t the U n iv e rs ity o f Toronto Schools were the subjects of
the in v e s tig a tio n .
In t h is c o r re la tio n a l study, both the male and
female students superseded the norms f o r college and graduate students
on the c r e a t i v i t y measure.
However, t h e i r moral reasoning appeared to
be "underdeveloped" when viewed in r e la tio n to t h e i r academic a b i l i t y ,
in te llig e n c e , c r e a t i v i t y , and social sta tu s .
They were found to be
fun c tio n in g predominantly a t the conventional level o f moral reasoning.
Wragg (1981) reported th a t the re la tio n s h ip between dimensions of
moral character and c r e a t i v i t y appeared to be s e le c tiv e .
In a study of
college-age subjects', he found th a t the divergent th in k in g areas of
f l e x i b i l i t y and o r i g i n a l i t y appeared to be ne gative ly c o rre la te d with
e th ic a l values re la ted to the common good but p o s it iv e ly correlated
w ith e th ic a l values re la ted to one's autonomous conscience.
Wragg f e l t
th a t c r e a t i v i t y did appear to be re la te d to dimensions of moral m a tu rity .
Other researchers have not been supportive of the re la tio n s h ip
between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
Makaremi
(1982) found no s ig n if ic a n t re la tio n s h ip between moral judgment level
and c r e a t i v i t y as expressed in measures o f flue ncy, f l e x i b i l i t y , and
o r ig in a lity .
The subjects of his study were one hundred and t h i r t y -
nine male and female college students w ith a mean age o f 20.4 years who
were administered the Torrance Tests o f Creative T h in kin g , verbal form,
and Rest's Defining Issues Test.
Makaremi found only lim ite d
48
c o rre la tio n s of .04, .17, and .11, between f l e x i b i l i t y , flu e n c y , and
o r i g i n a l i t y , re s p e c tiv e ly , and moral judgment ( Makaremi, 1982:
67).
In concluding t h is section i t is worthwhile to consider the
thoughts of Getzels and Jackson w ith regard to the p a r a lle ls between
the c re a tiv e in d iv id u a l and the moral in d iv id u a l:
The h ig h ly moral in d iv id u a l seems to share w ith the
h ig h ly c re a tiv e in d iv id u a l the general posture of the out­
s id e r, the rejected and re je c tin g spectator as against the
welcome and committed p a r tic ip a n t. . . . Both seem to
operate on the frin g e ra th e r than at the center of fashion­
able a c t i v i t y . Both seem to have repudiated — e ith e r by
choice or by f o r c e '- - c e rta in o f our most fashionable c u l­
tu ra l norms, e s p e c ia lly the s u p e r fic ia l aspects o f success
and p o p u la rity . At le a s t in th is sense, both groups stand
in opposition to the expected and the immediately approved
( Getzels and Jackson, 1962: 158).
J
Summary
'
The concept o f moral reasoning has been considered from the view­
points of three in d iv id u a ls :
Kohl berg.
John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and Lawrence
I t was Dewey's opinion th a t the development o f moral reason­
ing was a major aim o f education and a major r e s p o n s ib ilit y o f the
school.
P iage t's pioneering empirical study of c h ild r e n 's moral reason­
ing set the stage f o r f u r th e r research in the area of moral development.
In more recent work, Kohlberg and his associates have consolidated and
expanded the fin d in g s o f Dewey and Piaget.
The re s u lts o f a recent
lo n g itu d in a l study o f moral development supported e a r l i e r fin d in g s th a t
moral reasoning passes through in v a r ia n t, h ie ra rc h ic a l stages (Colby,
et a l . , 1983).
C reative-divergent th in k in g was viewed as both a th in k in g process
and as an aggregate of p e rs o n a lity t r a i t s .
Methods of id e n tify in g
49
c re a tiv e p o te n tia l in c h ild re n , such as c h e c k -lis ts and standardized
te s ts , were described.
Ways o f nu rtu rin g c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
in the classroom were also discussed.
Three in v e s tig a tio n s in to the re la tio n s h ip between in te llig e n c e
and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g were reviewed.
In each o f these studies
i t was concluded th a t c r e a t i v i t y and in te llig e n c e were separable phe­
nomena.
Other research was also discussed:
studies of the re la tio n s h ip
between in te llig e n c e and moral reasoning and studies of the r e la t io n ­
ship between c r e a t i v i t y and moral reasoning.
These c o rre la tio n a l
stud ies, though u s u a lly in d ic a tin g some r e la tio n s h ip , provided only a
lim ite d understanding o f those re la tio n s h ip s .
I t was the purpose o f the in v e s tig a to r in the present research to
determine in an experimental s e ttin g the e ff e c t o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g tr a in in g on the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y and level
of moral reasoning in middle-school c h ild re n .
50
CHAPTER 3
PROCEDURES
In tro d u c tio n
In a review of the l i t e r a t u r e , very l i t t l e
inform ation was revealed
w ith regard to the re la tio n s h ip between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and
moral reasoning.
Among the few studies th a t have been conducted, a l l
but one were c o rre la tio n a l in design and the fin d in g s were c on trad ic­
to r y .
The present study was designed to determine, through experimental
in v e s tig a tio n , the re la tio n s h ip between tr a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g and the moral reasoning a b i l i t y of s ix th grade students.
In th is chapter the procedures which were followed during the in ­
v e s tig a tio n are presented.
Inclu ded .is a d e s c rip tio n o f the s e ttin g ,
s e le ction o f subjects, d e s c rip tio n of the treatm ent, methods of data
c o lle c t io n , hypotheses, data organization and a n a ly s is , management of
v a ria b le s , precautions f o r accuracy, and a summary.
The S etting
For the purpose of th is study, the population consisted of a to ta l
of f o r t y - s i x students in two s elf-conta ined s ix th grade classes from
School D i s t r i c t #44, Belgrade, Montana.'
Belgrade Middle School was
chosen as the s it e f o r t h is study because i t had n e ith e r a program fo r
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g nor a talented and g ifte d program which
51
might have been a source of such t r a in in g .
In a d d itio n , there were no
special provisions f o r tr a in in g in moral reasoning in the school system.
Most im p o rta n tly , both the middle school a d m in is tra tio n and fa c u lty
were receptive to innovations in educational procedures; teachers and
ad m inistra tors consented to a s s is t in s ele cting treatment and non­
treatment groups f o r the purpose of te s tin g the e ff e c t of c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g tr a in in g .
The personnel of School D i s t r i c t #44 serve the town o f Belgrade
and i t s surrounding ru ra l area.
Belgrade is a small but growing town
th a t functions p r im a r ily as a supply center fo r farms and ranches in
the area.
I t has grown ra p id ly over the past f i f t e e n years, from 1,300
residents in 1970 to 2,342 residents in 1984 ( Thorsen, Personal I n t e r ­
view, 1984).
Many of Belgrade's residents work in Bozeman, the s ta te 's
s ix th la rg e s t c i t y , ten miles away.
Selection o f Subjects
The student population of Belgrade schools has increased from 679
during the 1970/71 school year to 1,376 in 1984/85.
The d i s t r i c t cur­
r e n t ly consists of two elementary b u ild in g s serving 597 c h ild re n in
grades K-4, a middle school serving 422 c h ild re n in grades 5-8, and a
high school serving 357 students ( Bottom!y , Personal In te rv ie w , 1984).
the subjects fo r th is study were a l l o f the students in two s e l f contained s ix th grade classes at the Belgrade Middle School.
The s tu ­
dents were assigned to t h e i r classes by t h e i r f i f t h grade teachers and
p rin c ip a l during the summer o f 1984.
Factors which were taken into
account f o r these assignments included the separation of troublemakers
52
as well as the congruence o f p e rs o n a lity among and between students'
and s ix th grade teachers.
Academic a b i l i t y and d i s a b i l i t y were not
fa c to rs in class assignment.
The treatment group consisted o f th ir te e n
males and eleven females, while the non-treatment group consisted of
th ir te e n males and nine females.
The Treatment
The c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g t r a in in g used in th is research
u t i l i z e d m a teria ls from New D irectio ns in C r e a t i v i t y , Mark I ( Renzu11i ,
1973).
The t r a in in g involved tw en ty-fo ur h a lf-h o u r lessons and take-
home a c t i v i t i e s aimed at increasing the student's c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g a b i l i t y .
New D irectio ns in C r e a tiv ity was f i r s t published in 1973 and was
designed to help develop the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t i e s of
primary and middle-school students.
producible manuals:
The program consists o f f iv e re ­
Mark A and B f o r the e a rly primary grades and Mark
I , 2, and 3 f o r grades fo u r through e ig h t.
The treatment f o r th is
study included the tw en ty-fo ur lessons contained in Mark I , which Renz u l l i considers appropriate f o r grades fo u r through e ig h t ( R e n z u lli,
1973:
5).
The tr a in in g program was intended to enhance the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g a b i l i t y of students in elementary school.
R enzulli defined
divergent th in k in g as "breaking away from conventional r e s t r ic t io n s on
th in k in g and l e t t i n g one's mind flow across the broad range of ideas
and possible solu tions to a problem" (.Renzull i , 1973).
In the program.
53
attempts were made to develop fo u r s p e c ific areas o f divergent th in k ­
ing:
flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , e la b o ra tio n , and o r i g i n a l i t y .
Mark I o f New D irectio ns in C r e a t iv it y consisted o f f i f t e e n seman­
t i c exercises, fo u r symbolic exercises, and f iv e f ig u r a l exercises.
Renzulli developed these exercises based on G u ilfo rd 's S tructure o f the
I n t e l l e c t approach to d e fin in g in te llig e n c e .
Semantic tr a in in g a c t i v i t i e s consisted o f verbal th in k in g and
verbal communications s k i l l s .
For example, in A c t i v i t y I , "Thinking
About Things," the student thinks of and l i s t s a l l of the things he can
th a t are made o f metal.
In A c t i v i t y 15, "Comparisons," the student de­
velops unique and c o lo r fu l completions to sentences such as, "The t i c k ­
ing of the clock seemed as loud a s __________________."
Symbolic exercises re fe r to signs th a t have no inherent meaning:
l e t t e r s , o b je c ts , fig u r e s , and. shapes'.
An example of a symbolic exer­
cise is A c t i v i t y 2, "Fun With Words."
This a c t i v i t y consists of th in k ­
ing of words th a t begin or end with c e rta in l e t t e r s , or begin and end
with c e rta in l e t t e r s :
w_____, _____.m, g_____I .
Figural exercises revolved around developing a b i l i t y w ith images
and t h e i r manipulation.
ample,
In A c t i v i t y 12, "Figural Completion," fo r ex­
the student makes drawings of as many real things as possible
from a group of nine o v a ls -w ith in -re c ta n g le s .
Renzulli suggested several s tra te g ie s th a t could be used in the
classroom in order to help develop c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g :
1.
Make i t c le a r to the students th a t there are no " r i g h t "
answers to the e xe rcises.2
2.
Use "brainstorm ing" techniques so th a t many responses are
developed.
54
3.
Do not evaluate responses.
unique responses.
Do encourage numerous and
4.
At times u t i l i z e game-like group competition.
5.
Encourage cooperation and working together on some of the
a c tiv itie s .
6.
Establish a warm and open atmosphere in which students feel
t r u s t and are w i l l i n g to explore.
7.
Allow and encourage laughter and humor, playfulness and
spontaneity.
8.
The a d u lt should p a r tic ip a te in the a c t i v i t i e s by c o n tr ib u t­
ing his own unusual responses.
9.
Gently probe f o r a d d itio n a l responses (R e n z u lli, 1973:"
12 ) .
.
7-
New D irectio ns in C r e a t iv it y is based on the b e l ie f th a t a ll
c h ild re n are p o t e n t i a l l y c re a tiv e and th a t tr a in in g in divergent th in k ­
ing w i l l increase the lik e lih o o d th a t they w i l l th in k c r e a tiv e ly .
The in v e s tig a to r was experienced in using the New D irections in
C r e a tiv ity program.
In a p r io r teaching p o s itio n the in v e s tig a to r
found th is approach to be both worthwhile and in te re s tin g f o r students.
In th a t s itu a tio n a c t i v i t i e s from the program were used in t h i r t y
minute segments, three times a week f o r twelve weeks.
P o s t-te s t re­
s u lts showed evidence of increases in the areas o f. flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y ,
and o r i g i n a l i t y .
For th is in v e s tig a tio n , t h i r t y minute lessons were conducted three
times a week over a ten week period beginning March I l t h and ending
May 17th, 1985.
Correspondence w ith R e n z u lli, the developer o f the
program, indicated th a t such a tr a in in g schedule should have shown Sta­
t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t increases in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g in the
treatment group (Personal Communication, 1984).
55
i
Methods of C o lle c tin g Data
In th is research, the in v e s tig a to r was concerned w ith the e ffe c t
o f t r a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g on the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g and moral reasoning a b i l i t y of c h ild re n .
Data were gathered
using a p re te s t and p o s t-te s t on two instruments:
the Sociomoral
R eflection Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982) and the Torrance Tests of
Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1976).
P retesting took place during the
week of February 11th, 1985, p o s t-te s tin g occurred during the week of
May 20th, 1985.
Both instruments were designed s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r group
ad m in is tra tio n and were administered by the in v e s tig a to r.
Scoring of
the instruments was performed by two in d iv id u a ls f a m i li a r w ith the
scoring procedures, in order to' help insure the r e l i a b i l i t y of the
scores.
The Sociomoral R eflection Measure
The Sociomoral R eflection Measure, developed by John Gibbs and
Keith Widaman at Ohio State U n iv e rs ity , was based on the work of Law­
rence Kohlberg and his associates at the Center fo r Moral Education at
Harvard U n iv e rs ity .
This instrument was a d ir e c t outgrowth o f Kohl-
berg's Moral Judgment Interview (Kohlberg and Colby, 1983) which has
been in use f o r the past t h i r t y years and is used only in a one-on-one
inte rview s itu a tio n .
Gibbs and Widaman f e l t th a t a f t e r analysis of
Moral Judgment Interview responses over so many years, there were few
new or unique responses remaining to be found.
I t was t h e i r opinion
th a t i t would be more appropriate to use group-admin is te ra b le
56
instruments to gather.moral reasoning data on large numbers of subjects
(Gibbs, Widaman and Colby, 1982).
The Sociomoral R eflection Measure consisted of two forms.
was used as the p re te s t and Form.B as the p o s t-te s t.
Form A
Each form con­
tained two moral dilemmas and a series of questions r e la tin g to them.
The subjects responded in w r itin g and each form required approximately
one hour to complete..
Minor adjustments to these forms were made by
the in v e s tig a to r to f a c i l i t a t e t h e i r use with s ix th grade students.
In
c on sultatio n w ith one of the authors of the instrument,- i t was decided
to s u b s titu te the term "ra re disease" f o r the word "cancer" in one
dilemma anql to allow f o r more w r itin g room on the questionnaire i t s e l f
(Widaman, Personal Communication, .2/2/85).
The f i r s t dilemma of each form brought in to c o n f l i c t the follo w in g
fiv e moral norms:
a ffilia tio n
(marriage and f r ie n d s h ip ) , l i f e
(saving
a lif e / c o n t in u in g to l i v e ) , law (and p ro p e rty ), legal j u s t i c e , and con­
science.
The second dilemma of each form brought in to c o n f l i c t the
three moral norms
of fa m ily a f f i l i a t i o n , c o n tra c t, and property.
Use of the Sociomoral R eflection Measure yielded scores r e fle c tin g
the Subject's "modal stage" and also his "sociomoral r e f le c t io n matu­
r i t y score."
The modal stage was th a t stage in Kohl berg's sequence,
one through fo u r, which the subject most often used in j u s t i f y i n g his
responses to the dilemmas.
The instrument gauged only the f i r s t four
of Kohlberg's six stages, since i t s developers f e l t th a t stages f iv e
and s ix could only be pro p e rly measured in an in d iv id u a l inte rview .
In any event, stage fo u r is seldom reached u n t i l la te adolescence which
was beyond the age range of the subjects of th is study.
57
The "sociomoral r e fle c tio n m a tu rity score" was an attempt at
greater d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n o f moral reasoning and was based on a scale o f
from 100 to 400 po ints.
A score o f 200 would have indicated a "pure"
stage two level of moral reasoning, w hile a score o f 350 would have
indicated a t r a n s itio n a l stage h a lf way between stages three and four
(Gibbs, Arnold, and Burkhart, 1984).
Widaman, a co-author of the
instrument, stated th a t the sociomoral r e fle c tio n m a tu rity score was
treated as in te rv a l level data fo r purposes of s t a t i s t i c a l an aly s is ; i t
was considered analogous to in te llig e n c e te s t scores which are also
treated as in te rv a l level data in most studies (Personal Communication,
2/2/85).
Data regarding v a l i d i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y indicated th a t the Socio­
moral R e fle ction Measure was high on both c r i t e r i a .
The authors of the
instrument stated th a t i t possessed "s u b s ta n tia l concurrent v a l i d i t y
w ith the Moral Judgment In te rv ie w ;11 the c o rre la tio n between the two
instruments is .85 (Gibbs, Widaman, Colby, 1982:
905).
The Moral Judg­
ment Interview was developed by Kohlberg and his associates as an i n d i ­
vidual in te rv ie w method and is considered the standard measuring in s t r u ­
ment in the f i e l d of moral reasoning.
Construct v a l i d i t y o f the Socio­
moral R eflection Measure was established using data on age, gender, and
socio-economic status.
In t e r r a t e r r e l i a b i l i t y among s e lf- tr a in e d ra te rs on the Sociomoral
R eflection Measure ranged from .51 to .91 w ith an average o f .80.
In ­
t e r r a t e r r e l i a b i l i t y between the authors of the instrument and s e l f tra ined ra te rs ranged from .67 to .94, with an average of .75 (Gibbs,
Widaman, and Colby, 1982:
903).
According to the authors of the
58
instrument " t e s t - r e t e s t and p a r a lle l form r e l i a b i l i t i e s were generally
high, averaging in the .70s" (Gibbs,. Widaman, and Colby, 1982:
905).
Although a r e l i a b i l i t y of th is magnitude accounts f o r o n ly f i f t y per­
cent of the variance, i t is high f o r th is type of measure.
The Socio­
moral R efle ction Measure was constructed using samples from e ig h t.to
s i x t y - s i x years of age (Gibbs, Widaman, and Colby, 1982:
896).
The Sociomoral R e fle ction Measure, l i k e the Moral Judgment I n t e r ­
view, assesses r e f le c t iv e or j u s t i f i c a t o r y moral reasoning.
The t e r ­
minology "sociomoral r e f le c t io n " is used to in d ic a te an emphasis on
social in te ra c tio n s as the basis f o r d e fin in g the m o ra lly r i g h t or
good.
"R e fle c tio n " re fe rs to the need f o r thoughtful consideration of
the reasons behind decisions (Gibbs, Widaman, and Colby, 1982:
897).
An example o f a dilemma on Form A of the Sociomoral R eflection
Measure concerns a s e rio u s ly i l l woman, her husband, and a druggist
who has developed a cure f o r her deadly disease.
The basis of the
dilemma involved whether the husband should steal the c u ra tiv e drug,
since he was poor and the drugg ist had g r e a tly in fla te d the price of
the drug.
Ten m u ltip le choice questions e l i c i t e d the s u b je c t's judg­
ment of what should be done w ith in c e rta in given parameters:
the hus­
band did not love the w ife , the dying person was a frie n d or stranger,
the importance of obeying the law, punishment fo r fo llo w in g one's con­
science, and so on.
These were followed by ten open-ended questions
used in an attempt to determine the reasoning behind the choices.
Scoring consisted o f comparing responses to s p e c ific questionnaire
items to model responses in the reference manual.
J u s t i f i c a t o r y re ­
sponses e l i c i t e d by the questionnaire were matched to the closest
59
" c r i t e r i o n " j u s t i f i c a t i o n in the appropriate section of the manual.
C riterion, j u s t i f i c a t i o n s are essential forms of s ta g e -s ig n ific a n t socio­
moral r e f le c t io n .
These c r i t e r i o n j u s t i f i c a t i o n s were based on over
t h i r t y years o f research and responses on Kohlberg1s Moral Judgment
In te rv ie w .
Each norm measured on the questionnaire had a corresponding
section in the scoring manual.
The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking
The Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1974) were
developed out o f the Minnesota Studies of Creative Behavior which were
begun by E. P. Torrance at the U n iv e rs ity of Minnesota in 1958; the
te s ts were f i r s t published in 1966.
The p o p u la rity o f th is instrument
can be noted in the f a c t th a t i t ranks among the top twenty most re ­
viewed instruments in the Mental Measurements Yearbook ( Buros, 1975).
The Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking consisted of a fig u r a l
t e s t and a verbal t e s t , each in two forms.
Both the f ig u r a l and verbal
te s ts may be group-administered from elementary school through graduate
school (Torrance, 1974).
The f ig u r a l t e s t , ca lle d "Thinking C re a tiv e ly With P ic tu re s ," was
composed o f three a c t i v i t i e s :
completing objects or fig u re s when pre­
sented with a given shape; adding lin e s to incomplete f i g u r e s ; and add­
ing lin e s to sets of c ir c le s or p a ra lle l lin e s in order to make pictu res
or objects.
The verbal t e s t , c a lle d "Thinking C ra tiv e ly With Words," included
seven a c t i v i t i e s :
asking questions in response to a p ic tu re ; guessing
causes and consequences w ith reference to a stimulus p ic tu re ; suggesting
60
improvements fo r a product; l i s t i n g unusual uses and asking questions
about an item; and l i s t i n g consequences when faced w ith an u n lik e ly
s itu a tio n .
The Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking yielded re s u lts th a t i n d i ­
cated the s u b je c t's a b i l i t y in the divergent th in k in g areas of fluency,
f l e x i b i l i t y , o r i g i n a l i t y , and ela b o ra tio n .
Testing time was approxi­
mately t h i r t y minutes f o r the f ig u r a l form and f o r t y - f i v e minutes fo r
the verbal form.
The Torrance Tests were in te rp re te d using a manual
th a t had been developed f o r s e l f - t r a i n in g .
Al I t e s t protocols were
scored by two ra te rs .
Two types of scores were derived from the Torrance Tests fo r each
of the seven subtests, a raw score and a T-score.
Torrance suggested
transforming the raw scores in to T-scores so th a t comparisons' could be
made.
The mean T-score was f i f t y , and ten points plus or minus c o n s ti­
tuted a standard d e v ia tio n .
adapted from Torrance (1974:
The two tables found in the Appendix,
54-55); in d ic a te the range of raw scores
and the normed T-scores f o r f i f t h grade and college students on Form A
of the Torrance Tests.
Data with regard to the v a l i d i t y and r e l i a b i l i t y of th is in s tr u ­
ment have been accumulating f o r many years.
A good deal o f information
was contained in the Norms Technical Manual (Torrance, 1974) which
accompanied the te s t .
C o e ffic ie n ts of p re d ic tiv e v a l i d i t y ranged from .46 to .62, while
construct v a l i d i t y c o e ffic ie n ts ranged from .88 to .96 f o r fluency
scores.
The Pearson product-moment c o e ffic ie n ts of c o r re la tio n between
scores on Forms A and B f o r fo u rth , f i f t h , and s ix th grade students
61
were .93 f o r verbal flue ncy, .84 f o r verbal f l e x i b i l i t y ,
.88 f o r verbal
o r i g i n a l i t y , .71 f o r f ig u r a l flue ncy, .73 f o r fig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y , .85
f o r f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y , and .83 f o r f ig u r a l e la boration .
C o e ffic ie n ts
of c o r re la tio n between experienced, scorers and untrained scorers ranged
from .86 to .99, and teachers w ithout any tr a in in g at a l l , who simply
followed the scoring manual, showed mean r e l i a b i l i t y c o e ffic ie n ts rang­
ing from .88 to .99 (Torrance, 1974).
There e x is ts a good deal o f controversy with regard to the measure­
ment o f c re a tiv e a b i l i t y .
The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were
used in an attempt to measure fo u r aspects o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing a b i l i t y :
flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , o r i g i n a l i t y , and ela b o ra tio n .
Tor­
rance does not claim th a t t h is is a measure o f some general fa c to r of
c r e a t i v i t y i f , in f a c t , such a thing e x is ts .
The Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking have been used in over one
thousand published studies.
The te s ts have been tra n s la te d in to more
than t h i r t y languages, and have been standardized fo r research and
classrooom use in France, I t a l y , Czechoslovakia, and Taiwan.
During
the 1981/82 school year, over 150,000 c h ild re n and adults throughout the
world were administered these te s ts (Sato, 1984).
The wide use o f these
te s ts has made them the standard of comparison fo r other te s ts of
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
Thus, the
use of the Torrance Tests of
Creative Thinking was f e l t to be appropriate fo r use in t h is study.
Statement o f Hypotheses
The tw enty-four n u ll hypotheses contained in th is study deal w ith
three basic issues:
the e ff e c t of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tr a in in g
62
on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t thinking, a b i l i t y , the e ff e c t of the tr a in in g on
moral reasoning le v e l, and the g e n e ra liz a b iI i t y of the e ffe c ts .
The
hypotheses are organized around the s t a t i s t i c a l concepts of treatment
e ff e c t and in te ra c tio n .
The fo llo w in g n u ll hypotheses were tested fo r s ig n ific a n c e at the
.05 l e v e l .
E ffe c t o f Training on Creative-Divergent
Thinking A b i l i t y
1.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on verbal flu e n c y , from pretest
to p o s t-te s t.
2.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y , from pre­
te s t to p o s t-te s t.
3.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on verbal o r i g i n a l i t y , from pre­
t e s t to p o s t-te s t.
4.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on f ig u r a l flu e n c y , from pretest
to p o s t-te s t.
5.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on fig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y , from pre. te s t to p o s t-te s t.
6.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y , from
p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
7.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on fig u r a l e la b o ra tio n , from
p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
8.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on verbal fluency when the t r e a t ­
ment group is compared to the non-treatment group at postte s tin g .
9.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y when the
treatment group is compared to the non-treatment group at
p o s t-te s tin g .
10.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on verbal o r i g i n a l i t y when the
treatment group is compared to the non-treatment group at
p o s t-te s tin g .
11.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on fig u r a l flue ncy when the t r e a t group is compared to the non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
'
63
12.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on fig u re I f l e x i b i l i t y when the
treatment group is compared to the non-treatment group at
p o s t-te s tin g .
13.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y when the
treatment group is compared to the non-treatment group at
p o s t-te s tin g .
14.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on fig u r a l ela boration when the
treatment group is compared to the non-treatment group at
p o s t-te s tin g .
15.
There is no in te ra c tio n e f f e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis of p retest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on verbal fluency
scores.
16.
There is no in te ra c tio n e ff e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis of p retest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y
scores.
17.
There is no in te ra c tio n e ff e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis of p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on verbal o r i g i n a l i t y
scores.
18.
There is no in te ra c tio n e ff e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis of pretest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on f ig u r a l fluency
scores.
19.
There is no in te ra c tio n e ff e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis of pretest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on f ig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y
scores.
20.
There is no i n t e r a c t i o n e f f e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis o f pretest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y
scores.
21.
There is no in te ra c tio n e ff e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way.analysis of pretest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on f ig u r a l elabora­
tio n scores.
64
E ffe c t o f Training on Moral
, Reasoning A b i l i t y
22.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on moral reasoning a b i l i t y from
p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
23.
There is no treatment e ff e c t on moral reasoning a b i l i t y when
the treatment group is compared to the non-treatment group
at p o s t-te s tin g .
24.
There is no in te ra c tio n e ff e c t between te s tin g and treatment
groups when the two way analysis o f pretest to p o s t-te s t and
treatment to non-treatment group is made on moral reasoning
scores.
The above hypotheses were presented in the n u ll form in order to
f a c i l i t a t e s t a t i s t i c a l in te r p r e ta tio n .
I t was the expectation of the
in v e s tig a to r th a t there would be a p o s itiv e impact o f the experimental
treatment on both c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y and level of moral
reasoning.
1
Organization and Analysis of Data
The data are organized in r e la tio n to two main areas o f in v e s tig a ­
tio n :
the e ff e c t o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g t r a in in g on c re a tiv e -
divergent th in k in g a b i l i t y and the e ff e c t of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
tr a in in g on level of moral reasoning.'
A to t a l of tw en ty-fo ur n u ll hypo­
theses was tested f o r e it h e r treatment e ff e c t or in te ra c tio n e ff e c t.
The data which con sist of p re te s t and p o s t-te s t re s u lts of the
Sociomoral R eflection Measure and the Torrance Tests o f Creative Think­
ing were analyzed using the Student's t - t e s t and a repeated measures
MANOVA.
In order to determine i f any observed treatment e ffe c ts were con­
s is te n t f o r subgroupings, scores were tested fo r in te ra c tio n using the
65
MANOVA s t a t i s t i c a l procedure.
Because the scores which were used in
these analyses were derived from pretests and p o s t-te s ts of the same
subjects, i t was necessary to use the repeated measures MANOVA.
The
repeated measures s tra te g y took in to account the fa c t th a t these mean
scores were not independent o f one another.
S t a t i s t i c a l analyses were performed using the S t a t i s t i c a l Package
fo r the Social Sciences .(SPSSX User's Guide, 1983) as implemented on
the Honeywell Level 66 Mainframe using the CP6 operating system at Mon­
tana State U n iv e rs ity .
Management of Variables
The to t a l population o f two e x is tin g s ix th grade classes was the
subject of th is in v e s tig a tio n .
Since the school year had begun the
students could not be assigned to t h e i r classes in a random fashion and
a tru e experimental research design could not be used.
thus chose to u t i l i z e a quasi-experimental design.
The in v e s tig a to r
The design chosen,
the non-equivalent control group design, is the most w idely used in the
f i e l d of educational research (Borg and G a ll, 1979:
559) and is recom­
mended by Campbell and Stanley (1963).
The nonequivalent control group design is used w ith p re -e x is tin g
groups th a t have been formed on a basis other than random assignment.
Both groups are pretested, a treatment is administered to one group and
withheld from the oth er, and both groups are po st-te sted.
As in a l l research designs, threats e x is t to the in te rn a l and ex­
ternal v a l i d i t y o f th is design.
Campbell and Stanley (1963:
47-50)
have discussed these threats in r e la tio n to the nonequivalent control-
66
group design.
By minimizing these t h r e a t s , as described below, the
in v e s tig a to r attempted to approach some c e r ta in ty in assessing the
effectiveness o f the experimental treatment.
Campbell and Stanley noted th a t by comparing the p re te s t scores of
the two groups, the e ff e c t of bias in the s ele ction process could be
ruled out as a th re a t to in te rn a l v a l i d i t y .
Since the groups demon­
strated s im ila r performance.on the p r e te s t, s e le ction was ruled out as
an explanation of diffe ren ces in p o s t-te s t performance.
Both the e ffe c ts o f p re te s tin g and maturation on the experiment
can be ruled out using t h is design because these fa c to rs a ff e c t both
groups eq ually.
A s im ila r argument is made fo r minimizing the e ffe c ts
of h is to r y , instrum entation, and m o r ta lity .
Since the students a t Belgrade Middle School were not placed in
classes according to academic c r i t e r i a , and were of close chronological
age, the e ff e c t of s t a t i s t i c a l regression as a th re a t to in te rn a l v a l i d ­
i t y was reduced.
Extremely high or low achievement t e s t scores were not
a basis f o r class assignment and, thus, the treatment and non-treatment
groups should have been and were at s im ila r points in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g and moral reasoning as determined by. the pretests th a t were
administered (see Table 2).
The th re a t o f the in te ra c tio n of s e le ction and maturation to the
in te rn a l v a l i d i t y o f t h is design cannot always be c o n tro lle d .
However,
due to the tr a d it io n a l age placement of students, th is th re a t seems to
have been diminished.
An attempt was made to minimize the e ff e c t o f the in te ra c tio n of
s ele ction and h is to ry .
This was done by administering a l l te s ts at the
67
same time o f day and by c o n tr o llin g the length of time o f the t r e a t ­
ment.
The th re a t to the external v a l i d i t y of the nonequivalent control
group design o f the in te ra c tio n o f te s tin g and an unknown v a ria b le pre­
sented a problem.
P retesting may have sensitized the groups to the
issue under in v e s tig a tio n and thus affected p o s t-te s t scores.
However,
the use o f a lte rn a te forms f o r both te s ts was meant to reduce th is
th re a t.
The re a c tiv e e f f e c t , subjects knowing th a t they are p a rt o f an
experiment, seemed to be b e tte r c o n tro lle d by th is design than by a
true experimental design where subjects are pulled out of e x is tin g
classes and placed in experimental groups.
Although experiments th a t involve human subjects are open to a
v a r ie ty o f threats to in te rn a l and external v a l i d i t y , the nonequivalent
control group design does an acceptable job in minimizing these threats
(Campbell and Stanley, 1963).
Because i t was not possible to randomly assign the subjects of
th is research in to groups, a quasi-experimental design was used.
Equiv­
alency of the two groups was established by means o f analyzing the re ­
s u lts of the pretests of moral reasoning and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing.
1985.
P retesting was administered during the e a rly p a rt o f February
The Student's t - t e s t was used to compare the sociomoral r e f l e c ­
tio n m a tu rity scores o f the two groups as derived from the Sociomoral
R eflection Measure.
The Student's, t - t e s t was also used to compare the
raw scores o f both groups on the seven subtests of the Torrance Tests
o f Creative Thinking.
A n u ll hypothesis which stated, "There is no
68
d iffe re n c e between the groups," was tested.
The re s u lts indicated th a t
the two groups were not s i g n i f i c a n t l y d i f f e r e n t in moral reasoning or
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
Precautions Taken f o r Accuracy
Al I t e s t protocols were hand-scored by the in v e s tig a to r and al l
computations were performed on a c a lc u la to r .
In order to insure the
accuracy o f the re s u lts a l l protocols were checked by a second scorer.
The Honeywell Level 66 Mainframe Computer at Montana State U n iv e rs ity
was u t i l i z e d f o r s t a t i s t i c a l c a lc u la tio n s derived from the S t a t i s t i c a l
Package f o r the Social Sciences (SPSSX User's Guide, 1983).
Summary
This study was designed p r im a r ily to determine i f tr a in in g in
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g had any e f f e c t on c h ild r e n 's growth in
moral reasoning.
The s e ttin g o f the study was a small but growing com­
munity o f nearly 2,500 residents which is the center o f a farming and
ranching area in southwestern Montana.
The subjects of the study were f o r t y - s i x s ix th grade students in
two self-c o n ta in e d classrooms.
In order to enhance c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g s k i l l s , the treatment groups was tra ined by the in v e s tig a to r
over a ten week period during the spring of 1985 using R e n z u lli's New
D irectio ns in C r e a t i v i t y , Mark I (1973).
Data co lle c te d consisted o f pretests and p o s t-te s ts f o r the t r e a t ­
ment and non-treatment groups on the Socidmoral R e fle ction Measure and
the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.
Both tests were designed fo r
69
group a d m in is tra tio n and each had an a lte rn a te form.
Test adm inistra­
tio n was performed by the in v e s tig a to r.
The Sociomoral R eflection Measure was based on the Moral Judgment
Interview developed by Kohlberg and his associates over the past t h i r t y
years.
The Sociomoral R eflection Measure yielded modal stage scores as
well as a more d iffe r e n tia te d sociomoral r e f le c t io n m a tu rity score.
The Torrance T e s ts o fC re a tiv e Thinking were an outgrowth o f nearly
t h i r t y years o f study o f c re a tiv e th in k in g by E. P. Torrance.
The te s t
yielded f ig u r a l and verbal c r e a t i v i t y scores in the divergent th in k in g
areas o f flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , o r i g i n a l i t y , and ela b o ra tio n .
P retest and p o s t-te s t scores on the measures o f moral reasoning
and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g mentioned above were the bases f o r data
analyses and organ ization .
The hypotheses tested involved the e ff e c t
of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tr a in in g on level o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g a b i l i t y and moral reasoning a b i l i t y in middle-school c h ild re n .
The quasi-experimental research design known as the nonequivalent
control group design was used in th is study.
This design is often used
in educational research when random assignment of subjects is not pos­
s ib le .
The design involved p re te s tin g of groups, exposing only the
treatment group to the treatment, and p o s t-te s tin g both groups.
Ways
th a t t h is design is used to control threats to i t s v a l i d i t y were d is ­
cussed, as were the precautions taken f o r accuracy.
70
CHAPTER 4
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF DATA
In tro d u c tio n
This experimental study was conducted to determine i f tr a in in g in
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g had an e ff e c t upon the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g a b i l i t y of s ix th grade students and, i f th is 'w e re the case,
whether t h is tr a in in g would also have a concomitant e f f e c t on t h e ir
moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
In order to t e s t th is idea, two s ix th grade
classes were chosen to serve as treatment and non-treatment groups
v -
w ith in a nonequivalent control group design.
P rio r to the beginning of t r a in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g ,
the two groups were compared f o r equivalency on demographic data and
on pretests of moral reasoning and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g using the
Sociomoral R eflection Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982) and the Tor-'
ranee Tests o f Creative Thinking, Verbal and Figural Forms (Torrance,
1974).
At the end of the ten week t r a in in g period the two groups were
p o s t-te s te d , using a lte rn a te forms o f these instruments, in order to
determine i f the tr a in in g had produced any changes in students' scores.
In t h is chapter are presented the s t a t i s t i c a l data and analyses to
show how equivalency o f groups was esta blishe d, a discussion of change
scores o f the treatment and non-treatment groups, and the re s u lts of
the analyses of data to te s t the tw en ty-fo ur hypotheses presented in
Chapter 3.
Twenty-one of these hypotheses d e alt w ith the e f f e c t o f the
71
t r a in in g procedure on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y and three
hypotheses were concerned w ith the e f f e c t o f tr a in in g on moral reason­
ing a b i l i t y .
Establishment of Comparable Groups
In order to e s ta b lis h the equivalency o f the treatment and the
non-treatment groups, comparisons o f demographic data as well as com- .
pari sons of p re te s t data were in v e s tig a te d .
In T a b le 'I are demographic
data and in Table 2 the re s u lts of the s t a t i s t i c a l analysis o f the pre­
te s t comparison fo r the Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking (TTCT) and
the Sociomoral R eflection Measure (SRM).
For p re te s t data the .05
level o f s ig n ific a n c e was chosen as the c r i t i c a l level and the Student's
t - t e s t was the s t a t i s t i c a l tool chosen f o r the comparison o f group
means.
Demographic Data
F o rty -s ix students in two s elf-conta ined s ix th grade classrooms
were the subjects o f the study.
of the in v e s tig a tio n .
No a t t r i t i o n occurred during the course
The average age and the gender membership of
the two groups are l i s t e d in Table I .
No s t a t i s t i c a l comparisons were
made but the two groups appear q u ite close with regard to these v a r i ­
ables.
The inform ation in Table I indicates th a t the number o f males in
each group was equivalent and th a t there were two more females in the
treatment groups than in the non-treatment group.
The treatment group
was on the average s l i g h t l y older than the non-treatment group (.2
years).
72
Table I .
Comparison of Demographic Data
Treatment
Number
Avg. Age
Non-treatment
Number
Avg. Age
Mal e
13
12.2 yrs .
13
12.0 yrs .
Female
11
12.2 yrs.
9
12.0 yrs.
Total N
24
22
P retesting f o r Equivalency
Both the treatment and non-treatment groups were pretested during
February 1985 on the Torrance Tests o f Creative T h inking, Figural and
Verbal Forms A and the Sociomoral R efle ctio n Measure, Form A, in order
to e s ta b lis h the equivalency of the groups on those v a ria bles which
were under in v e s tig a tio n .
Table 2 presents the s t a t i s t i c a l inform ation
obtained from the p re te s tin g of c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y and
moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
1.
The variables tested were designated as:
Torrance Tests o f Creative Thinking
VFLUE - verbal fluency
VFLEX - verbal f l e x i b i l i t y
VORIG - verbal o r i g i n a l i t y
FFLUE - f ig u r a l fluency
FFLEX - f ig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y
FORIG - f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y
FELAB - f ig u r a l elaboration
2.
Sociomoral R e fle ction Measure
SRMS - Sociomoral r e f le c t io n m a tu rity score
73
Table 2.
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest Mean Scores f o r Treatment and
Non-Treatment Groups on TTCT and SRM
Treatment
Mean
S.D.
Non-treatment
Mean
S.D.
VFLUE
VFLEX
VGRIG
27.39
64.50
11.90
31.87
16.93
30.42
(N = 24)
31.35
64.41
10.34
30.08
13.32
28.59
(N = 22)
FFLUE
FFLEX
FORIG
FELAB
7.02
24.74
5.27
18.91
12.84
36.39
32.37
79.95
(N = 23)
7.37
26.68
6.66
20.09
12.07
40.36
31.60
73.68
(N = 22)
SRMS
31.12
201.08
22)
(N =
31.35 '
209.57
(N = 21)
P
t
.0149E-1
.5130
.4039
.9917
.6105
.6882
- .905
- .658
- I .068
.8396
.3704
.5135
.2914
.4058
- .910
.3701
Results in Table 2 in d ic a te th a t no s ig n if ic a n t diffe ren ces were
found between the two groups as a r e s u lt of the analyses o f p retest
scores.
The groups were able to be viewed as not s t a t i s t i c a l l y d i f ­
fe re n t w ith regard to c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y and moral
reasoning a b i l i t y .
Since the re s u lts of p re te s tin g showed no s i g n i f i ­
cant d iffe re n c e between the treatment and non-treatment groups, a d e c i­
sion was made to advance the research p ro je c t.
The p re te s t scores were l a t e r used f o r comparison purposes, in
p a r t ic u la r to compute group change scores from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
Change scores were calculated as the d iffe re n c e between an in d iv id u a l's
p re te s t score on the p a r tic u la r subsection of the Torrance Tests, or
the sociomoral r e f le c t io n m a tu rity score o f the Sociomoral R eflection
Measure, and the p o s t-te s t score on an a lte rn a te form o f the instrument.
Mean change scores f o r each group Were calculated and compared.
In
74
some cases group scores did not increase so th a t change scores some­
times re sulted in p o s itiv e values and sometimes in negative values.
Intragroup Pretest to Post-Test D ifference
As noted in the preceding s ectio n, p re te s tin g o f subjects was
c a rrie d out in February 1985 using the Sociomoral R efle ctio n Measure
and the Torrance Tests of Creative T h inking.
At the conclusion of the
ten week t r a in in g period, which consisted o f t h i r t y h a lf-h o u r la te
afternoon lessons in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g , both the treatment
and non-treatment groups were again tested using a lte rn a te forms o f the
Sociomoral R eflection Measure and the Torrance Tests o f Creative Think­
in g .
The te s tin g was conducted using the procedure described in Chap­
t e r 3.
P ost-tests were administered at the end of May 1985.
Each
group's mean p re te s t score was compared w ith i t s own mean p o s t-te s t
score f o r the various subsections of both t e s t instruments.
This com­
parison was made to determine i f s ig n if ic a n t change had occurred in
e ith e r c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g or moral reasoning by the end of the
treatment period.
The inform ation presented in Tables 3 through 5 shows the re s u lts
of these te s ts .
In each tab le data are provided on the number of s tu ­
dents in each group, the p re te s t and p o s t-te s t mean raw scores fo r each
group, and the standard deviation, f o r each te s t .
In a d d itio n a mean
d iffe re n c e between p re te s t and p o s t-te s t scores w ith i t s standard devia­
t io n , the t-vaTue, and a p-value are given.
value beyond the .05 level of s ig n ific a n c e .
An a s te ris k indicates a
75
Table 3.
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest to Post-Test f o r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on Verbal Creative-Divergent
Thinking (TTCT)
Treatment
Pre
(N = 24)
Post
(N = 24)
Non-Treatment
Pre
Post
(N = 22)
(N = 21)
VFLUE
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
64.50
27.38
80.04
42.54
15.54
36.17
2.10
0.46**
63.04
" tiS '
83.04
32.79
20.0
22.84
4.01
.001*
VFLEX
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
32.25
13.68
31 .87
11.90
29.42
9.95
.37
11.78
.16
.877
35.38
12.82
5.95
10.40
2.62
0.16*
VORIG
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
37.45
19.66
30.41
16.93
7.04
15.66
2.20
.038*
Pre
Post
M.D.
= Pretest
= Post Test
= Mean Score D ifference
*
= S ig n ific a n t at
.05
28.00
13.34
41.42
22.07
13.42
18.46
3.33
.003*
76
In Table 3 t - t e s t comparisons of p re te s t to p o s t-te s t f o r the t r e a t ­
ment and non-treatment groups on verbal c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g are
presented.
The treatment group increased i t s p re te s t mean score fo r
verbal fluency from 64.50 to 80.04 on the p o s t-te s t.
a t-v a lu e o f 2.10 which was s i g n if ic a n t .
This resulted in
The non-treatment group in ­
creased i t s score from 63.04 to 83.04 which resulted in a t-v a lu e of
4.01 which was also s ig n if ic a n t .
Results in Table 3 ind ica te th a t the treatment group increased i t s
mean score in verbal f l e x i b i l i t y from 31.87 to 32.25 which was not a
s ig n if ic a n t d iffe re n c e .
The mean score of the non-treatment group in ­
creased from 29.42 to 35.38.
This increase resulted in a t-v a lu e of
2.62 which was s ig n if ic a n t .
Results in Table 3 also ind ica te th a t the treatment group increased
i t s mean score in verbal o r i g i n a l i t y from 30.41 on the p re te s t to 37.45
on the p o s t-te s t.
f ic a n t .
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of 2.20 which was s ig n i­
The mean score of the non-treatment group increased from 28.00
to 41.42 which resulted in a t-v a lu e of 3.33 which was also s ig n if ic a n t.
The re s u lts presented in Table 3 in d ic a te th a t the verbal c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g of both groups increased when p re te s t mean scores
were compared to p o s t-te s t mean scores.
Both groups’ mean scores in ­
creased s i g n i f i c a n t l y in verbal fluency and o r i g i n a l i t y .
In a d d itio n ,
the non-treatment group increased s i g n i f i c a n t l y in verbal f l e x i b i l i t y .
In Table 4 t - t e s t comparisons of p re te s t to p o s t-te s t fo r treatment
and non-treatment groups on fig u r a l c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g are
presented.
The treatment group's mean score fo r f ig u r a l fluency de­
creased from 24.73 to 18.39.
This produced a t-v a lu e o f -3.25 which
77
was s i g n if ic a n t .
The non-treatment group also decreased in t h is area.
I t s mean score dropped from 26.68 to 22.00.
This decrease resulted
in a t-v a lu e o f -2.87 which was s ig n if ic a n t .
For f ig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y the treatment group's p re te s t mean score
o f 18.91 decreased to a mean score of 15.26 on the p o s t-te s t.
resulted in a t-v a lu e o f -2.96 which was s ig n if ic a n t .
group declined from 20.09 to 17.45.
This
The non-treatment
The re s u ltin g t-v a lu e of -1.62 was
not s ig n if ic a n t .
For f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y the treatment group decreased from a mean
o f 36.39 to a mean of 33.82.
n ific a n t.
31.50.
This decrease was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig ­
The non-treatment group's mean score decreased from 40.36 to
The re s u ltin g t-v a lu e o f -3.21 was s ig n if ic a n t .
F in a lly , f o r f ig u r a l e la b o ra tio n , the treatment group's mean pre­
te s t score of 79.95 decreased to 77.56 on the p o s t-te s t.
a s ig n if ic a n t change.
This was not
The non-treatment group's mean score f o r fig u r a l
elaboration increased from 73.68 to 77.81 but the change was not s ig n i­
f ic a n t.
The re s u lts in Table 4 in d ic a te th a t the fig u r a l c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g of both groups demonstrated s ig n if ic a n t decreases in fig u ra l
fluency.
In a d d itio n the treatment group decreased s i g n i f i c a n t l y in
fig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y while the non-treatment group decreased s i g n i f i ­
c a n tly in f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y .
in fig u r a l e la boration .
Neither group showed s ig n if ic a n t change
78
Table 4.
T-Test Comparisons o f Pretest to Post-Test f o r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on Figural Creative-Diveraent
Thinking (TTCT).
Treatment
Pre
(N = 23)
Post
CO
CM
Il
2=
Non-Treatment
Pre
Post
(N = 22)
(N = 22)
FFLUE
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
24.73
7.02
18.38
5.45
26.68
7.37
- 6.34
9.36
- 3.25
.004*
*
22.00
7.04
- 4.68
7.66
- 2.87
.009*
FFLEX
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
18.91
5.27
15.26
3.51
20.09
6.66
- 3.65
5.91
.- 2.96
.007*
17.45
4.49
- 2.63
7.65
- 1.62
.120
FORIG
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
36.39
12.84
33.82
11.81
40.36
12.06
- 2.56
17.27
- .71
.484
.
31.50
13.29
- 8.86
12.95
- 3.21
.004*
FELAB
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
Pre
Post
M.D.
*
79.95
32.37
77.56
31.57
•
- 2.39
29.57
- .59
.564
= Pretest
= Post Test
.= Mean Score D ifference
= S ig n ific a n t a t .05
73.68
31.60
77.81
31.85
4.13
30.92
1.78
.090
79
In Table 5 t - t e s t comparisons of p re te s t to p o s t-te s t f o r the
treatment and non-treatment groups on sociomoral reasoning are pre­
sented.
The sociomoral reasoning f o r the treatment group increased
from a p re te s t mean score o f 201.06 to 208.91 on the post te s t .
change was not s t a t i s t i c a l l y s ig n if ic a n t .
This
The nOn-treatment group de­
creased in mean score from 209.57 on the p re te s t to 200.42 on the postte s t .
This change was not s ig n if ic a n t .
Table 5.
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest to Post-Test f o r Treatment
and Non-Treatment Groups on Sociomoral Reasoning M a tu rity
Score (SRM).
Treatment (N = 23)
Post
Pre
SRMS
■
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
Pre
Post
M.D.
Non-Treatment (N = 21)
Pre
Post
208.91
39.77
201.08
31.12
7.82
40.76
.92
.367
209.57
31.35
200.42
29.61
- 9,14
27.98
- 1.50
.150
= Pretest
= Post Test
= Mean Score D ifference
The re s u lts in Table 5 in d ic a te th a t n e ith e r group demonstrated
a s ig n if ic a n t change in moral reasoning as measured by the Sociomoral
R eflection Measure.
Comparison of Groups' Pretest Means to Normed Means
Normed te s t means are provided f o r the Torrance Tests o f Creative
Thinking, Verbal and Figural Forms A.
The fo llo w in g comparison is made
80
in order to provide inform ation r e la tin g the study groups' scores to
the established norms f o r s ix th grade s u b je c ts .
No s t a t i s t i c a l analy­
sis was performed.
Table 6 .
Comparison of Study Groups' Means to Normed Means on
TTCT Form A.
Treatment
Mean
S.D.
Non-Treatment
Mean
S.D.
Normed
Mean
S.D.
VFLUE
VFLEX
VORIG
64.5
31.9
30.4
27.3
11.9
16.9
64.4
30.1
28.6
31.3
10.3
13.3
68.3
30.1
36.7
. 29.3 .
6.8
21.0
FFLUE
FFLEX
FORIG
FELAB
24.7
18.9
36.4
79.9
7.0
5.3
12.8
32.4
26.7
20.1
40.4.
73.7
7.4
6.7
12.1
31.6
20.2
15,8
29.0
75.8
6.7
4.9
11.1
32.6
As can be seen in Table 6 both the treatment and non- treatment
groups somewhat exceeded the normed scores fo r s ix th gradeI subjects f o r
verbal f l e x i b i l i t y , fig u r a l flue ncy. f ig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y . and fig u r a l
o r ig in a lity .
For f ig u r a l elaboration the treatment group was s l i g h t l y
above and the non-treatment group s l i g h t l y below the normed scores.
For verbal flue ncy and o r i g i n a l i t y the normed group s l i g h t l y exceeded
the study groups.
Acceptance or Rejection of Hypotheses
In Chapter 3 tw enty-four n u ll hypotheses were formulated around
three central concerns:
the e ff e c t o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
tr a in in g on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y , the e f f e c t of c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g t r a in in g on moral reasoning a b i l i t y , and the gener­
al i z a b i l i t y o f these e f f e c t s , i f found, across subcategories of
81
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
The re s u lts o f the s t a t i s t i c a l analysis
o f each hypothesis fo llo w s .
For c l a r i t y the fo llo w in g section is divided in to two parts:
hypotheses th a t deal w ith treatment e ff e c t and hypotheses th a t deal
w ith in te r a c tio n .
For hypotheses one through fou rte en, as well as
hypotheses twenty-two and tw enty-three, which are concerned w ith t r e a t - .
ment e f f e c t , the Student's t - t e s t was the s t a t i s t i c a l tool chosen.
For
hypotheses f i f t e e n through twenty-one and hypothesis tw e n ty -fo u r, which
deal with in te r a c tio n , a repeated measures MANOVA was the s t a t i s t i c a l
tool chosen because i t allowed f o r taking in to account, th a t these mean
scores were not independent of one another.
Hypotheses Dealing. With Treatment E ffe c t
Hypothesis I
In Hypothesis I i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on verbal flue ncy from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
In Table 7 t - t e s t
comparisons o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t f o r a l l subjects on verbal c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g are presented.
The mean p re te s t score f o r a l l sub­
je c ts increased from 63.82 to 81.44.
3.88 which was s ig n if ic a n t .
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of
Hypothesis I can be re je c te d .
There was
a treatment e ff e c t on verbal flue ncy favoring the p o s t- te s t.
Hypothesis 2
In Hypothesis 2 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e f f e c t on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
Results in
Table 7 in d ic a te th a t the mean p re te s t score fo r a l l subjects increased
from 30.73 to 33.71.
This resulted in a t-v a lu e o f 1.75 which was not
82
s ig n if ic a n t .
Hypothesis 2 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no demon­
strated treatment e f f e c t on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y .
Hypothesis 3
In Hypothesis 3 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on verbal o r i g i n a l i t y from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
Results in
Table 7 ind ica te th a t the mean p re te s t score f o r a l l subjects increased
from 29.28 to 39.31.
n ific a n t.
This resulted in a t - value of 3.92 which was s ig ­
Hypothesis 3 can be re je cted .
There was a treatment e ffe c t
on verbal o r i g i n a l i t y .
Hypothesis 4
In Hypothesis 4 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on f ig u r a l fluency from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
In Table 8 t - t e s t
comparisons of p re te s t to p o s t-te s t f o r a l l subjects on f ig u r a l c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g are presented.
The mean pretest score f o r a l l sub­
je c ts decreased from 25.68 to 20.15.
-4.36 which was s ig n if ic a n t .
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of
Hypothesis 4 can be re je c te d .
There was
a treatment e f f e c t on f ig u r a l fluency.
Hypothesis 5
In Hypothesis 5 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on f ig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
Results in
Table 8 ind ica te th a t the mean p re te s t score f o r a l l subjects decreased
from 19.48 to 16.33.
s ig n if ic a n t .
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of -3.14 which was
Hypothesis 5 can be re je cted .
on fig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y .
There was a treatment e ff e c t
83
Table 7.
T-Test Comparisons of Pretest to Post-Test fo r All Subjects
on Verbal Creative-Divergent Thinking (TTCT).
Pretest
VFLUE
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
X r6 > 4 r^
Post-Test
X2 T t 3
63.82) 6^?
29.02
81.44
37.91
17.62
30.43
3.88
.000*
VFLEX
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
30.73
10.98
33.71
13.23
2.97
11.38
1.75
.086
VORIG
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
M.D.
*
29.28
15.24
Mean D ifference
S ig n ific a n t at .05 level
39.31
20.67
10.02
17.13
3.92
.000*
N = 45
84
Hypothesis 6
In Hypothesis 6 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
Results in
Table 8 in d ic a te th a t the mean p re te s t score f o r a l l subjects decreased
from 38.33 to 32.68.
s ig n if ic a n t .
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of -2.45 which was
Hypothesis 6 can be re je cted .
There was a treatment
e ff e c t on f ig u r a l o r i g i n a l i t y .
Hypothesis 7
In Hypothesis 7 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on fig u r a l elaboration from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
Results in
Table 8 in d ic a te th a t the mean p re te s t score f o r a l l subjects increased
from 73.86 to 76.26.
s ig n if ic a n t .
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of .33 which was not
Hypothesis 7 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no demon­
strated treatment e f f e c t on fig u r a l e la boration .
Hypothesis 22
In Hypothesis 22 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ff e c t on moral reasoning from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t.
In Table 9 t - t e s t
comparisons of p re te s t to p o s t-te s t f o r a l l subjects on sociomoral rea­
soning are presented.
The mean p re te s t score fo r a l l subjects decreased
from 205.13 to 204.86.
This resulted in a t-v a lu e of .05 which was not
s ig n if ic a n t .
Hypothesis 22 cannot be re je cte d .
strated treatment e f f e c t on moral reasoning.
There was no demon­
85
Table 8.
T-Test Comparisons o f P retest to Post-Test fo r A ll Subjects
on Figural C reative-D ivergent Thinking (TTCT).
P retest
Post-Test
FFLUE
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
25.68
7.18
.
20.15
6.47
5.53
8.51
- 4.36
. 000*
FFLEX
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
16.33
4.12
19.48
5.95
3.15
6.75
- 3.14
.003*
FORIG
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
t
P
32.68
12.47
38.33
12.49
5.64
- 2.45
.018*
FELAB
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
M.D.
*
76.26
30.56
73.86
36.14
= Mean D ifference
= S ig n ific a n t a t .05 leve l
.80
16.10
.33
.741
N - 44
86
Table 9.
T-Test Comparisons o f P retest to Post-Test fo r Al I Subjects
on Sociomoral M a tu rity Reasoning Scores (SRM).
Post-Test
P retest
SRMS
Mean
S.D.
M.D.
S.D.
t
P
M.D.
204.84
35.15
205.13
31.16
.27
35.88 '
. 05
.960
= Mean D ifference
(N = 44)
Hypothesis 8
In Hypothesis 8 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatm ent
e ffe c t on verbal flu e n cy when the treatm ent group was compared to the
non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
In Table 10 t - t e s t mean change
scores and standard d e viation s comparing treatm ent and non-treatment
groups are presented.
The treatm ent group's mean change score of 15.54
fo r verbal flu e n c y , when compared to the non-treatment group's mean
change score o f 14.86, re s u lte d .in a t -value o f .07 which was not s ig ­
n ific a n t.
Hypothesis 8 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no demonstrated
treatm ent e ffe c t on verbal flu e n cy when change scores fo r the groups
were compared.
Hypothesis 9
In Hypothesis 9 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatm ent
e ffe c t on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y when the treatm ent group was compared to
the non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
Results in Table 10 in d ic a te
th a t the treatm ent group's mean change score o f .37 fo r verbal f l e x i ­
b i l i t y , when compared to the non-treatm ent group's mean change score of
87
3.59, re su lte d in a t-v a lu e o f -.8 0 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
th e sis 9 cannot be re je c te d .
Hypo­
There was no demonstrated treatm ent
e ffe c t on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y when change scores fo r the two groups
were compared.
Table 10.
T-Test Mean change Scores and Standard D eviation Comparing
Treatment and Non--Treatment Groups on the TTCT and SRM
L o
Non- Treatment (N = 22)
Treatment (N = 24)
Mean
Change
S.D.
Mean
Change
S.D.
15.54
.37
7.04
35.17
11.78
15.66
14.86
3.59
10.95
32.82
15.02
21.42
5.41
2.87
2.56
2.39
10.22
6.92
17.27
29.57
- 4.68
- 2.63
- 8.86
4.13
15.20
53.82
- 2.90
VFLUE
VFLEX
VORIG
FFLUE
FFLEX
FORIG
FELAB
-
SRMS
t
P
-
.07
.80
- .70
.947
.627
.487
7.66
7.63
12.95
30.92
.28
.11
I .73
- .99
.783
.912
.091
.330
62.78
.71
.481
-
Hypothesis 10
In Hypothesis 10 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ffe c t on verbal o r ig in a lit y when the treatm ent group
the non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
was compared to
The re s u lts in Table 10 in d i­
cate th a t the treatm ent group's mean change score of 7.04 fo r verbal
o r ig in a lit y , when compared to the non-treatment group's mean change
score o f 10.95, re su lte d in a t-v a lu e o f -.7 0 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
Hypothesis 10 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no demonstrated treatm ent
e ffe c t on verbal o r ig in a lit y when change scores fo r the two groups were
compared.
88
Hypothesis 11
In Hypothesis 11 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ffe c t on fig u r a l flu e n cy when the treatm ent group was compared to the
non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
The re s u lts in Table 10 in d ic a te
th a t the treatm ent group's mean change score o f -5.41 fo r fig u ra l f l u ­
ency, when compared to the non-treatment group's mean change score o f
-4 .6 8 , re su lte d in a t-v a lu e o f -.2 8 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
th e sis 11 cannot be re je c te d .
Hypo­
There was no demonstrated treatm ent
e ffe c t on fig u ra l flu e n cy when change scores o f the two groups were
compared.
Hypothesis 12
In Hypothesis 12 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatm ent
e ffe c t on fig u ra l f l e x i b i l i t y when the treatm ent group was compared to
the non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
Results in Table 10 in d ic a te
th a t the treatm ent group's mean change score of -2.87 fo r fig u ra l f l e x i ­
b i l i t y , when compared to the non-treatment group's mean change score o f
-2 .6 3 , re su lte d in a t-v a lu e of -.11 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
th e sis 12 cannot be re je c te d .
Hypo­
There was no demonstrated treatm ent
e ffe c t on fig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y when change scores of the two groups were
compared.
Hypothesis 13
!
In Hypothesis 13 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatment
e ffe c t on fig u ra l o r ig in a li t y when the treatm ent group was compared to
the non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
Results in Table 10 in d ic a te
th a t the treatm ent group's mean change score o f -2.56 fo r fig u ra l
89
o r ig in a lit y , when compared to the non-treatment group's mean change
score o f -8 .8 6 , re su lte d in a t-v a lu e o f 1.73 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
Hypothesis 13 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no treatm ent e ffe c t demon­
stra te d on fig u ra l o r ig in a lit y when change scores o f the two groups
were compared.
Hypothesis 14
In Hypothesis 14 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatm ent
e ffe c t on fig u ra l e la b o ra tio n when the treatm ent group was compared to .
the non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
The re s u lts in Table 10 in d i­
cate that, the treatm ent group's mean change score o f -2.39 fo r fig u ra l
e la b o ra tio n , when compared to the non-treatment group's mean change
score o f 4.13, re su lte d in a t-v a lu e o f -.9 9 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
Hypothesis 14 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no demonstrated treatm ent
e ffe c t on fig u ra l e la b o ra tio n when change scores o f the two groups were
compared.
Hypothesis 23
In Hypothesis 23 i t was stated th a t there would be no treatm ent
e ffe c t on moral reasoning when the treatm ent group was compared to the
non-treatment group a t p o s t-te s tin g .
Results in Table 10 in d ic a te th a t
the treatm ent group's mean change score o f '15.20 fo r the sociomoral
m a tu rity score, when compared to the non-treatment group's mean change
score o f -2 .9 0 , re su lte d in a t-v a lu e o f .71 which was not s ig n ific a n t.
Hypothesis 23 cannot be re je c te d .
There was no demonstrated treatm ent
e ffe c t on moral reasoning when change scores o f the two groups were
compared.
90
Hypotheses D e a lin g With I n t e r a c t i o n
The fo llo w in g e ig h t hypotheses deal w ith the in te ra c tio n e ffe c t
in th is experimental study.
In order to te s t the in te ra c tio n e ffe c t,
the M u ltip le Analysis o f Variance (MANOVA) was the s t a t is t ic a l tool
chosen.
This s t a t is t ic a l device is able to include two or more de­
pendent va ria b le s in the same analysis and is an extension o f the u n i­
v a ria te ANOVA.
The MANOVA produces d e s c rip tiv e info rm a tion about the
con structs th a t u n d e rlie the dependent v a ria b le s .
In th is study a
repeated measures MANOVA was used because the scores used in 'th e analy­
ses were derived from the same subjects and th is s t a t is t ic a l to o l is
able to a d ju st fo r th is s itu a tio n .
Hypothesis 15
„
In Hypothesis 15 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent groups when the two-way analysis
o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made
on verbal flu e n cy scores.
Results in Table 11 in d ic a te a .932 proba­
b i l i t y was obtained fo r treatment..
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t in t e r ­
a ctio n was.found and Hypothesis 15 cannot be re je c te d .
I t should be noted however, th a t the treatm ent e ffe c t on verbal
flu e n cy was co n siste n t across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to nontreatm ent groups.
Hypothesis 16
In Hypothesis 16 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent groups when the two-way analysis
91
o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made
on verbal f l e x i b i l i t y scores.
Results in Table 12 in d ic a te a .917 F
p r o b a b ility was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t
in te ra c tio n was found and Hypothesis 16 cannot be re je c te d .
Table 11.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Verbal Fluency Using
Sequential Sum o f Squares
Source o f
V a ria tio n
Sum o f
Squares
df
Mean
Square
F
Ratio
F
Prob
W ithin CElls
Constant
Treatment
79903.88
474804.10
,13.51
43
I
I
1858.22
474804.10
13.51
255.51
.007
0.0
.932
The treatm ent e ffe c t on verbal flu e n cy was co n siste n t across pre­
te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group.
Table 12.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Verbal F l e x ib i l it y Using
Sequential Sum o f Squares
Source o f
V a ria tio n
W ithin C ells
Constant
Treatment
Sum of
Squares
df
10153.93
93444.44
2.62
43
I
I •
Mean
Square
F
Ratio
F
Prob
236.13
93444.44
1.61
395.71
.01
0.0
.917
Hypothesis 17
In Hypothesis 17 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent groups when the two-way analysis
o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made
on verbal o r ig in a lit y scores.
Results in Table 13 in d ic a te a .873 F
p r o b a b ility was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t
in te ra c tio n was found and Hypothesis 17 cannot be re je c te d .
92
I t should be noted th a t the treatm ent e ffe c t on verbal o r ig in a lit y
was co n siste n t across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to n o n -tre a t­
ment groups.
Table 13.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Verbal O r ig in a lity Using
Sequential Sum o f Squares
Source o f
V a ria tio n
Sum of
Squares
df
W ithin C ells
Constant
Treatment
22567.88
105884.10
13.51
43
.1
I
Mean
Square
F
Ratio
F
Prob
105884.10
13.51
201.74
.02
0.0
.873
Hypothesis 18
In Hypothesis 18 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent groups when the two-way analysis
o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made
on fig u ra l flu e n cy scores.
Results in Table 14 in d ic a te a .082 F proba­
b i l i t y was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t in t e r ­
actio n was found and Hypothesis 18 cannot be re je c te d .
Table 14.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Figural Fluency Using
sequential Sum o f Squares
Source of
V a ria tio n
Sum of
Squares
df
W ithin C ells
Constant
Treatment
2342.69
47288.54
173.26
43
I
I
Mean
. Square
47288.54
173.26
F
Ratio
F
Prob
867.97
3.18
0.0
.082
.
I t should be noted th a t the treatm ent e ffe c t on fig u r a l flue ncy
was co n siste n t across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to n o n -tre a t­
ment group.
93
H ypothesis 19
In Hypothesis 19 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent groups when the two-way analysis
o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made
on fig u ra l f l e x i b i l i t y scores.
Results in Table 15 in d ic a te a .145 F
p r o b a b ility was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t
in te ra c tio n was found and Hypothesis 19 cannot be re je c te d .
Table 15.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Figural F l e x ib i l it y
Using Sequential Sum o f Squares
Source o f
V a ria tio n
Sum o f
Squares
df
Mean
Square
F
Ratio
F
Prob
W ithin C ells
Constant
Treatment
1244.37
28872.71
63.90
43
I
I
28.93
28872.71
63.90
997.70
2.20
0.0
.145
The treatm ent e ffe c t on fig u ra l f l e x i b i l i t y was c o n s is te n t across
p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group.
Hypothesis 20
In Hypothesis 20 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent groups when the two-way analysis
o f p re ts t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made on
fig u ra l o r ig in a lit y scores.
Results in Table 16 in d ic a te a .782 F
p r o b a b ility was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t
in te ra c tio n was found and Hypothesis 20 cannot be re je c te d .
With regard to fig u r a l o r ig in a lit y , the treatm ent e ffe c t was con­
s is te n t across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment
group.
94
Table 16.
MANOVA Jests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Figural O r ig in a lity
Using Sequential Sum o f Squares
Source o f
V a ria tio n
Sum o f
Squares
df
Mean
Square
W ithin C ells
Constant
Treatment
8423.25
113493.51
15.23
43
T
I
195.88
113493.51
15.23
F '
Ratio
F
Prob
579.37
.07
0.0
.782
.
Hypothesis 21
In Hypothesis 21 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent when the two-way a n alysis o f pre­
te s t to p o s t-te s t and.treatm ent to non-treatment group was made on
fig u ra l e la b o ra tio n scores.
Results in Table 17 in d ic a te a .593 F
p r o b a b ility was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t
in te ra c tio n was found and Hypothesis 21 cannot be re je c te d .
Table 17.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Figural E laboration
Using Sequential Sum o f Squares
/
Source of
V a ria tio n
Sum of
Squares
df
Mean
Square
F
Ratio
F
Prob
W ithin C ells
Constant
Treatment
6759.48
56350.04
45.47
43
I
I
157.19
56530.04
45.47
358.46
.28
0.0
.593
In the area o f fig u ra l e la b o ra tio n i t should be noted th a t the
treatm ent e ffe c t was co n siste n t across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and tr e a t­
ment to non-treatment group. .
Hypothesis 24
In Hypothesis 24 i t was stated th a t there would be no in te ra c tio n
e ffe c t between te s tin g and treatm ent when the two-way analysis of
95
p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group was made on
moral reasoning scores.
Results in Table 18 in d ic a te a 1.0 F p ro b a b il­
i t y was obtained fo r treatm ent.
No s t a t is t ic a l l y s ig n ific a n t in te ra c ­
tio n was found and Hypothesis 24 cannot be re je c te d .
Table 18.
MANOVA Tests o f S ig n ifica n ce fo r Moral Reasoning Using
Sequential Sum o f Squares
Source o f
V a ria tio n
W ithin C ells
Constant.
Treatment
Sum of
Squares
67219.00
3698200.00
0.00
df
Mean
Square
F
Ratio
42
I
I
1600.45
3698200.00
0.00
2310.72
0.0
F
Prob
0.0
1.0
The treatm ent e ffe c t on moral reasoning was, however, co n sistent
across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to non-treatment group.
Summary
In th is chapter the re s u lts o f an experiment designed to te s t the
e ffe c t o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tra in in g on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g a b i l i t y and on moral reasoning a b i l i t y were re ported.
In order to e s ta b lis h the equivalency o f the two groups both were
adm inistered the Sociomoral R e fle c tio n Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982)
and the Torrance Tests Of C reative th in k in g , Figural and Verbal Forms
(Torrance, 1974).
An analysis o f these te s t re s u lts showed th a t the
groups were e q uivale nt w ith regard to the varia bles o f moral reasoning
and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
Upon completion o f a ten week program of tra in in g in c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g based on New D ire c tio n s in C r e a tiv ity , Mark I
96
( RenzulI i , 1973), the treatm ent and non-treatm ent groups were posttested using a lte rn a te forms o f the assessment instrum ents.
Change
scores fo r each group were c a lc u la te d .
The treatm ent group
demonstrated s ig n ific a n t increases in verbal flu e n c y and o r ig in a lit y
but no s ig n ific a n t change in verbal f l e x i b i l i t y .
In the fig u r a l area
the treatm ent group declined s ig n if ic a n tly in flu e n cy and f l e x i b i l i t y
but showed no s ig n ific a n t change in fig u r a l o r ig in a lit y o r e la b o ra tio n .
The non-treatment group demonstrated s ig n ific a n t increases in verbal
flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , and o r ig in a lit y .
In the fig u ra l area the non-
treatm ent group declined s ig n if ic a n tly in flu e n cy and o r ig in a lit y but
showed no s ig n ific a n t change in f l e x i b i l i t y and e la b o ra tio n .
N either
group changed s ig n if ic a n tly in moral reasoning a b i li t y .
F in a lly , the re s u lts o f the s t a t is t ic a l analyses o f the twentyfo u r hypotheses in Chapter 3 were lis te d .
Of the sixteen hypotheses
dealing w ith treatm ent e ff e c t, hypotheses I , 3, 4, 5, and 6 were re ­
je c te d .
In these hypotheses . i t was stated th a t there would be no
treatm ent e ffe c t from p re te s t to p o s t-te s t, w ith regard to verbal f l u ­
ency ( I ) , verbal o r ig in a lit y (3 ), fig u r a l flue ncy (4 ), fig u r a l f l e x i ­
b i l i t y (5 ), and fig u ra l o r ig in a lit y (6 ).
In te ra c tio n between treatm ent and p re te s t and p o s t-te s t was sta ­
t i s t i c a l l y tested to determine i f d if f e r e n t ia l e ffe c ts might be observed.
Al I te s ts fo r in te ra c tio n showed no s ig n ific a n c e and none o f the in t e r ­
a ctio n hypotheses was re je c te d .
As a. r e s u lt, the treatm ent e ffe c t f in d ­
ings appear to be the same across p re te s t to p o s t-te s t and treatm ent to
non-treatment groups.
97
In hypotheses 22, 23, and 24 the e ffe c t o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g tra in in g on moral reasoning a b i l i t y was considered.
No e ffe c t
was observed w ith re g a rd .to moral reasoning and the n u ll hypotheses
could not be re je c te d .
98
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In tro d u c tio n
In the research fin d in g s discussed in the preceding chapters of
th is study, the in v e s tig a to r d e a lt w ith the e ffe c t o f tra in in g in
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g on students' c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
a b i l i t y and le ve l o f moral reasoning.
Two s ix th grade classes, tr e a t­
ment and non-treatm ent, were studied to determine the e ffe c t o f t r a in ­
ing.
There was a to ta l o f f o r t y - s ix students in the two classes.
Since random assignment o f the students to groups was not p o s s ib le , the
nonequivalent co n tro l group research design was used.
The treatm ent group was tra in e d by the in v e s tig a to r over a period
o f ten weeks using New D ire ctio n s in C r e a tiv ity , Mark I ( R enzulli , 1973) .
as the in s tru c tio n a l method.
T ra in in g occurred three times a week in
t h i r t y minute periods near the end o f the school day.
The non-treatment
group was located in the same b u ild in g as the treatm ent group; contact
between the in v e s tig a to r and the non-treatment group was lim ite d to pre­
te s tin g and p o s t-te s tin g .
In order to e s ta b lis h the equivalency of the two groups w ith regard
to the va ria b le s being stu d ie d , students were pretested using the Socio­
moral R e fle ctio n Measure (Gibbs and Widaman, 1982) as w ell as the Torrance Tests o f C reative T hinking, Verbal and Figural Forms (Torrance,
99
1974).
the groups were found to be equivale nt in both moral reasoning
and c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
At the end o f the ten week tra in in g ■
p e riod , both groups were po st-te ste d using a lte rn a te forms o f these
■instruments to determine i f changes had occurred in the areas o f
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and/or moral reasoning.
Review o f the Problem Statement
The problem as presented in Chapter I centered on a question of
whether c r e a t iv it y might be an independent c o n trib u tin g fa c to r in the ■
development o f moral reasoning which could complement oth er fa c to rs
which have been proposed to be associated w ith moral reasoning.
This
in v e s tig a tio n was not concerned w ith fa c to rs , such as emotion, r e l i g i ­
ous tr a in in g , o r in te llig e n c e , which impact upon in d iv id u a l's m o ra lity .
Reasoning about m o ra lity , and not moral behavior, was the major concern
S p e c ific a lly in th is study, the in v e s tig a to r was concerned w ith
the question o f whether tra in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g would
have an e ffe c t on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y or on moral rea­
soning a b i li t y .
In Chapter 2 'an argument was presented concerning the
te n a b il i t y o f the re la tio n s h ip between c re a tiv e th in k in g a b i l i t y and
leve l o f moral reasoning.
The crux o f the argument centered on the con
te n tio n th a t in order to reach higher le v e ls o f moral reasoning a more
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t thought process was necessary.
I t was the in v e s ti­
g a to r's b e lie f th a t.in order to make higher leve l moral de cisio n s, con­
c o m ita n tly high a b i l i t y in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g was required.
This study has provided some in s ig h t w ith regard to the stated
problem.
I t appears th a t tra in in g in .c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g does
TOO
have a s ig n ific a n t e ffe c t on some areas o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
a b i li t y .
However, changes in the non-treatment group's a b i l i t y in th is
area tended to obfuscate the re s u lts o f the experiment.
Although there
was p o s itiv e change in mean score fo r the treatm ent group in the area
o f moral reasoning a b i l i t y , the increase was not s t a t is t ic a l l y s i g n i f i ­
cant.
In th is chapter there w ill be discussion o f these mixed fin d in g s ,
as w ell as recommendations fo r fu r th e r research, and the possible im p li­
cations o f th is study fo r education.
Discussion o f Findings
Previous research ind ica ted the g e n e ra lly p o s itiv e e ffe c t o f t r a in ­
ing in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g on students' a b i l i t y in the area of
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t.th in k in g (R azik, 1966; Feldhusen, 1969; RenzulI i and
Callahan, 1975).
A review by Torrance (1972) o f one hundred fo rty -tw o
c r e a t iv it y tra in in g program evaluations ind ica ted th a t .seventy-two per­
cent had been succe ssfu l.
These programs were divided by Torrance in to
nine types o f in te rv e n tio n and demonstrated success rates from s ix ty nine to ninety-one percent.
On the negative side was a study by Mans­
f i e l d , Busse, and Krepelka (1978).
A fte r studying seventy-two c re a tiv ­
i t y program e va lu a tio n s, they questioned whether such tra in in g in fa c t
f a c ilit a t e d real l i f e c r e a t iv it y or o n ly enhanced the re s u lts of crea­
t i v i t y te s ts .
A m eta-analysis o f f i f t y - f i v e studies th a t d e a lt w ith s tim u la tin g
the development o f moral judgments’ was re c e n tly published ( S c h la e fli ,
Rest, and Thoma, 1985).
The subjects ranged from ju n io r high school
101
through a d u lts .
Three approaches to tra in in g were id e n tifie d :
group
discussion o f moral dilemmas, p e rs o n a lity development programs, and
social studies and humanities courses th a t involve moral issues.
fin d in g s o f the m eta-analysis included:
The
in te rv e n tio n w ith ad ults pro­
duced gre a te r change than in te rv e n tio n w ith young people; in te rv e n tio n
o f three to twelve weeks was o p tim a l; and modest o v e ra ll e ffe c t was
found fo r the discussion and p e rs o n a lity approaches.
In the present study the re s u lts o f the p re te s tin g to p o s t-te s tin g
ind ica ted th a t the treatm ent group improved s ig n if ic a n tly in two o f the
seven areas o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
However, the non-treatment
group improved s ig n if ic a n tly in three areas, thus causing the re s u lts
o f the study to be mixed.
Unexpected decreases in both groups' a b i l i t y
in fig u ra l c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g were observed as w e ll.
groups decreased s ig n if ic a n tly in the area o f fig u ra l flu e n c y .
Both
In a d d i­
tio n , the treatm ent group decreased s ig n if ic a n tly in fig u r a l f l e x i b i l i t y ,
w hile the non-treatm ent group decreased s ig n if ic a n tly in fig u r a l o r ig i ­
n a lit y .
Tan-WiI Iman (1980) reported p o s itiv e re s u lts fo r an experimental
study o f the e ffe c t o f c r e a t iv it y tra in in g on the moral reasoning o f
teachers - in - tr a in in g .
In the present study o f s ix th grade students,
n e ith e r the treatm ent nor the co n tro l group demonstrated s ig n ific a n t
change in the area o f moral reasoning a b i li t y .
The re s u lts o f th is
in v e s tig a tio n in d ic a te th a t tra in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g has
not been shown to have an e ffe c t on the moral reasoning a b i l i t y of
s ix th grade students.
102
P retest to Post-Test F in ding s.
Findings from the p re te s tin g to p o s t-te s tin g may be lis te d as:
1.
In the area o f verbal flu e n c y the mean scores o f both the
treatm ent and non-treatment groups increased s ig n if ic a n tly .
The verbal
flu e n cy score re fle c ts the s u b je c ts ' a b i l i t y to produce large numbers
o f ideas w ith words.
2.
In the area o f verbal f l e x i b i l i t y the mean score o f the non­
treatm ent group increased s ig n if ic a n tly w hile th a t o f the tre a tm e n tgroup did not change s ig n if ic a n tly .
The verbal f l e x i b i l i t y score re ­
fle c ts the su b je cts' a b i l i t y to produce various kinds o f ideas using
d iffe r e n t approaches.
3.
/
In the area o f verbal o r ig in a lit y the mean scores o f both
groups increased s ig n if ic a n tly .
The verbal o r ig in a lit y score re fle c ts
the su b je cts' a b i l i t y to produce ideas th a t are unique or n o ve l.
4.
The fig u ra l flu e n cy mean scores o f both the treatm ent and non­
treatm ent groups decreased s ig n if ic a n tly .
The fig u ra l flu e n c y score
re fle c ts the su b je cts' a b i l i t y to produce a large number o f ideas w ith
fig u re s .
5.
The fig u ra l f l e x i b i l i t y mean score o f the treatm ent group de­
creased s ig n if ic a n tly while" the score o f the non-treatment group did
not change s ig n if ic a n tly .
The fig u ra l f l e x i b i l i t y score re fle c ts the
su b je cts' a b i l i t y to produce various ideas using d iffe r e n t fig u re s .
6.
•
The fig u r a l o r ig in a lit y mean score o f the non-treatm ent group
decreased s ig n if ic a n tly w hile the score o f the treatm ent group did not
change s ig n if ic a n tly .
The fig u ra l o r ig in a lit y score r e fle c ts the sub­
je c ts ' a b i l i t y to create new or unique fig u ra l ideas.
103
7.
In the area o f fig u r a l e la b o ra tio n n e ith e r group demonstrated
a s ig n ific a n t change in mean score.
The fig u r a l e la b o ra tio n score re ­
fle c ts the s u b je cts' a b i l i t y to em bellish ideas in the fig u r a l realm.
8.
In the area o f moral reasoning a b i l i t y n e ith e r group demon­
stra te d a s ig n ific a n t change in mean score.
The sociomoral reasoning
m a tu rity score re fle c ts the s u b je c ts ' a b i l i t y to produce a ra tio n a l
p o in t o f view w ith regard to a moral dilemma.
Discussion o f Mixed Results
The most d i f f i c u l t o f these re s u lts to exp lain was the s ig n ific a n t
decrease in fig u r a l c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g which was e x h ib ite d by
both the treatm ent and non-treatm ent groups.
The expectation o f the
in v e s tig a to r was th a t e ith e r p o s itiv e change or no change would be
found.
The most probable explanation f o r these re s u lts appears to in ­
volve instrum e ntatio n or m aturation.
Although the Torrance Tests o f
C reative Thinking are among the most r e lia b le instrum ents in the assess­
ment o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g , te s tin g in th is area o f human
a b i l i t y remains problem atic.
M aturation involves change in subjects
between observations th a t is independent o f the treatm ent.
Perhaps the
fig u ra l aspect o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g did not s tim u la te the sub­
je c ts e ith e r through the p re te s tin g o f the non-treatment group or the
actual tra in in g o f the treatm ent group, and they did not respond as w ell
on the p o s t-te s t as they had on the p re te s t.
The re s u lts o f th is study are somewhat perple xin g.
Based upon pre­
te s t re s u lts , the treatm ent and non-treatm ent groups were found to be
s t a t is t ic a l l y e q u iva le n t w ith regard to c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
104
a b i l i t y and le ve l o f moral reasoning.
A fte r ten weeks o f tra in in g in
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g , the treatm ent group demonstrated some s ig ­
n ific a n t changes.
However, both increases and decreases, across the
areas o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y , as w ell as a n o n -s ig n ific a n t
increase in moral reasoning a b i l i t y were observed.
The non-treatment
group also showed changed a b i l i t y in several areas o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g performance, as w ell as a n o n -s ig n ific a n t decrease in moral
reasoning a b i l i t y .
There are several fa c to rs which can be suggested
which could have led to these mixed re s u lts .
I.
R elationship o f C reative-D ivergent T ra in in g and Testing
A prim ary reason fo r the mixed re s u lts w ith regard to changes in
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g may be the alignment o f the c re a tiv e I
divergent th in k in g tra in in g approach w ith the instrum ent used fo r te s t ­
ing c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
As in d ica te d in Chapter 3, the New
D ire ctio n s in C r e a tiv ity approach to tra in in g was chosen as the method
o f in te rv e n tio n as a re s u lt o f both i t s research base and the in v e s ti­
g a to r's previous experience w ith the model.
The Torrance Tests of
C reative Thinking were chosen as the assessment instrum ent due to t h e ir
almost un iversa l acceptance in th is area o f human measurement.
The
fo llo w in g analysis o f the lessons used in the ten week treatm ent­
tra in in g and the instrum ent used fo r assessing c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing a b i l i t y , in d ica te s th a t the two approaches may not be as c lo s e ly
aligned as the in v e s tig a to r i n i t i a l l y thought.
F ifte e n tw o -p a rt lessons from New D ire ctio n s in C r e a tiv ity , Mark I
were selected to be used in the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tra in in g o f
105
the treatm ent group.
The lessons were taught in a manner as described
in Chapter 3 and as in d ica te d in the te a ch e r's manual th a t accompanies
the program.
areas:
Each tw o-part lesson centered on one o f three c o g n itiv e
semantic, sym bolic, or f ig u r a l.
In a post hoc a n alysis o f the tra in in g program, i t was found th a t
s ix ty - fo u r percent o f the le a rn in g o b je c tiv e s d e a lt w ith verbal c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g and t h ir t y - s ix percent d e a lt w ith fig u r a l c re a tiv e dive rge nt th in k in g .
More s p e c ific a lly , verbal flu e n c y accounted fo r
tw e n ty-e ig h t percent o f the le a rn in g o b je c tiv e s , and verbal f l e x i b i l i t y
and o r ig in a lit y accounted fo r eighteen percent each.
F ig ura l f l e x i b i l ­
i t y accounted fo r sixteen percent o f the le a rning o b je c tiv e s , fig u ra l
e la b o ra tio n fo r twelve percent, and fig u r a l o r ig in a lit y fo r e ig h t per­
cent.
None o f the le a rn in g o b je c tiv e s was concerned w ith fig u r a l f l u ­
ency.
The Torrance Tests o f C reative T h in k in g , Figural and Verbal Forms,
appeared to be an appropriate device fo r assessing the impact o f the
tra in in g in th is study due to i t s wide use and extensive norming.
In
a d d itio n , much o f the development o f the tra in in g program was based on
the research conducted by the developer o f the assessment instrum ent,
E. Paul Torrance.
The f u l l b a tte ry o f the Torrance Tests gauges the
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g areas o f verbal flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , and
o r ig in a lit y , as w ell as fig u r a l flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , o r ig in a lit y , and
e la b o ra tio n .
The alignment o f the two approaches w i l l be discussed by
describing which tra in in g lessons p a ra lle l which p a rts o f the assess­
ment measure.
106
a.
Verbal C reative-D ivergent Thinking
The verbal form o f the Torrance Tests consists o f fiv e sections a ll
o f which gauge a b i l i t y in the areas o f verbal flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y , and
o r ig in a lit y .
The f i r s t o f the fiv e verbal subtests o f the Torrance
Tests is c a lle d the "Ask and Guess A c t iv it y . "
The aim o f th is subtest
is to reveal the s u b je c t's a b i li t y . t o form ulate hypotheses and to sense
what one cannot fin d out from sim ply looking a t a p ic tu re .
The number
and type o f questions, flu e n cy and f l e x i b i l i t y , th a t the sub ject asks
is im portant.
None o f the tra in in g a c t iv it ie s required s k i l l s th a t
were d ir e c t ly re la te d to th is task.
The second verbal subtest is the "Product Improvement A c t iv it y . "
Presented w ith a small s tu ffe d anim al, the subject is asked to th in k o f
as many ways as possible to make the to y more in te re s tin g and fun to
pla y w ith .
here.
Fluency, f l e x i b i l i t y , and o r ig in a lit y are a ll im portant
T ra in in g lesson th ir te e n , "Changing Things," appears to be re ­
la te d to th is s k i l l .
In th is lesson the students are tra in e d to make
thin gs sm aller or la rg e r in order to improve them.
Another task th a t
th is lesson requires is the general improvement o f a home or automobile.
The th ir d verbal subtest o f the Torrance T e sts, the "Unusual Uses
A c t iv it y , " also seems to be re la te d to lesson th irte e n o f the tra in in g
program.
This subtest requires the sub ject to th in k o f unusual uses
fo r t i n cans and cardboard boxes, r e fle c tin g a b ilit ie s
i b i l i t y and o r ig in a lit y .
in flu e n c y , fle x ­
Also re la te d to th is subtest is lesson eleven.
"A lte rn a te Uses,", which tra in s the student to th in k o f unusual uses fo r
a v a r ie ty o f items.
107
The fo u rth su b te st, "The Unusual Questions A c t iv it y , " bears l i t t l e
resemblance to any o f the tra in in g a c t iv it ie s .
In analyzing the ques­
tio n s th a t the subject asks about t i n cans or cardboard boxes, one d i f ­
fe re n tia te s between lower le ve l fa c tu a l questions and higher order ques­
tio n s and again th is is used to gauge strength in flu e n c y , f l e x i b i l i t y ,
and o r ig in a lit y o f thought.
The fin a l subtest o f the verbal form o f the Torrance Tests is
c a lle d the "Ju st Suppose A c t iv it y . "
Presented w ith an improbable s it u ­
a tio n , lik e s trin g s attached to clouds, the subject is required to pro­
pose possible consequences.
This is d ir e c t ly re la te d to tra in in g lesson
th re e , "Consequences," where s im ila r s itu a tio n s and consequences are
considered.
Once again th is subtest is used to measure a b ilit ie s in
a ll three verbal areas.
Thus o f the fiv e subtests o f the verbal form o f the Torrance Tests
o f C reative Thinking i t appears th a t o n ly three are re la te d to the
tra in in g program used w ith the treatm ent group.
b.
Figural C reative-D ivergent Thinking
The fig u ra l form o f the Torrance Tests consists o f three subtests.
The f i r s t , c a lle d the "P ic tu re C onstruction A c t iv it y , " involves drawing
a p ic tu re using a pear or j e l l y bean-shaped image as a stim u lu s.
The
main purpose o f the a c t iv it y is to determine o r ig in a lit y o f thought; a
secondary purpose is to determine e la b o ra tio n a b i l i t y .
None o f the
fo u r tra in in g lessons in the area o f fig u r a l a b i l i t y had a close r e la ­
tio n s h ip to th is a c t iv it y .
However, lessons fo u r and e ig h t, which are
discussed below, appear to have had a peripheral re la tio n s h ip .
108
The second fig u r e I subtest a c t iv it y , "The Incomplete Figures A c ti­
v i t y , " consists o f ten d iffe r e n t stim ulus, s c rib b le s th a t must be com­
pleted so th a t each s c rib b le is transformed in to a reasonably recog­
nizable fig u re .
This a c t iv it y measures the a b i l i t y to brin g s tru c tu re
and completeness to an unstructured and incomplete fig u r a l stim ulus.
F l e x ib i l it y o f thought is the prim ary in te r e s t, w ith e la b o ra tio n and
o r ig in a lit y also considered.
Lessons fo u r and e ig h t o f the tra in in g
method seem most c lo s e ly associated w ith th is subtest.
Lesson fo u r,
"Fun With F ig u re s," tra in s the student to re la te non-meaningful shapes
to each o th e r.
Lesson e ig h t, "F ig u ra l Arrangement," tra in s the student
to use geometric fig u re s to form meaningful p ic tu re s .
The th ir d and fin a l subtest o f the fig u r a l form o f the Torrance
Tests is c a lle d the "Repeated Figures A c t iv it y . "
Given the stim ulus
o f t h i r t y sets o f s h o rt, v e r t ic a lly p a ra lle l lin e s or f o r t y small
c ir c le s , the subject is required to create something new fo r each item ,
thus making m u ltip le associations from a s in g le stim u lu s.
Fluency,
f l e x i b i l i t y , o r ig in a lit y , and e la b o ra tio n are a ll im portant here.
Les­
son twelve o f the tra in in g procedure, "Figure Com pletion," appears to
be d ir e c t ly re la te d to th is sub test. . In th is lesson the student is re ­
quired to change from s ix to ten ovals or in ve rted v 's in to drawings
o f real th in g s .
,
A fin a l tra in in g lesson in the fig u r a l .area is c a lle d "Can You
Design it ? "
I t requires the planning o f the in t e r io r o f a camper
t r a i l e r and also a space s ta tio n .
This lesson appears to be on ly p e r i­
p h e ra lly re la te d to the assessment measure.
109
I t seems th a t o f the e ig h t to ta l lessons devoted to fig u ra l
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g , s ix are somehow re la te d to two o f the
three subtests in th is area.
An a d d itio n a l re tro s p e c tiv e concern is
th a t perhaps in s u ffic ie n t time was devoted to fig u r a l c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g tr a in in g :
o n ly e ig h t o f t h i r t y lessons.
Future researchers
who intend to use both forms o f the Torrance Tests would do w ell to
balance the tra in in g between verbal and fig u r a l a c t iv it ie s .
This review o f the re la tio n s h ip between the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g tra in in g program. New D ire c tio n s in C r e a tiv ity , Mark I , and
the assessment device th a t was used, the Torrance Tests o f Creative
T h in kin g , leads to the conclusion th a t approxim ately o n e -th ird o f the
treatm ent a c t iv it ie s were not re la te d to the measurement device.
Per­
haps teaching more d ir e c t ly to the te s t would r e s u lt in a more d e fin i­
tiv e d is tin c tio n between the treatm ent and non-treatment groups in the
area o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a t the end o f the treatm ent period.
C e rta in ly teaching to the te s t is not norm ally a recommended educational
p ra c tic e .
The in v e s tig a to r would hope to enhance r e a l - l i f e c re a tiv e
a b i l i t y as w ell as increase scores on assessment instrum ents.
Another adjustment would be in s e le c tin g s p e c ific p o rtio n s o f the
Torrance Tests th a t would be more d ir e c t ly re la te d to the in s tru c tio n a l
program.
Or perhaps an assessment device more c lo s e ly c o rre la te d w ith
the tra in in g program could be found.
The developer o f New D ire ctio n s
in C r e a tiv ity has used the C re a tiv ity Test fo r C hildren (G u ilfo rd , 1976)
as a p re te s t to p o s t-te s t measure o f the e ffe c t o f h is program.
This
assessment instrum ent was re je c te d , perhaps too q u ic k ly , due to the
p a u city o f r e l i a b i l i t y and v a lid it y data a v a ila b le .
In these areas i t
no
did not compare to the Torrance T e sts.
Another instrum ent th a t has
been used in measuring c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g is the Wallach-Kogan
B a tte ry (Wallach and Kogan,.1965).
I t consists o f both verbal and
visu a l subtests and is adm inisterable to c h ild re n in groups.
2.
D if f ic u lt y in Testing C re a tiv ity
A second reason fo r the mixed re s u lts o f th is experimental study
could be the d i f f i c u l t y in m easuring.creative a b i l i t y in a te s tin g
s itu a tio n .
One problem is th a t measures o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
tend to be more v a ria b le than most oth er types o f human a b i l i t y assess­
ment.
According to Torrance (1974:
1.6), emotional fa c to rs , body
s ta te s , and group atmosphere a ll c o n trib u te a cu te ly to te s t re s u lts in
th is area.
The cre a tio n o f a p la y fu l and m o tiva tio n a l atmosphere w hile " t e s t ­
ing" c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g , which was recommended by Torrance,
was d i f f i c u l t to achieve.
Whereas a f a i r l y successful attem pt was made
to e s ta b lis h an in s tru c tio n a l program th a t was p la y fu l and open, a d e c i­
sion was reached to keep the p re te s tin g and p o s t-te s tin g as business­
lik e as p o ssib le .
This may have been a m istake, as a standard te s tin g
atmosphere may have a tendency to subdue c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t energy.
Another fa c to r w ith regard to te s tin g may have been te s t a n x ie ty
on the p a rt o f the treatm ent group.
Since students in th a t group were
aware o f the in te rv e n tio n , they may have f e l t more pressure to perform
w ell on the p o s t-te s t than did the non-treatment group.
This could
have had a negative e ffe c t on the treatm ent group, w ith no such e ffe c t
on the non-treatm ent group.
Ill
A fin a l fa c to r th a t has to do w ith the te s tin g was the change in
the seating arrangement o f the treatm ent group.
During the s ix th week
o f the ten week tra in in g program, the seating arrangement o f the tr e a t­
ment group was changed by the classroom teacher.
way to a double s e m i-c irc le .
T ra d itio n a l rows gave
At the time o f the change, the in v e s tig a ­
to r f e l t th a t the new arrangement would have a p o s itiv e e ffe c t on s tu ­
dent in te ra c tio n s .
I t was believed th a t such a seating arrangement
would help e s ta b lis h a more c re a tiv e atmosphere.
Inform al observation
o f increased in te ra c tio n among students would suggest th a t i t did seem
to have th a t e ffe c t.
In re tro s p e c t, however, th is arrangement may have
had a d e b ilita tiv e e ffe c t on te s tin g .
I t may have decreased the compe­
t i t i v e m ind-set o f the treatm ent group a t p o s t-te s tin g and thus de­
creased scores.
F in a lly there is the problem o f v a lid it y as i t ap p lie s to any
instrum ent th a t purports to measure c re a tiv e a b i l i t y .
The Torrance
Tests do not measure c r e a t iv it y , they measure aspects o f i t :
f l e x i b i l i t y , e la b o ra tio n , and o r ig in a lit y .
flu e n c y ,
For these fa c to rs Torrance
in d ica te d p o s itiv e evidence o f content and co n stru ct v a lid it y , as w ell
as concurrent and p re d ic tiv e v a lid it y (1974).
This in v e s tig a to r f e l t
th a t the Torrance Tests were a more than adequate measure o f c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g .
The in v e s tig a to r knows o f no instrum ent th a t claims
to gauge the o v e ra ll phenomenon o f c re a tiv e a b i li t y .
3.
Age and Number o f Subjects
S ixth grade students were chosen as the subjects o f th is study be­
cause o f the in v e s tig a to r's in te re s t in elementary education and also
112
because they were a v a ila b le a t an appropriate tim e.
The age o f the
subjects may have co n trib u te d to the mixed re s u lts .
In g e n e ra l, the
students who were the subjects o f the study ranged in age from eleven
years and s ix months to twelve years and s ix months.
Given th is age
range, few i f any should have been expected to fu n c tio n a t the higher
le v e ls o f moral reasoning where c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i l i t y
would be most c r u c ia l.
Research in d ic a te s th a t s ix th grade students
would a t best be in Stage Three o f moral development.
Stage Four to
F ive, where c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g would be most C r it ic a l, does
not u s u a lly develop u n til young adulthood (Lickona, 1983).
Perhaps
o ld e r subjects would have demonstrated gre a te r change in moral reason­
ing a b i l i t y when exposed to tra in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g .
Subjects a t the sen ior high le ve l or p o s s ib ly college students might
have demonstrated more patterned fin d in g s .
The present study consisted o f o n ly fo r t y - s ix su b je cts.
An in ­
creased sample size could have enhanced the p re c is io n o f the s t a t i s t i ­
cal analyses.
A la rg e r number o f treatm ent groups m ight have provided
a c le a re r p ic tu re s t a t is t ic a l l y o f the re la tio n s h ip s th a t were in v e s ti­
gated.
An increase in the classrooms involved from two to ten would
have provided a to ta l subject pool in the area o f two hundred and f i f t y .
Such an increase would have required th a t classroom teachers be tra in e d
as agents in the in te rv e n tio n technique in order to have conducted the
experiment.
T h is, however, might have introduced other fa c to rs such as
s t a b i l it y across treatm ent which could have confused the re s u lts .
113.
4.
Length o f In te rv e n tio n and Lessons
The to ta l time o f the tra in in g could have been extended w ell beyond
the ten weeks o f th is experiment.
C e rta in ly a tra in in g program clo se r
to eighteen weeks in le n g th , h a lf o f an academic year, would have helped
to s o lid if y the re s u lts o f the tr a in in g .
Extending the tra in in g much
beyond eighteen weeks m ight have introduced confounding va ria b le s such
as the e ffe c ts o f s u b sta n tia l m aturation and outside in flu e n c e s .
The length o f the actual lessons could also have been expanded to
f o r t y - f iv e minutes or more.
Middle school students have the a tte n tio n
span and in te re s t to b e n e fit from longer lessons.
On two occasions the
in v e s tig a to r had to conduct the lessons fo r close to an hour e a r lie r
in the day in order to make up fo r lessons th a t were missed.
Both o f
these lessons seemed to e l i c i t more c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t responses than
usual.
However, i t would have been d i f f i c u l t to get permission to in ­
crease the length o f the lessons in the tea che r's alre ad y crowded day.
In re tro s p e c t, t h i r t y minute lessons were probably too b r ie f to have
the t o t a l l y desired e ffe c t.
A more productive time fo r the lessons to have taken place may have
been e a rly morning or m id-afternoon.
As the la s t a c t i v i t y o f the day,
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g may have taken second place to thoughts o f
going home, a fte r school s p o rts , . s o c ia l l i f e , and the lik e .
One student
admitted to the researcher th a t the class was " p r e tty pooped" by the
time c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t tra in in g occurred,
5.
Role o f In v e s tig a to r
Having the same person, the in v e s tig a to r, perform both te s tin g and
' /:'• •
■
' •
tra in in g may have caused a n x ie ty w ith in ; the treatm ent group which was
.
114
not a fa c to r w ith regard to the non-treatm ent group.
I f the classroom
teacher had conducted the c r e a t iv it y tra in in g i t might have resulted
in a dual b e n e fit:
i t would have been more r e a lis t ic than having an
o u ts id e r do the tra in in g and i t might have encouraged the teacher to
continue to use such exercises.
Perhaps none o f the above fa c to rs in d iv id u a lly e xp lain the mixed
p o s t-te s t re s u lts .
Taken as a complex o f in te ra c tin g fa c to rs , however,
they may be powerful in e xp la in in g the re s u lts th a t were described in
Chapter 4.
On the other hand, i t could w ell be th a t the re s u lts o f the
experiment are accurate:
no real change in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
a b i l i t y occurred as a re s u lt o f the in v e rv e n tio n .
The expectation th a t
any treatm ent would have had an e ffe c t on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
or moral reasoning in a period o f ten weeks may have been o v e rly o p ti­
m is tic .
Although a ll o f the above may have co n trib u te d to the m ixed.results
o f th is experiment, i t is probably begging the question o f why the non­
treatm ent group showed s ig n ific a n t growth in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing even though they were not exposed to the treatm ent.
The d a ily le s ­
son plans o f the non-treatm ent group were checked on a weekly basis and
a b r ie f conference was held w ith the classroom teacher to be sure th a t
s p e c ific c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a c t iv it ie s were! not being used.
Contact between the students in the two groups could not be c o n tro lle d
a fte r school.
I t is u n r e a lis tic to belie ve th a t the c h ild re n did not
discuss c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a fte r school, but th a t discussion
would probably have been m inim al.
Perhaps as much as anything , the
explanation re la te s to the p re v io u s ly described v a r ia b i l i t y o f
115
assessment measures used to gauge c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i li t y .
Although con sideration o f the oth er fa c to rs mentioned above is im portant
fo r fu tu re studies in th is area.
Recommendations fo r Further Research
.
The mixed re s u lts o f th is study make i t d i f f i c u l t to derive any
d e fin itiv e conclusions regarding the va ria b le s under study.
The fa c t
th a t no re la tio n s h ip has been demonstrated does not prove th a t no r e la ­
tio n s h ip e x is ts .
The in v e s tig a to r continues to fe e l th a t an associa­
tio n does e x is t between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
The fo llo w in g recommendations are made in the hope th a t they may lead
to improved designs fo r studies to in v e s tig a te such a re la tio n s h ip in
the fu tu re .
The f i r s t o f the fo llo w in g recommendations is a change th a t
would have made the present study stro n g e r; the remaining recommenda­
tio n s are intended to spur fu r th e r research in the area o f the r e la tio n ­
ship between c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
I.
Changes in the Present Study
The present study would have been stronger had adjustments been
made fo r number o f groups, length o f the in te rv e n tio n and lessons, and
age o f the sub jects.
An expansion in the number o f classrooms p a r t ic i­
pating in the study would lead to a more d e fin itiv e s t a t is t ic a l analy­
sis o f re s u lts .
Although increasing the treatm ent group to ten classes
would re q u ire tra in in g classroom teachers to provide the c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g tr a in in g , in re tro s p e c t th is would be a w orthwhile
change in the study.
116
An increase in the length o f the treatm ent lessons to f o r t y - f iv e
or s ix ty minutes and an increase in the number o f weeks o f the e x p e ri­
ment to a semester would enhance the e ffe c t o f the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t
th in k in g tra in in g and p o s s ib ly a concomitant a c c e le ra tio n in moral rea­
soning.
These changes would.be more e ffe c tiv e w ith o ld e r su b jects,
since i t is a t more mature le v e ls o f moral development th a t c re a tiv e dive rge nt th in k in g would th e o r e tic a lly have most e ffe c t on moral reason­
ing .
Using o ld e r subjects might give a c le a re r p ic tu re o f the r e la tio n ­
ship .
Thus using upper le ve l high school students or te a c h e rs -in -
tra in in g would be a suggested change in the cu rre n t study.
Another v a ria tio n o f the present, study would be an in v e s tig a tio n
th a t looked a t the e ffe c t o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tra in in g on
moral reasoning fo r subjects a t several grade le v e ls ( e . g . , fo u rth ,
e ig h th , tw e lfth , and c o lle g e ).
This v a ria tio n would te s t the e ffe c ts ,
i f any, a t d iffe r e n t age le v e ls .
2.
Changes in T ra in in g Approaches
Many approaches e x is t in the tra in in g o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
in g .
The fo llo w in g are some o f the v a ria tio n s th a t could be used.
Rather than having an a d u lt teach c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g to s tu ­
dents, the use o f a s e lf- in s tr u c tio n a l program ( e . g . , Covington, Pro­
du ctive Thinking Program, 1972) might be w orthw hile.
Such an approach
could in d ic a te patterns o f change th a t are d iffe r e n t from group-based
tr a in in g .
C ovington's method uses illu s tr a te d s to rie s w ith a teenage
boy and g i r l as the main characters.
In fo llo w in g th e ir adventures the
reader learns to th in k more c re a tiv e ly .
One b e n e fit in th is approach
117.
is th a t the student can advance a t h is own pace and o n ly minimal
teacher tra in in g is necessary.
Another v a ria tio n to d ir e c t ly teaching c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
would be a study based on the enhancement o f im agination ( e . g . , E berle,
Scamper Games fo r Imagination Development, 1971).
In these twenty
minute group lessons the students are led through various fa n ta s y ,e x e r!
cise s. This could r e s u lt in in te re s tin g fin d in g s w ith regard to the
development o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning.
A fin a l v a ria tio n would be the use o f synectics tra in in g ( e . g . ,
S ynectics, I n c . , Making I t Strange, 1968).
This is an approach to
c r e a t iv it y tra in in g th a t u t iliz e s metaphor and analogy in attem pting to
come up w ith o rig in a l s o lu tio n s to problems.
A study o f the e ffe c ts o f
th is program on c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and moral reasoning would
be in te re s tin g .
3.
S p e c ific Areas o f C reative-D ivergent Thinking
A study th a t concentrates on a s in g le a b i l i t y w ith in c re a tiv e -
dive rge nt th in k in g might be less l i k e l y to re s u lt in mixed fin d in g s
than one th a t attempts to change and study several a b i li t i e s .
For ex­
ample, a study could be devised th a t concentrated e x c lu s iv e ly on enhanc
ing id e a tio n a l flu e n cy.
Using brainstorm ing techniques ( e . g . , Osborn,
Applied Im agination, 1963) as the method o f tra in in g would be one ap­
proach.
The possible consequent production o f m u ltip le s o lu tio n s to
moral dilemmas would be thought to lead to higher moral reasoning.
118
4.
An Integrated Approach
The re s u lts o f research have in d ica te d the u t i l i t y o f teaching
c r e a t iv it y s k i l l s through the re g u la r curriculum (Tweet, 1980). Tweet's
study demonstrated th a t c re a tiv e th in k in g could be enhanced w ith in the
social studies curriculum .
A re p lic a tio n th a t also in v e s tig a te d changes
in moral reasoning a b i l i t y would be u s e fu l.
The research could also
attem pt to determine c re a tiv e growth w ith in other curriculum areas.
Educational Im p lic a tio n s
Because o f the somewhat mixed re s u lts o f the present study, i t is
d i f f i c u l t to make many suggestions fo r educational d e cisio n s.
However,
the fo llo w in g im p lic a tio n s seem to be warranted.
1.
In exposing students to c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tra in in g
schools may not be able to r e lia b ly a sce rta in whether students have, in
fa c t , become more c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k e rs .
This lack o f r e l i a b i l i t y
seems to hold tru e fo r both the te s tin g o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
and fo r the a p p lic a tio n o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g to real l i f e
s itu a tio n s .
2.
In th is , study tra in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g appears
to have had no system atic e ffe c t on students' moral reasoning a b i li t y .
In s e ttin g s where moral development is an e x p lic it goal o f education,
more d ire c t attempts to enhance moral reasoning, such as the discussion
o f moral dilemmas, may be a b e tte r approach.
119
Summary
Chapter 5 o f th is study d e a lt w ith a review o f the problem s ta te ­
ment, a discussion o f p re te s t to p o s t-te s t fin d in g s , a discussion o f
the mixed nature o f the re s u lts , recommendations fo r fu r th e r research,
and educational im p lic a tio n s .
The problem o f th is study was to a s c e rta in , under experimental
c o n d itio n s , whether a program o f tra in in g in c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing would have an e ffe c t on e ith e r the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g or
moral reasoning o f s ix th grade students. . Both the treatm ent and non­
treatm ent groups demonstrated s ig n ific a n t gains and losses in c re a tiv e divergent th in k in g .
moral reasoning.
N either group demonstrated s ig n ific a n t change in
Thus, the re s u lts o f th is study in d ic a te d no r e la tio n ­
ship between tra in in g in. c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g and e ith e r
c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g a b i li t y , o r moral reasoning a b i l i t y .
The mixed re s u lts were a ttrib u te d to several possible fa c to rs .
The most im portant o f these fa c to rs d e a lt w ith the less than optimal
correspondence between the tra in in g program and the assessment in s tr u ­
ment, and the general d i f f i c u l t y in assessing c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k ­
ing a b i li t y .
Recommendations f o r fu r th e r research included adjustments to the
present study, v a ria tio n s in the c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g tra in in g
approach, concentrating on lim ite d areas o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g ,
and an experiment th a t would in te g ra te c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
tra in in g w ith in a s p e c ific curriculum area.
tio n s were drawn from th is study.
Two educational im p lic a ­
The f i r s t im p lic a tio n concerned the
120
lack o f c e r ta in ty w ith which the e ffe c ts o f c re a tiv e -d iv e rg e n t th in k in g
tra in in g must be approached.
The second im p lic a tio n involved the need
to teach more d ir e c t ly to moral development i f such development is an
e x p lic it educational g o a l.
121
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