Chapter 1 Cognition and Creativity
— Are Creativity and Intelligence the Same Thing?
❖ Getzels & Jackson (1962):
➢ Gave subjects various tests of creativity
➢ Found significant and substantial correlation between “creativity”
scores and traditional intelligence measures
➢ Conclusion:
■ Getzels and Jackson concluded that creativity is not distinct
from general intelligence. Since the higher someone scored on
the intelligence tests, the higher they scored on the creativity
tests and the lower they scored on the intelligence test, the
lower they scored on the creativity tests. So according to
Getzels and Jackson measuring one of these things in a person,
either creativity or intelligence, allows us to fairly reliably
predict the other.
❖ Wallach & Kogan (1965):
➢ Suggested creativity tests used by Getzels & Jackson (1962) had
issues
➢ Issues with creativity tests:
■ Wallach and Kogan felt that the so-called creativity tests that
were used by Getzels and Jackson were too diverse and were
actually measuring non-creative traditional intelligence, not just
creativity.
● For example some of the Getzels and Jackson so-called
creativity measures were tasks like:
◆ Making up mathematical problems from
paragraphs containing sets of numerical
information; detecting hidden geometric figures
within more complex patterns; thinking up very
definitions for given stimulus words; composing
appropriate endings for fables, one moralistic, one
humorous and one sad. Now, there were others as
well, but hopefully you can see Wallach and
Kogan’s point here.
➢ Suggested new way of conceptualizing/measuring creativity needed
➢ Suggested that the way Getzels & Jackson (1962) carried out their
tests was also a problem
➢ Issues with the testing procedure:
■ The issue was that Getzels and Jackson took creativity
measurements in a traditional testing type of environment.
● For example, they always referred to their creativity
measures as tests whenever they talked to the subjects,
they were always administered in large numbers of
students in a classroom setting, and the measures were
always timed and the time limits were always relatively
brief.
➢ Suggestion for testing procedure:
■ A non-test kind of context and a more relaxed timing of the
measures are important to measuring creativity, to give
subjects the time to be creative, and to keep them from trying to
just rush out any old answers simply to keep up with their peers
and the time constraints of the exam.
— Wallach & Kogan (1965)
❖ Wallach & Kogan (1965)
➢ Subjects: 5th graders, aged 10-11
➢ Created a very different atmosphere for creativity tests
➢ Differences from Getzels & Jackson (1962):
■ They created a much more game-like and relaxed atmosphere.
For example, some of the differences, Wallach and Kogan
made sure the principals and teachers of the schools they used
never made reference to tests or examinations. Also, the
researchers were introduced to the children as visitors
interested in children's games. The children also became
acquainted with the researchers in an initial 2 week observation
period where the researchers also made it known that they were
not interested in any kind of intellectual evaluation of the
children.
➢ Measures of creativity consisted of various games involving
divergent thinking
➢ Convergent thinking:
■ Convergent thinking is thinking that leads to a single correct or
best answer. It's sort of like processing information in order to
converge on to one single answer.
● What is the capital of Missouri? How much is 9x8?
➢ Divergent thinking:
■ Divergent thinking is thinking that leads to numerous possible
solutions. Questions that require divergent thinking are those to
which there are multiple possible answers or solutions.
● Make a list of different ways you can cook beef.
➢ Tests of divergent thinking are often used in tests of creativity, where
the number and originality of people's responses can be judged.
— Wallach & Kogan (1965): Creativity Measures
❖ “Instances”
➢ Children were asked to list all things they could think of:
■ - That is round; that make a noise; that is square; that move on
wheels
➢ Researchers record uniqueness and the number of answers the child
generated
❖ “Alternate Uses”
➢ Children asked to think of all the different ways they could use a:
■ - Newspaper; knife; automobile tire; cork; shoe; button; key;
chair
❖ “Similarities”
➢ Children asked to list all the ways that pairs of objects are alike:
■ - A potato and a carrot; a cat and a mouse; a train and a tractor,
etc
❖ “Pattern Meanings”
➢ Child asked to list all the things they think a particular drawing could
be
❖ “Line Meanings”
➢ Child asked to generate meanings/interpretations relevant to a
particular line
— Wallach & Kogan (1965): Results
❖ Along with creativity, also collected 10 measures of general intelligence
➢ 3 subtests from Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
➢ 2 subtests from School and College Ability Tests (SCAT)
➢ 5 subtests from Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP)
❖ Results
➢ Various creative measures strongly correlated with each other (i.e.
high scorers on one creative measure tended to be high scorers on the
others)
➢ Various intelligence measures strongly correlated with each other
(i.e. high scorers on one intelligence measure tended to be high
scorers on the others)
➢ Very LOW correlation (.09) between the group of creativity measures
and the group of intelligence measures (i.e. subjects scores on
creativity measures were highly independent of their scores on
intelligence measures!)
❖ CONCLUSION:
➢ These findings suggested that the typical indicators of general
intelligence, things like scores on I.Q. tests and a person's GPA are
largely independent and distinct from original creative thinking,
like what might be measured by divergent thinking tasks.
— Aspects of Divergent Thinking
❖ Divergent thinking:
➢ used when problem may have several equally good answers
➢ involves considering many equally good ideas/possibilities.
❖ Aspects of divergent (creative) thinking:
➢ Fluency :
■ Fluency is scored by the number of answers that a person
gives. Sometimes referred to as the person's “richness of
thought”, how easily they can generate responses.
➢ Flexibility:
■ This refers to the number of times the subject's focus of
thought moves from one area to another. (David’s thinking is
not very flexible compared to Sara)
➢ Elaboration:
■ Refers to the number of times the subject adds an extra
element to the response in order to give a fresh answer. (Sara
always adds more stuff into her sentence instead of just writing
the minimum number of words.)
➢ Originality:
■ Originality refers to the number of appropriate, but rarely
given answers. (Sara again has more original responses
compared to David’s answer)
— Wallach & Wing (1969)
❖ Question: Is a person's real-world achievement predicted better by their
scores on creativity tests or their scores on general intelligence tests?
➢ Subjects: incoming freshmen university students
➢ General intelligence measured by SAT scores
➢ Creativity measured by performance on divergent thinking tasks
➢ Real-world achievement investigated in several domains
■ –Leadership (Appointed to school office? Organized political
group/campaign?)
■ –Music (Composed music? Performed professionally? Gave
music lessons?)
■ –Drama/Speech (Place in top 3 in speech/debate contest? Had
the lead in play? Wrote a play?)
■ –Art (Finished work of art not done for a course? Exhibited
work of art at school? Had photographs, drawings, or other
artwork published?
■ –Writing (Edited school paper/yearbook? Had
poems/stories/essays published? Literary awards or prizes for
writing?)
■ –Science (Performed independent scientific experiment not for
a course? Built a piece of equipment on your own? Awards or
prizes for scientific work?)
— Wallach & Wing (1969): Results
❖ Results
➢ What was more highly-correlated with real-world success – traditional
intelligence measures or divergent thinking (creativity) measures?
■ Divergent thinking creativity scores or what they found was
that a person's divergent thinking creativity scores were
significantly more highly correlated with real world
achievement than were their traditional intelligence scores.
❖ CONCLUSION:
➢ Better predictor of real-world success (beyond just getting good
grades in school)?
■ Wallach and Wing concluded that if you want to predict the
student's ultimate success in the real world beyond just
predicting how well they'll do in school, what will predict that
real world achievement better is their creativity scores as
measured by their performance on divergent thinking tasks.
Much more so than their scores on traditional intelligence
or IQtests. Again, based on Wallach and Wing's research,
creativity seems to be a better predictor of real world
achievement than traditional intelligence scores.
— Threshold Theory
❖ Though traditional intelligence and creativity appear to be very different
constructs, that does not mean that they are TOTALLY independent.
❖ Threshold Theory
➢ A certain level (i.e. threshold) of intelligence is necessary for creative
performance to be possible
➢ If a person is of very low IQ, they will not be creative either
➢ If a person meets the minimum threshold of intelligence then they
MAY be creative, though there's no guarantee they will be
creative.
❖ Relationship between creativity and intelligence is described by a triangle
➢ –With higher IQ, people have more of a chance for truly creative
thinking
➢ –“triangle” - low IQ goes with low creativity, but as you get to higher
and higher IQ, people become more-and-more capable of creative
thinking (though you can still have people high in IQ who are low in
creativity!)
— Support for Threshold Theory?
❖ Jauk et al (2013)
➢ Investigated threshold theory regarding both creative potential and
creative achievement
■ Measured creative potential with divergent “alternate uses”
tasks (uses for a can, knife, and hairdryer) and “instances” tasks
(things that can make noise, be elastic, and what one could use
for quicker locomotion)
➢ Originality of responses rated on 4-point scale from “not creative” to
“very creative”
■ Measured creative achievement by asking people about their
accomplishments in 8 different domains (literature, music, arts
& crafts, creative cooking, sports, visual arts, performing arts,
and science and engineering), having subjects respond on 11-
point scale from “I have never engaged in this domain” to “I
have already sold some of my work in this domain”
■ Measure intelligence with 4 subtests of the Intelligence
Structure Battery
❖ RESULTS
➢ Evidence of necessary level (threshold) of intelligence found for?
■ Yes! However, they found that the idea of threshold theory is
supported in regard to a person's creative potential, but not for
their actual creative achievement. So when looking at a person's
creative potential, they did find evidence of a necessary level
of intelligence for creative original thinking.
➢ IQ threshold when creative thinking is defined liberally (only
considered top 2 most creative answers for a subject)?
■ They found an IQ threshold of 100 necessary for original
thinking.
➢ IQ threshold when creative thinking is defined strictly (considered
average of all of the subject's answers)?
■ With a more strict definition of original thinking, they found an
IQ threshold of 120.
◆ Now the difference between the liberal definition
of creativity and a strict definition of creativity is
essentially the range of ideas that one considers
creative or original. Basically, they had a panel of
judges rate each subject's responses on originality
of thought on a 4 point scale from not creative to
very creative with a more liberal definition of
original thinking, they would only consider a
subject top 2 answers.
➢ NO threshold found for?
■ They found no statistically detectable threshold of IQ necessary
for creative achievement.
➢ CONCLUSION:
■ The evidence does seem to support threshold theory for creative
potential, but not for creative achievement. Now depending on
how strictly you define creative thinking or original thinking
that threshold level seems to be somewhere between an IQ Of
100 and 120.
— Associative Theory
❖ Associative theories of creative cognition examine how ideas are generated
and chained together
❖ Sarnoff Mednick (1962) Associative Theory of the Creative Process
➢ One of first associative theories of creative thinking supported by
scientific research
■ He called the "flatter associative hierarchies." What this
means is that, if you imagine your semantic memory, which is
your memory for concepts, ideas, and knowledge, you might
have a particular concept in your memory, but then there are
lots of associated concepts as well.
■
➢ Most important finding: original, creative ideas tend to be remote
■ - original ideas tend to come along only after we come up with
non-original ones first
■ - On divergent thinking tests, most original and creative ideas
will be in second half of subjects’ lists of answers
■ - suggests that we should take our time when solving a problem
so that we are more likely to get to those more remote original
solutions
➢ Mednick's suggestion about creative people?
■ So, Mednick suggested that creative people are better at finding
these original, remote ideas, like we've just described. In fact,
Mednick created a test based on this idea that he believed was
an effective test of creativity.
● According to Mednick, creative people have flatter
associative hierarchies, where there isn't such a large
difference in associative strength of all these ideas. And
this makes it easier for creative people to access these
more remote, less-strongly connected ideas than for noncreative people. Created the Remote Associates Test
(RAT) as a test of creative ability
— Remote Associates Test (RAT)
❖ Remote Associates Test (RAT)
➢ Created as a test of creative ability subject is given 3 words that have
some association between them, and the subject must try to find the
(remote) idea that connects them all together
➢ Mednick finding?
■ Mednick's work showed that there was a significant correlation
between a subjects' ability to produce original or flexible
solutions to problems - in other words, finding remote,
creative ideas - and their score well on this Remote Associates
Test. People who do well on the RAT also do well on insight
problems.
➢ Reaching a solution to the problems requires “creative thought,”
because the first, most related, information retrieved in solution
attempts is often not correct, and solvers must think of more distantly
related (remote) information in order to connect the three words.
❖ RAT is often used as a test of creativity, though it has been questioned – the
main criticism?
➢ For the reason that a person's score on the test tends to be highlycorrelated with their verbal ability. The Remote Associates Test is
supposed to measure "creative thinking." But people with high scores
in verbal ability generally do very well on the Remote Associates
Test and people with low scores in verbal ability generally do poorly
on the Remote Associates Test. In other words,a person's results
depend significantly on something other than creativity.
— Analogical Thinking
❖ Analogical thinking – using information from one domain (the source of
the analogy) to help solve a problem in another domain (the target)
❖ Hans Welling (2007)
➢ Divided creative cognitive processes up into 4 basic operations
❖ Application
➢ - Application of knowledge in its habitual (common) context
➢ - Creativity is required to apply existing knowledge in a real-world
situation
➢ Examples?
■ The most common example would be everyday activities like
walking or driving. We have knowledge about the rules
involved in these activities, but everyday situations involve the
creative application of those rules to new, specific situations.
For example, applying the rules of driving to some new specific
location that we never drove to before.
❖ Analogy
➢ - Transposition of a conceptual structure from a habitual context to a
novel context, where there is an abstract relationship between the
elements of the original context elements of the new context
➢ Examples?
■ You love fishing but have trouble finding love in real life. You
can apply the concepts of fishing into finding a mate. So,
fishing requires patience and initiative (go find where fishes
are) and try different spots. Therefore, in order to find a mate
you will need to go to different places and be initiative and
patient.
❖ Combination
➢ - Merging of two or more concepts into one new idea
➢ - Different from analogy – requires creating a new conceptual
structure from two previously separate concepts
➢ Examples?
■ Johannes Gutenberg's movable- type printing press is said to be
a combination of the ideas of a "coin punch" and a "wine
press." A coin punch is a device that can leave an impression on
a small area like a coin. The wine press was a device that could
apply force over a large area in order to squeeze juice from
grapes. By combining these ideas, Gutenberg came up with the
idea of taking a bunch of these small coin punches and putting
them under the force of a wine press so that they left their
images on paper. The combination of these two ideas led to the
movable-type printing press.
❖ Abstraction
➢ - a pattern, relationship, or organization present in a NUMBER of
different perceptions or contexts
➢ - Higher levels of abstraction correspond to less reliance on the
particular concrete elements involved in a particular perception or
context
— Welling (2007) Abstraction Example and Findings
❖ “Abstraction” ExampleDivide symbols at right up into 2 logical groups of 3
symbols
❖ Possible Solutions:
➢ - 3 large-circle symbols and 3 large NON-circle symbols
➢ - 3 symbols w/ small-triangles in center, 3 symbols with small NONtriangles in center
➢ - 3 symbols w/ squares of some kind, 3 symbols without squares of
any kind
■ - These require relationships between particular CONCRETE
features (squares, circles, etc)
■ - More abstract solution: 3 symbols with inside figure same as
the outside figure, 3 with different inside/outside figures
● - This solution is more abstract – it doesn’t rely on
particular concrete features, but can involve ANY
feature, as long a”s the inner and outer features are the
same
❖ Welling found that 88% of subjects found the concrete solutions first and
only later found the more abstract (if they found it at all!)
❖ Welling’s (2007) Overall Findings
➢ “High creativity” (e.g. scientific/artistic creations) involve which
operations?
■ Welling's research led him to the conclusion that "high
creativity," the creativity generally involved in scientific and
artistic creations, is usually associated with the "combination"
and "abstraction" operations.
➢ - These creations require deep reconceptualization of ideas
➢ - This is often a long-term process – sometimes occurring over many
years.
➢ “Everyday creativity” seems to more often involve which operations?
■ Everyday creativity - like figuring out a way to unscrew a screw
when you don't have a screwdriver, or something like that seems to be derived primarily from the "application" and
"analogy" operations.
— Recognizing Analogies in Everyday Life Can Be Difficult
❖ While analogical thinking can be useful in coming up with creative
solutions, research indicates that people often have trouble recognizing when
one problem may be used to solve another.
❖ Gick & Holyoak (1980; 1983)
➢ Gave subjects a problem to solve (Duncker's “radiation problem”)
➢
➢ What percentage of subjects found the solution?
■ Only 10 percent of subjects could come up with a solution to
the problem.
— Gick & Holyoak (1980): Results
❖ However, some subjects were exposed to the following story as well…
➢
❖ After also reading this story, what did the solution rate rise to?
➢ The solution rate did go up a bit - to 30 percent.
❖ When subjects were specifically told that this story might help them solve
the radiation problem (but without pointing out the specific analogy), what
did the solution rate rise to?
➢ The solution rate went up to 92 percent.
❖ CONCLUSION:
➢ So, what this points out is that, while creative thinking is often
triggered by analogical thinking, recognizing useful analogies, while
trying to solve problems can often be difficult in everyday life. Again,
for most of these subjects, it wasn't enough that the analogy between
the fortress story and the radiation problem was right there in front of
them. They needed to be told that they could use the story to help
solve the radiation problem.
— Is Creative Thinking the Same as Problem Solving?
❖ Many theories regarding creative thinking assume that creative ideas result
from PROBLEM SOLVING.
❖ Tests of creative thinking often involve problem solving (e.g. tests of
divergent thinking!)
❖ Most researchers accept that not ALL creative thinking is a form of problem
solving (e.g. creativity of artists), though most believe that all problem
solving involves SOME degree of creativity.
❖ Distinction between problem solving and problem finding
➢ Do both involve the same form of creativity?
■ Problem solving and problem finding may each involve
different forms of creativity.
➢ When does problem finding become important?
■ To understand what's meant by problem finding, finding
becomes important when we start talking about problems
known as ill defined problems as opposed to what are known
as well defined problems.
— Well-Defined vs. Ill-Defined Problems
❖ Well-Defined Problems
➢ Aspects of well-defined problems?
■ 1. Well defined problems are those that are presented in a clear,
unambiguous fashion.
■ 2. They have a very clearly defined current or start state and a
well defined goal.
■ 3. They have a clear path to their solution and it's clear when
the solution has been reached.
❖ Examples:
➢ A maze
➢ Figuring out the price of an item that is on sale for 20% off
➢ Pulling socks out of a drawer till you have a pair that match
❖ Ill-Defined Problems
➢ Aspects of ill-defined problems?
■ 1. Ill-defined problems do not yield a particular certain correct
answer.
■ 2. There may be conflicting data or information.
■ 3. The goal may be vague or ambiguous.
❖ Examples:
➢ Writing a “great novel”
➢ Finding the perfect mate
— Problem Finding
❖ Most problems we run into in our lives are ill-defined problems.
❖ Not only must these problems be solved, they usually require creativity
simply to identify and describe those problems.
❖ In our lives, we may feel that something is wrong, but not know exactly
what the problem is
➢ Example: You’ve been unhappy in your relationship recently
■ You know there’s a problem, but what is it?
❖ Solving the problem will be impossible without first identifying and
describing the problem
❖ Perhaps we think we know what the problem is, but the problem is really
something different
➢ What does research suggest about the problem solving and problem
finding processes?
■ Research suggests that problem solving and problem finding
are different processes and that any particular individual may
be very good at problem solving while not being very good at
problem finding. In order to solve problems, they may need the
problem to be laid out for them very unambiguously.
■ On the other hand, some people may be able to effectively
identify and describe problems — problem finding, but might
not be so good at actually solving them.
● The separation of problem finding from problem solving
implies that creativity can be divided up and certain
creative processes are isolated.
— Wallas's Stage Model of Creativity
❖ Wallas (1926)
➢ Divides creativity up into 4 stages: Preparation, Incubation,
Illumination, & Verification
❖ 1. Preparation
➢ What activities are involved?
■ Includes identifying and describing the problem as well as
gathering information about the problem and exploring various
aspects of the problem.
➢ Involves a period of initial work on the problem, spending time and
effort to learn about the nature of the problem, to consider different
possible angles from which to attack the problem
❖ 2. Incubation
➢ What does it involve?
■ This stage involves the unconscious processing of the problem.
Take a break from the problem and step aside for a bit
(incubation period). It seems odd that this is part of “working
on a problem,” but there are many famous anecdotes about
discoveries made through incubation when the discoverer was
away from their usual workplace.
➢ (EXAMPLE?)
■ One of the best examples is the story about Archimedes
discovering the principle of displacement. The idea that the
liquid displaced by immersed solid is equal to the volume of the
solid. (He discovered this unintentionally while taking a bath.
The water rises as he sinks into the tub.)
— How Might Incubation Help with Problem Solving?
❖ Smith & Dodds (1999)
➢ Described various theories explaining how incubation may aid
problem solving
❖ Conscious Work Theory
➢ Work on a problem is done intermittently, not all at once
➢ When involved in simple repetitive tasks (showering, vacuuming,
etc), you may find yourself mulling over the problem at the same time
■ While performing these simple tasks, most of your attention can
be focused on unresolved problems
➢ We then tend to forget the many brief episodes of work that occur,
except for the LAST step that leads to the actual solution – in this way
the work going on during incubation is “unconscious”
❖ Recovery From Fatigue Theory
➢ Proposed explanation?
■ This theory says that after the work and exertion that occurs
during the preparation stage, the incubation period allows time
to rest and recover. Once it refreshes the mind, normal
processes can function better for solving the problem at hand.
❖ Opportunistic Assimilation Theory
➢ Failures to solve the problem during the preparation stage are stored
in memory
➢ During incubation, when the necessary missing idea, object, or
experience is found in everyday life by chance, that helpful stimulus is
assimilated into the problem solving process and the solution is
allowed to appear
❖ Remote Association Theory
➢ information is retrieved from memory for use in problem solving
➢ Only after dominant responses have been retrieved will new ideas be
created
➢ For most everyday problems there are proven solutions that usually
work quite well – these are quickly retrieved and applied
➢ Incubation occurs only after common solutions have already been
tried without success during preparation – then the more creative,
remote ideas be created
❖ Forgetting Inappropriate Mental Sets
➢ incubation allows time for incorrect solutions to be forgotten
➢ In problem solving, there is competition between possible responses
or solutions
➢ When a stronger, more common or obvious response is incorrect, it
must be forgotten before the problem can be solved
➢ Incubation allows these dominant but incorrect responses to be
forgotten
— Wallas's Stage Model of Creativity: Illumination Stage
❖ Wallas (1926) (Stage model continued...)
➢ 3. Illumination
➢ Also known as?
■ This stage is also known as insight.
● results in a kind of “ah-ha” experienceIf incubation was
successful, then the problem-solver experiences
illumination.
➢ Illumination is sudden, or at least feels sudden – there is controversy
over whether the discovery of the solution was sudden, or just our
awareness of it.
— How Does Insight Occur?
❖ Selz's Schema Completion Hypothesis
➢ Creative problem solving occurs when an individual figures out how
the “givens” and goal of a problem fit together in a coherent structure
➢ A problem may be a coherent set of information with a GAP
➢ Solving the problem involves filling the gap in a way that completes
that structure
■ A schema is a mental structure or framework containing
everything we know about a particular concept. So we can think
of the coherent structure representing the overall problem as a
schema.
➢ If problem-solver has stored a partial schema (mental representation)
of an unsolved problem, an accidental encounter with a stimulus that
provides relevant information may complete the schema in a way that
is sudden and unexpected
❖ Reorganization of Visual Information Hypothesis
➢ Insight occurs when problem-solver looks at the problem in a new
way – reorganizing the visual information in a way that allows for
sudden viewing of the solution
■ Example: Find area of shape
■
➢ Many people struggle to find solution
➢ However, some subjects simply visually reorganize the problem to
find the solution...realizing the protruding portion is the same size as
the concave portion. Simply find the area of the rectangle!
— How Does Insight Occur?
❖ Overcoming a mental block by functional fixedness
➢ What is functional fixedness?
■ A cognitive bias that causes us to only think of items in terms
of their common or typical uses.
➢ This can constrain us from coming up with new solutions
■ Insight occurs when problem-solver overcomes functional
fixedness and a new way of solving problem comes to mind
➢ Example: Candle-mounting problem (take out all the matches and use
the box as a container for the candle)
❖ Applying Structural Organization of One Problem to Another
➢ Problem-solver abstracts structural elements common to two
problems, using one problem to solve another (this is also known as?)
■ Analogies.
➢ After initial struggles, being exposed to an analog of problem-to-besolved, a solution can suddenly come to mind
❖ Subconscious Random Recombination of Ideas
➢ Problem-solver makes random, unusual combinations between
different bodies of knowledge he/she possessed
➢ Eventually, one of these unusual combinations may lead to the sudden
realization of a solution
— Experience, Expertise, Information, and Insight
❖ Though experts have more knowledge and experience solving problems in
their field, they may have DIFFICULTY thinking about their field in an
original fashion
➢ An expert recognizes good ideas in his/her field, and has experience
recognizing problems and solutions in that field – but this may also
inhibit the person’s ability to find, produce, and appreciate
ORIGINAL insights
❖ The more knowledge one gains in a particular topic, the more rigid in their
beliefs on that topic tend to be, and this can sometimes make experts LESS
likely to engage in divergent/creative thinking than novices
➢ Psychologists like Jean Piaget and B.F. Skinner recommend that
people read in topics OUTSIDE their area of expertise, to help keep a
fresh perspective on solving problems in that area and help prevent
the rigidity of thought caused by having TOO MUCH experience in
that area
❖ Martinsen (1995)
➢ Assessed subjects’ experience solving problems in various domains
(e.g. math, science, carpentry, jigsaw puzzles, etc)
➢ Compared experience level with scores on insight problems in these
domains
➢ findings suggest that, for many people, there may be an OPTIMAL
level of knowledge to enable creative thinking, where increasing
knowledge is helpful up to a point but above an optimal level,
creativity may be inhibited.
— Wallas's Stage Model of Creativity: Verification Stage
❖ Wallas (1926) (Stage model continued...)
➢ 4. Verification
■ What does this stage involve?
● Verification involves both evaluating the worth of the
insight and the elaboration of the potential solution into
its complete form. Any insight that may have occurred
during the illumination stage must be evaluated and
verified since not all insights actually end up being good
ideas.
❖ Not all insights end up being good ideas, and some don’t pan out as actual
working solutions
Chapter 2 Developmental Influences on Creativity
— Stage Theories of Creativity
❖ Stage Theories: (aka discontinuity theories) – theories where development is
viewed to occur in stages rather than being continuous
❖ Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stage Theory
➢ Focuses on changes in conventionality
■ Also proposed a theory of moral cognitive development
➢ Conventions (what are they?)
■ Conventions are typical or widely accepted ways of behaving.
● can be formal (e.g. laws, cultural traditions) or informal
(e.g. current fashions, current hair styles)
● involves people agreeing on particular ways to do things
● following conventions can constrain our thinking and
inhibit thinking that is original/different
● Creativity involves originality and UNconventional
thought
— Kohlberg's Theory
❖ Kohlberg’s Stages of Conventional Thinking
➢ Preconventional Stage
■ Aspects of this stage
● 1. Children have not yet developed the thinking that
allows them to understand and use conventions.
● 2. They're not aware of what is conventional. Hence
they're not able to think or act in a conventional fashion.
➢ Conventional Stage
■ Aspects of this stage
● 1. The child has learned many conventions. They are
often aware of what is expected of them by others.
● 2.They often become greatly concerned with behaving in
conventional ways.
● 3.During this stage, children are very susceptible to peer
pressure and doing what their friends are doing.
➢ Postconventional Stage
■ Aspects of this stage
● 1. The person understands convention, but they use
conventions as only one source of information.
● 2. The person in the stage also thinks for him or herself,
and there is less of a concern with acting in a
conventional manner.
— Kohlberg's Stages and Creative Thinking
❖ Creative Thinking and Behavior
➢ In which stages does creative thinking tend to occur?
■ Essentially, creative thinking and behavior tend to occur in the
pre conventional and post conventional stages.
❖ Preconventional stage
➢ Attitude toward convention?
■ Children in the pre convention will not care about convention.
They don't think about what is expected or about what is
socially appropriate.
● They involve themselves in play activities based on their
own interests
➢ Properties of these play activities?
■ These activities are usually uninhibited, unconventional, and
creative.
❖ Postconventional stage
➢ Attitude toward convention?
■ People in the post conventional stage certainly understand
conventions: what is typical and what kinds of things are
expected of them. But they also think for themselves and are
not overly concerned with acting in a conventional manner.
❖ Conventional stage
➢ Attitude toward convention?
■ Children in the conventional stage are very sensitive to and are
usually greatly concerned with behaving in conventional ways.
➢ Results on creativity?
■ This makes it very difficult to be creative during this stage.
● Convention is a type of conformity, and creativity
requires non-conformity
➢ Fourth-grade slump (what is it?)
■ Researchers have identified what's known as the 4th grade
slump that can occur with children in this stage. Some research
has suggested that up to about 50 percent of 9 year old children
show a slump or reduction in their original thinking.
— Adversity in Childhood
❖ Adversity – difficulties or misfortune
❖ Goertzel & Goertzel (1962)
➢ “Cradles of Eminence” book
■ Researched childhood home life of 400 eminent people
■ Subjects considered “eminent” if they had at least two
biographies written about them in authors’ local library
(Montclair Public Library) and lived at least partially in 20th
century
➢ Homes checked for:
■ constant quarreling
■ rejecting, dominating, and over-possessive parents
■ anxiety about money
■ the death of one or both parents
■ physically handicapped children
■ broken homes (divorce/separation)
■ parents being dissatisfied with the child’s school progress or
choice of profession
— Goertzel & Goertzel (1962): Results
❖ Results
➢ Did many eminent people's family lives contain adversity?
■ They reported the great majority of eminent people whose lives
they examined experience significant adversity during
childhood.
➢ Did many eminent people have “supportive, warm, relatively
cuntroubled homes?”
■ Only 58 of their 400 eminent subjects could be said to have
experienced a supportive, warm, relatively untroubled home.
And even with these 58 eminent people, many times their lives
only fit the idea of a normal upbringing only in a very awkward
way.
■ In other cases, their childhood home life was so inadequately
described that there was a reason to suspect that their
upbringing might likely be considered much less normal, if
more information had been brought to light.
❖ Found differences between groups
➢ actors/actresses had most stormy homes (100%)
➢ Novelists / playwrights (89%)
➢ Composers / musicians (86%)
➢ Poets (83%)
➢ Artists (70%)
➢ Explorers / Adventurers / Athletes (67%)
➢ Singers (62%)
➢ Psychologists / Philosophers / Religious Leaders (61%)
➢ Lawyers / Doctors / Scientists (53%)
➢ Inventors (20%)
➢ Financiers (25%)
— MacKinnon (1960)
❖ Investigated “effective” people
➢ Emotional stability or personal soundness
➢ Originality or creativity of thought/action
❖ RESULTS: for Emotionally-stable people
■ 1. The continuing presence of both parents
■ 2. Coming from economically secure homes
■ 3. Having fathers described as respected citizens and someone
who was in all ways worthy of emulation
■ 4. Having mothers who were loving and closely attending and
controlling of them at home when they were young
■ 5. Having friendly and positive relationships with siblings
■ 6. Being likely to participate in competitive sports–essentially
being more robust and vigorous.
❖ RESULTS: for Highly-creative people
■ 1. More likely to agree with the statement: 'As a child my home
life was not as happy as that of most others.'
■ 2. To disagree with the statements: 'My father was a good man'
and 'I love my mother.
■ 3. To disagree with the statement 'As a child, I was able to go to
my parents with my problems'
■ 4. And to disagree with 'My home life was always happy.'
❖ CONCLUSION
➢ So similar to what was found by Goertzel and Goertzel. McKinnon's
research suggests that childhood adversity seems to be fairly common
in highly creative people.
— Humanistic View?
❖ Humanistic View
➢ The sort of childhood that leads to highly creative people is one where
families provide UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD for the
child.
➢ This kind of childhood leads to few pressures to conform or inhibit
oneself.
➢ This allows the child to “be themselves” and be spontaneous,
uninhibited, creative, and focused on their personal fulfillment.
❖ Can these views be reconciled? (One saying that adversity in childhood
leads to the development of highly creative thinking. And the other saying
that unconditional positive regard during childhood leads to highly creative
individuals.)
➢ Possible ways to reconcile humanistic vs. “adversity in childhood”
views
■ 1. One way these ideas might be able to coexist is if we accept
the idea that both of these ideas are useful at different times.
■ 2. Another possibility is that perhaps there's an optimal level of
challenge versus comfort that leads to the development of
highly creative individuals.
— The Family
❖ The family is very influential in development
❖ Researchers generally look at two main categories of family influences
regarding creativity: family PROCESS and family STRUCTURE
❖ Family Process: Disciplinary style of parents
➢ Parental style most likely to lead to creativity in children?
■ Some research suggests that the parental style that is most
likely to lead to creativity in children is a parental style that
DOES include discipline, but discipline that is somewhat lax that is not overly strict.
● This may promote exploration, play, and
experimentation, which can contribute to creative
thinking and problem-solving.
❖ Family Structure
➢ Main variables: FAMILY SIZE and BIRTH ORDER
➢ Runco & Bahleda (1987) gave children divergent thinking tests and
correlated their score with various family structure data
— Runco & Bahleda (1987): Results
❖ Runco & Bahleda (1987) Results
➢ Were birth order and/or number of siblings correlated with divergent
thinking scores?
■ They found that both birth order and number of siblings were
correlated with divergent thinking scores.
➢ Who had the highest divergent thinking scores?
■ Regarding birth order, "only children" - those children without
siblings - had the highest divergent thinking scores.
➢ Who had the next highest divergent thinking scores?
■ Next highest was "eldest" children.
❖ Number of siblings was also a factor
➢ Findings?
■ Children with more siblings had higher scores than children
with one sibling.
➢ WHY?
■ The researchers suggest that this may be because in larger
families with more siblings, there are more frequent
opportunities for play with siblings. Another possibility is that
with larger families, there is a lower degree of parental
supervision. Meaning that the children may need to use their
imaginative skills to remain entertained.
➢ How does this finding compare to what's found with general IQ and
GPA?
■ The authors also point out that it's interesting that this finding is
essentially the opposite of what's found with general
intelligence measures like IQ, G.P.A., and scholastic
achievement. With these, children from smaller families tend to
do better. So, evidence suggests that "only children" and
"eldest" children have the highest divergent thinking scores.
— Second-born Children
❖ Some research suggests that SECOND-BORN children may have a high
likelihood to think in creative ways
❖ Frank Sulloway (1996)
➢ Meta-analysis looking at birth-order effects
❖ RESULTS
➢ Regarding first-born children?
■ Suggested that firstborn children tend to develop a high need
for achievement in conventional areas like academics, athletics,
social life, and so on.
➢ What niche do second-born children tend to fill?
■ The second-born children tend toward filling a different niche
in the family. Since the conventional achievement niche is
already taken by the firstborn, the easiest way to be unique and
avoid competition with their older sibling is to fill the
"unconventional" or "rebellious" niche in the family.
➢ Relation to creativity?
■ He suggests that this rebellious and unconventional direction
includes being likely to behave in a more creative manner.
❖ OVERALL CONCLUSIONS:
➢ 1. Children with more siblings seem to be more creative thinkers.
➢ 2. However, regarding birth order, the results are less clear. Some
research suggests that "only children" and eldest children seem to
score highest in tests of divergent thinking, while other research
suggests that second-born children may be more likely to be creative
thinkers, due to their more rebellious personalities.
— Socioeconomic Factors
❖ Research suggests that socioeconomic factors also play a role in the
development of creative thinking
❖ How does socioeconomic status (SES) play a role?
➢ 1. First, in general, it's believed that socioeconomic status determines
what kinds of experiences and resources are available to the child.
➢ 2. Socioeconomic status is highly correlated with the level of parental
education, and level of parental education is thought to affect the
range or diversity of experiences a child has. This includes things like
how much the child will travel, the type and number of books
available in the home, the range of people who visit the home, and the
diversity and number of cultural experiences the child has - things like
going to museums and the theater.
➢ 3. Most researchers in this area feel that diverse experience, which is
dependent on socioeconomic status and parental education, likely
contributes to the development of creativity by contributing to the
"flexibility of thought" that is often associated with creative talent.
— Parental Variables
❖ Research suggests that parental personality traits are related to their
children’s creative potential
❖ Runco & Albert (2005)
➢ Subjects: exceptionally gifted boys and their parents
➢ Measured boys’ creativity (divergent thinking tasks, CPI, BIC)
➢ Gave parents the California Psychological Inventory (CPI)
❖ RESULTS
➢ First parental personality trait associated with a child's creativity?
■ It was found that the creativity scores of the subjects were
correlated, first, with their parents' capacities for "independent
thought."
➢ Qualities of this trait?
■ 1. Are people who are interested in achievement through
independence and autonomy,
■ 2. Who are tolerant, and who are flexible.
■ 3. Adaptable in their thinking and social behavior.
➢ Second parental personality trait associated with a child's creativity?
■ Subjects' creativity scores were also associated with where their
parents fall on the "masculinity/femininity" scale.
➢ What kind of parental score is associated with a child's creativity?
■ In particular, higher creativity in subjects was associated with
parental scores on the "feminine" side of the scale. The
feminine side of the scale reflects the parents' interest in and
capacity for PATIENCE and INTERPERSONAL
SENSITIVITIEs.
— Parental Independence and Creativity in Children
❖ Runco & Albert (1988)
➢ Looked at connection between parental independence and creativity in
children
➢ Children given divergent thinking tests
➢ Both parents and children given questionnaire allowing them to rate
how much independence is appropriate for children in certain
situations
■ Ex: At what age should a child earn his/her own spending
money?
■ Ex: At what age should a child be allowed to stay alone at night
until midnight?
■ Ex: At what age should a child be allowed to act as a babysitter
in another home?
❖ RESULTS
➢ What was parental appreciation for independence/autonomy
associated with?
■ What they found was that parental appreciation for the
independence and autonomy of their children is related to both
the degree of independence of their children, and to the creative
and divergent thinking skills of their children. In other words,
parents who allow children to have independence tend to have
children who think creatively.
— Parental Implicit Theories of Creativity
❖ Parents and teachers tend to have implicit Theories of creativity
➢ Implicit theories (what are they?)
■ Parents and teachers and other non-researchers tend to have
certain ideas and expectations about children's creativity. These
ideas and expectations are known as "implicit theories" of
creativity because they're not specifically articulated or shared
or tested, but they are theories of a sort.
➢ Parents’ and teachers’ theories of creativity affect how they respond to
children and what
➢ Opportunities they may provide to them
■ Example: art bias
➢ Parents expect a creative child to be artistic
■ If they have a child who can’t draw, they will likely not expect
much creativity from that child
— Parents' vs. Teachers' Implicit Theories of Creativity
❖ Runco (1989)
➢ Had parents complete the Adjective Check List (ACL), a list of 300
adjectives, identifying which adjectives they thought were indicative
of children’s creativity.
➢ Compared parents’ top 25 adjectives associated with creativity to top
25 adjectives TEACHERS associate with child’s creativity.
➢ How many adjectives related to creativity did parents and teachers
share?
■ What they found was that parents and teachers agreed on 7
items.
● "artistic," "curious," "imaginative," "independent,"
"inventive," "original," and "having wide interest.
➢ Runco had parents and teachers rate children according to their
respective top 25 adjectives
➢ Were parents' and teachers' ratings of children's creativity similar?
■ Based on their respective ratings, Runco found that parents and
teachers had very different ratings of the children's level of
creativity.
➢ Parents and teachers have very different experiences with children.
■ Parents have personal interest in child, have more detailed
knowledge about range of child’s interests and aptitudes in nonacademic settings
■ Teachers have less opportunity to observe range of child’s
interests/aptitudes, but have experience with wider RANGE of
students, giving them better idea of “average” child
— Runco, Johnson & Baer (1993)
❖ Runco, Johnson & Baer (1993)
➢ Similar study to Runco (1989) but also looked at traits thought to be
CONTRAINDICATIVE of creativity (traits indicating a lack of
creativity)
➢ Parents and teachers rated children on same group of adjectives
(unlike in Runco, 1989)
❖ RESULTS
➢ Percentage of agreement between parents/teachers regarding traits
indicative of creativity?
■ Runco and colleagues found that parents and teachers agreed on
about 67 percent of the attributes that they believe indicate
creativity.
● "adaptable," "imaginative," "adventurous," "clever,"
"inventive," "curious," "daring," and "dreamy."
➢ Less agreement on contraindicative traits: less likely to be cautious,
aloof, conventional, fault - finding, and unambitious
❖ Where researchers found differences between parents and teachers:
➢ What were parents more concerned with?
■ They found that the parents seemed to be more concerned with
"personal" and "intellectual" tendencies, like being
"enterprising," "impulsive," "industrious," "progressive,"
"resourceful," and "self-confident."
➢ What were teachers more concerned with?
■ Teachers seemed to be more concerned with traits that are more
apparent in "social" situations, like being "cheerful,"
"easygoing," "emotional," "friendly," and "spontaneous."
❖ In general, the traits that parents and teachers attribute to creative children
❖ were viewed as more socially desirable than traits NOT associated with
creativity
— Parental Creativity
❖ Runco & Albert (1986)
➢ Looked at adolescents who were either generally gifted (IQ over 150)
or had outstanding math-science abilities
➢ Gave adolescents and their parents various tests of divergent thinking
❖ RESULTS:
➢ Was there a significant correlation between creativity scores of
adolescents and those of their parents?
■ They found significant correlations between the creativity
scores of the adolescent and those of their parents.
➢ What was the correlation?
■ The correlation coefficients ranged from .4 to .5.
➢ Why might this correlation exist?
■ 1. One reason likely has to do with "modeling," where children
IMITATE the divergent thinking of their parents.
■ 2. Another reason is likely "valuation." That is, parents who
VALUE original thinking likely respect and appreciate
creativity and divergent thinking in their children, so they may
be more likely to REINFORCE that original thinking.
❖ Noble, Runco & Ozkaragoz (1993)
➢ Was there a significant correlation between creativity of adolescent
sons and their parents?
■ They found a significant correlation between the creativity of
the sons and their parents.
➢ Was it stronger with one parent or the other?
■ The correlation was much stronger between the fathers and the
sons.
➢ Was there a significant correlation between creativity of fathers and
mothers?
■ Another interesting finding was that there was NO significant
correlation between the creativity scores of the mothers and the
creativity scores of the fathers. This is interesting because it
goes against the idea that people tend to marry people similar to
themselves - an idea called "assortative mating."