Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 1994. / Title from title page screen, viewed April 14, 2006. Dissertation Committee: John R. McCarthy, Judith A. Mogilka (co-chairs), David L. Tucker, James C. Palmer. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-121) and abstract. Also available in print.

Die doel van die navorsing was om die doeltreffendheid van 'n opleidingskursus in kreatiewe vaardighede te evalueer. Die navorsingsprosedure is volgens die Solomonviergroepontwerp beplan, maar kon nie deurgevoer word nie weens 'n tekort aan proefpersone. Die navorsingsontwerp het bestaan uit 'n eksperimentele groep wat die opleidingskursus deurloop en 'n voor- en natoets afgete het, 'n kontrolegroep wat die opleidingskursus deurloop en 'n natoets afgete het, en 'n tweede kontrolegroep wat slegs getoets is. Die nieverbale toets van die Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking is gebruik om die uitwerking van die opleiding te bepaal. Die interbeoordelaarsbetroubaarheid van die meetinstrument is bewys. Die resultate dui aan dat die doeltreffendheid van die opleidingskursus nie deur die geslag of kwalifikasies van die proefpersone beinvloed is nie. Verder is bevind dat proefpersone wat voor opleiding lae tellings vir kreatiwiteit behaal het, meer gebaat het by kreatiwiteitsopleiding as persone wat hoe tellings behaal het. Die navorsingshipotese, naamlik dat die oplei~ingskursus sal lei tot 'n verbetering in die kreatiewe vaardighede van die proefpersone, is bevestig / The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a training course in creative abilities. The research was structured according to the Solomon four-group design. It failed, because the sample size was inadequate. The research design consisted of an experimental group that had completed the training course and was pretested and posttested, a control group that had completed a course and was posttested, and another control group that was tested once. The nonverbal test of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking was used to determine the training results. The inter-rater reliability of the test was confirmed. The results of this study suggested that the sex and qualifications of the subjects were nonsignificant. However, subjects who rated poorly before training benefited most by training. The research hypothesis which stated that training in creative ability will lead to improvement of creative ability, was confirmed / Psychology / M.A. (Sielkunde)

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Group diversity and group size were manipulated in a laboratory experiment for their influence on the quantity and quality of creative performance. Student subjects were preselected to high and low diverse groups and were randomly assigned to dyads, four-person groups, or individual work. The task was the identification of unusual uses for three common objects. The quantity criterion was the number of non-duplicate uses produced by each group. The quality criterion was the extent to which the uses identified were unusual for the whole sample. The prediction that dyad groups would demonstrate the greatest creative performance was generally not supported. With respect to the number of ideas produced, dyad groups outperformed four-person groups. In the quality of creative performance there was no difference found between dyad and four person groups. For both quantity and quality measures, dyad and four-person groups were outperformed by individuals in nominal groups. Contrary to the prediction that dyads would show the greatest influence of diversity, no difference in creative performance was found in either dyad or four-person groups due to the diversity condition. The influence of diversity was, however, found in both the quantity and quality of creative performance of individuals in nominal groups. Results indicate that for the particular task of producing a number of quality creative ideas, the one-to-one dyad condition is superior to the group, but individuals, working independently, outproduce members in either of the group conditions. Explanation for the unpredicted results explore a number of "group effects" as intervening variables between group size and performance. Considering the nature of the task it was concluded that social loafing is the most likely group effect.

This study presents an operational definition of creativity within the contexts of business, school and community. A design for the strategic management of creativity is developed. Suggestions are made for programs to increase effectiveness in the use of creative skills. Creativity has been viewed in the past as something that happens rather than deliberate activity directed to specific goals. Numerous studies have failed to find a significant relationship between measurements of creative skills and intelligence as delimited by IQ tests and other measures of performance. Creativity can be distinguished as a category, process and quality of intelligence, and both can be defined in qualitative and theoretical terms. Models are constructed in the study to classify creativity. The components of the creative act can be tracked. A model sets parameters and categories for investigations to permit variation of content in a relatively stable sequence of steps. The sequence can be extracted as a method to process ideas from any discourse.

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When it comes to the notion of creativity, both R. Dawkins and D. Dennett argue that creativity is a matter of random mutation, in the same way that genes randomly mutate. Neither Dennett nor Dawkins see anything else in the mimetic theory of creativity than a process of Darwinian evolution. However, this complete reliance upon the extension of evolution for understanding creativity needs to be supplemented by combining it with other ideas such as those of "schema theory," because creativity always occurs within a structured context and is not simply a matter of random mutation of ideas. Schema theory comes largely from the works of E.H Gombrich, who argued that "schemas" play a crucial role in how it is that we are able to be creative. He defines schemas as structure and traditions in society that help to convey the meaning of our creative efforts. Just as semantics needs syntax within language in order to formulate and convey meaning, so by analogy memes need schemas for the creation and expression of new ideas. Rather than being the antithesis of creativity, existing forms of expression and traditions are important for the creation of new ideas. This needs to be factored into any theory of creativity in order to account for the effect of the social context on creative endeavours in addition to a Darwinian account of memes. The unconscious processes at work within the brain that are involved in the generation of ideas and other creative products can be understood using the notion of a "generator", as originally conceived by D. Dennett. This notion goes beyond mere concrete Skinnerian behavioural trial and error. Within this generator, there appear to be at work processes such as those of bisociation and association, as discussed by A. Koestler, as well as processes such as the role of language, memory, generate-and-test and intentionality that must be acknowledged in addition to the syntactic operations of schemas and the replicating contents of memes. The operation of all of these ingredients within the generator, when understood together, can be seen as responsible for our ability to be creative.

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