Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-110).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1969. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

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.

In the last twenty years a great deal of research into training for creativity has been conducted (Blank, 1982). Guilford (1950, 1959, 1962) and Warren and Davis (1969) reported that productivity increased with training for creativity using the morphological synthesis technique. Research in creativity training has been concerned generally with white middle class school children. There has been no research on training for creativity in Canadian Native Indians (Blank, 1982). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of training for creativity on fluency, flexibility, and originality of Canadian Native Indian children. Children from the Chahalis Indian Reserve of British Columbia (grades three through six) were assigned to control (n=7) and experimental (n=7) groups. The control group received no training for creativity while, the experimental group experienced two weeks of training (20 minutes per day) for creativity with blocks, sticks, and tanagrams. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used to assess creativity. Pre-training scores of the control and experimental groups were compared using one-way ANOVAs. Group differences were deemed non-significant. These results indicated that the assignment of children to the groups was not biased in favour of the more creative versus the less creative and that the post-training results of the groups could be compared for gains in potential creativity since both groups had exhibited similar levels of creativity before training. The results of post-training one-way ANOVAs indicated significant gains in originality scores of the experimental group for the Incomplete Figures Test and the Circles Test. ANCOVAs, which included pre-training scores as covariates, had the same outcomes as post-training one-way ANOVAs. Paired t-tests comparing pre- and post-training scores within groups indicated that there were no significant improvements in control group test scores. The experimental group showed significant, improvements in flexibility and originality scores of the Circles Test and in originality scores of the Incomplete Figures Test. Factors which influenced the results of this study were discussed and suggestions for further research were given. In spite of these factors, the results of the data analyses indicated that creativity of Native Indian children will improve with training. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

A sequential design characterized by a mixture of a cross-sectional and a nine-month follow-up longitudinal design was used to allow both between and within groups comparisons. Two schools using the "through-train mode" for school promotion were invited to participate in order to ensure that follow-up measures could be made. A total of 405 schoolchildren (213 boys, 192 girls) completed the study, with 144 in the G5-6 group (i.e., grade promotion from Grade 5 to Grade 6), 142 in the G6-7 group (i.e., school transition from Grade 6 to Grade 7), and 119 in the G7-8 group (i.e., grade promotion from Grade 7 to Grade 8). The creative thinking, stress levels, and conventionality in thinking of the participants were measured using three parallel forms of the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), Stress Appraisal Measures (SAM), and the Conventionality Test at 3 time-points (i.e., before, during, and after promotion to a new school or higher grade). / In the fast-changing modern world, creativity has become increasingly important for dealing with complex problems and opportunities. Improving creativity is therefore important for both individuals and societies. Studying creativity development can help us to infer the contributing factors that may hinder or enhance creativity. Studies on creativity development during childhood and adolescence have suggested that a creativity slump is a special, but common, phenomenon. Yet it remains unclear why a creativity slump occurs at a specific age or at a specific time of development. The present dissertation provides a direct empirical comparison of two competing hypotheses on the creativity slump. The school transition stress hypothesis, drawn from the continuity or experience perspective of human development, suggests that a creativity slump is related to the stress associated with school transition, whereas the cognitive-developmental hypothesis, which takes the stage perspective of human development, suggests that the conventional thinking stage inhibits the expression of creativity and is hence conducive to a slump. The explanatory power of these two theoretical perspectives in relation to a creativity slump was tested by addressing the research question as to whether a creativity slump would still occur if school transition occurred at the cognitive stage that is beyond the conventional thinking stage (i.e., the postconventional thinking stage). The study explicitly compared the relative contribution of stress appraisal and conventionality in thinking to creativity development. / In the present study, it was found that a creativity slump still occurred when school transition took place during the postconventional thinking stage, lending support to the school transition stress hypothesis, but not to the cognitive-developmental hypothesis, regarding a creativity slump at school transition. We further clarified the specific roles of cognitive appraisals of stress in relation to creativity. Negative stress appraisals (i.e., appraising school life as threatening) were negatively predictive of creativity, whereas positive stress appraisals (i.e., appraising school life as challenging and controllable) were positively predictive of creativity. Regarding the role of level of conventionality in thinking in creativity, the results suggest that although postconventional thinking has a positive effect on creative thinking, its effect on creative thinking is significantly mediated by stress appraisals. The results also showed individual differences in experiencing a creativity slump. The statistic that only 44.4% of the students in the school transition group experienced a slump lends support to the idea that a creativity slump is neither overwhelming nor unavoidable. In accounting for these individual differences, stress appraisal variables were found to be the significant predictors when both the stress appraisal and conventionality in thinking variables were included in the logistic regression equation to predict the occurrence of a slump. / The present dissertation contributes to the current literature by offering empirical evidence to address the explanatory power of the cognitive-relational theory of stress and the cognitive-developmental perspective in relation to the existence of a creativity slump. The findings suggest that the major factors that are detrimental to creative thinking at school transition are negative appraisals and lack of positive appraisals on school life (i.e., viewing school life as more threatening, less challenging, and less controllable). These findings are helpful for understanding the critical factors that either facilitate or hinder the development of creativity in schoolchildren, which, in turn, could shed further light on effective creativity education. / He Wu, Jing. / Adviser: Wan Chi Wong. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 73-03, Section: B, page: . / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-138). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [201-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese; form A-C, appendix III in Chinese.

The purpose of this study was to analyze scores of urban parochial elementary school pupils for The Piers-Harris Children's Self Concept Scale (behavior, intellectual/school status, and anxiety) and for the Torrance Tests of Creativity (fluency, originality, and elaboration). Second, differences between groups divided according to grade, race, and socioeconomic status (SES) were examined. Third, relationships between self-concept and creative potential were investigated. The sample population included 163 pupils, grades 1-6, in a large midwestern city. Multivariate and univariate analysis of variance were used to test four null hypotheses applying the .05 level of confidence.Findings1. Significant differences were found in mean scores obtained by the total group of parochial school pupils indicating more positive self-concepts and lower degree of creativity when compared with the normative population for the two instruments employed.2. No statistical differences were found between primary and intermediate levels for the total group nor for the non-black subgroup. When the subgroup of Blacks was examined separately, differences indicated that intermediate pupils scored significantly higher in creativity than Blacks at the primary level.3. No statistically significant differences were found between any of the groups when divided between high and low socio-economic status.4. Differences were evidenced within certain subgroups when the subjects were divided into Black/non-black groups on the following variables on the Piers-Harris instrument (behavior and anxiety) and on the Torrance instrument (fluency, originality, and elaboration).Conclusions1. Positive self-concept revealed by the sample might be associated with environmental factors, school setting, selectivity of the study body and influence as reference group, philosophical foundations of the parochial schools, or other contributing factors.2. Lower degree of creativity could result from environmental atmosphere, academic expectations of the schools, and/or parential influences.3. Differences evidenced by Blacks on the variables (behavior, anxiety, fluency, originality, and elaboration) might be related to the influences of peer/referent groups, particularly in intermediate grades.4. Parochial school attendance appears to be a stabilizing influence in self-concept of behavior.5. Black students showed an increase in spontaneity and confidence in measures of creative tendencies. How this related to a reduction in positive experiences of self-concept is less obvious.Recommendations for additional research were provided.

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