This thesis investigates the relationship between creative potential and the rhetorical structure of children&rsquo / s narratives. 44 middle school children (aged 12-15) were given a set of paper-pen activities including one divergent thinking test, one convergent thinking test and a story to be completed. Results of the divergent and convergent thinking tests were taken as the predictors to estimate the potential for creative thinking. Children were examined in terms of how they encode rhetorical relations in their writings. Whether a creative potential made a difference in children&rsquo / s writings in terms of rhetorical relations they used, and whether children within the same creative potential group used the same rhetorical relations in common were investigated. Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) (Marcu, 2000 and Carlson and Marcu, 2001) was used in coding children&rsquo / s writings. It was found that children in the study interpreted story writing as an act of attribution. This result is contrary to Marcu et.al (1999b), who found the elaboration-additional relation as the most frequent relation in their corpora. The study also found that there was an inverse relationship between the convergent thinking scores and the number of satellites (an EDU (elementary discourse unit) playing an auxilliary role for a text in question) for the 7th graders. Finally, it was found that high quartile (highest scorers in the study, top 25%) convergent thinkers were able to construct a narrative element with few number of EDUs and few number of discourse relation types.

With creative thinking we can identify general methods of problem solving, look at real life from another point of view. The method of 6 Thinking Hats is one of the creative ways to do so. The aim of this thesis is a complex review of using this method when solving a problem in a group. It tries to show creative thinking by which the group should get a certain outcome in solving the problem. The thesis analyses thoroughly all the parts of the 6 Hats method, and at the same time, it tries to view other perspectives on the workings of the method. A significant part of the thesis is aimed at the instructor, who decides to use this particular method, and his work. It should be an instrument to use for application of the 6 Thinking Hats method on a specific company problem.

Thèse de doctorat présenté en vue de l'obtention du doctorat en psychologie - recherche intervention, option neuropsychologie clinique (Ph.D) / Les personnes qui ont un trouble de déficit de l’attention avec/sans hyperactivité (TDAH) seraient particulièrement créatives. Toutefois, dans la littérature scientifique, cette croyance ne fait pas consensus. Bien que les personnes qui ont un TDAH présentent une grande créativité autorapportée, des résultats variables sont trouvés aux épreuves formelles de créativité (de potentiel créatif), même lorsque des variables confondantes, comme la nature hétéroclite de ces épreuves, sont prises en compte. En introduction de cette thèse, un tour d’horizon théorique sur la créativité et le TDAH est effectué et permet d’identifier un facteur de variabilité important qui a été négligé en recherche et qui pourrait masquer un lien entre la créativité et le TDAH : l’hétérogénéité du TDAH. En effet, le TDAH se découpe en différentes présentations caractérisées par des symptômes dominants (l’inattention, l’hyperactivité/l’impulsivité ou une combinaison des deux). Chacun des corrélats neurocognitifs qui sous-tendent ces symptômes contribuerait à la créativité de façons bien spécifiques, suggérant que celle-ci pourrait différer entre les présentations du TDAH. Or, bien souvent, dans les études portant sur le TDAH et la créativité, le TDAH est considéré comme un trouble homogène. L’introduction de cette thèse amène également l’idée que la relation entre la créativité et le TDAH ne devrait pas être exclusivement étudiée en recherche. Alors que la science tarde à élucider l’existence d’une telle relation, la créativité dans le TDAH pourrait potentiellement être évaluée en contexte clinique, sur une base individuelle, à l’aide de tests de créativité. Avec l’arrivée de la mouvance de la neurodiversité, il est bien possible que les personnes qui ont un TDAH soient de plus en plus intéressées à être informées au sujet des forces sur lesquelles ils peuvent prendre appui pour se réaliser comme individus. Cependant, les tests de créativité sont souvent longs à administrer ainsi qu’à corriger, faisant en sorte qu’ils s’insèrent difficilement dans un protocole d’évaluation cognitive. Même en recherche, ces tests présentent plusieurs lacunes, surtout en ce qui a trait à la mesure de l’originalité des réponses. Des méthodes de cotation populaires, comme le calcul de la rareté statistique, impliquent la prise de plusieurs décisions subjectives et nécessitent la formation de larges échantillons pour être suffisamment précises. Pour leur part, les systèmes d’accord interjuges nécessitent un grand travail de correction. Ainsi, les principaux objectifs de cette thèse sont de mieux comprendre la relation entre la créativité et le TDAH en considérant les différentes présentations de ce trouble ainsi que d’introduire et de prévalider une mesure de l’originalité qui permettrait de contourner certaines critiques des tests de créativité en recherche. Ce test pourrait aussi rendre la mesure de la créativité plus compatible aux réalités de la clinique et faciliter l’identification de forces chez les personnes qui ont un TDAH. Dans une première étude, nous voulions vérifier si la créativité varie entre les présentations les plus communes du TDAH : la présentation avec prédominance de symptômes d’inattention (TDAH-I) et la présentation combinée (TDAH-C). Nous voulions aussi explorer la relation entre la créativité, les symptômes du TDAH ainsi que l’inhibition. Les participants (n = 83, 20 hommes) étaient âgés de 18 à 51 ans (M = 26.66, É-T = 8.73) et avaient un diagnostic de TDAH-I (n = 21), de TDAH-C (n = 19) ou pas de diagnostic de TDAH (n = 43). La créativité a été évaluée à l’aide d’une mesure de l’autoperception des habilités créatives et d’un test de pensée divergente. Les résultats révèlent que le groupe TDAH-C a produit des réponses plus originales et abstraites au test de pensée divergente que le groupe contrôle. En comparaison aux autres groupes, le groupe TDAH-C a rapporté une plus grande créativité auto perçue dans le domaine de la performance. Ce score était associé aux symptômes d’hyperactivité. Ces résultats suggèrent que la créativité varie entre les présentations du TDAH et que certains symptômes seraient associés à une plus grande créativité dans des domaines spécifiques. Dans une deuxième étude, qui se voulait exploratoire, nous avons développé un nouveau test de créativité : Creo. Les réponses à Creo sont évaluées en fonction de leur niveau de nouveauté personnelle. Ce faisant, la cotation ne repose pas sur la rareté statistique dans un groupe, mais plutôt sur un calcul novateur permettant d’estimer la taille des transformations effectuées dans les réponses. Quarante-sept hommes/femmes de 16-51 ans ont participé à l’étude de prévalidation. La validité de construit a été mesurée à l’aide de tâches de pensée divergente, d’autoperception des habilités créatives, de fonctions exécutives, de fluence graphique et d’intelligence non verbale. Creo présente certaines évidences de validité de construit. Le score de nouveauté personnelle à Creo apparait conceptuellement proche de celui de l’originalité en pensée divergente. Au terme de ce travail, il apparait essentiel de considérer les différentes présentations du TDAH en recherche, car celles-ci ne présentent pas les mêmes forces créatives. Ensuite, la mesure de la nouveauté personnelle pourrait être une alternative viable aux méthodes populaires de cotation de l’originalité dans la pensée divergente. En plus d’être un test intéressant en recherche, Creo pourrait être une tâche qui s’insère facilement dans un protocole d’évaluation cognitive en clinique et comporte des attributs qui pourraient le rendre particulièrement intéressant pour l’évaluation de la créativité dans le TDAH. Les implications théoriques et cliniques de l’ensemble de nos résultats sont discutées. / People who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) would be particularly creative. However, in the scientific literature, there is no consensus on this belief. Although people with ADHD shows high self-reported creativity, variable results are found on formal tests of creativity (tests of creative potential), even when confounding variables, such as the heterogeneous nature of these tests, are considered. In the introduction to this thesis, a theoretical overview of creativity and ADHD is carried out and identifies an important variability factor, which has been neglected in research and could mask a link between creativity and ADHD: the heterogeneity of ADHD itself. Indeed, ADHD is divided into different presentations characterized by dominant symptoms (inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, or a combination of both). Each of the neurocognitive correlates that underlie these symptoms may contribute to creativity in very specific ways, suggesting that it may differ between ADHD presentations. However, in studies of ADHD and creativity, ADHD is often considered to be a homogeneous disorder. The introduction of this thesis also brings the idea that the relationship between creativity and ADHD should not be exclusively studied in research. While science is slow to elucidate the existence of such a relationship, creativity in ADHD could potentially be assessed in a clinical context, on an individual basis, using creativity tests. With the arrival of the neurodiversity movement, it is quite possible that people with ADHD will be more and more interested in being informed about the strengths on which they can rely to achieve their individual fulfillment. However, creativity tests are often long to administer and correct, making them difficult to fit into a cognitive assessment protocol. Even in research, these tests have several shortcomings, especially in terms of measuring the originality of responses. Popular scoring methods, such as the calculation of statistical rarity, involve making several subjective decisions and require large samples to be sufficiently accurate. For their part, inter-rater agreement systems require a great deal of correction work. Thus, the main objectives of this thesis are to better understand the relationship between creativity and ADHD by considering the different presentations of this disorder as well as to introduce and prevalidate a measure of originality that would alleviate certain criticisms of creativity testing in research. This test could also make the measurement of creativity more compatible with clinical work and facilitate the identification of strengths in individuals with ADHD. In a first study, we wanted to verify whether creativity varies between the most common presentations of ADHD: the presentation with predominant symptoms of inattention (ADHD-I) and the combined presentation (ADHD-C). We also wanted to explore the relationship between creativity, ADHD symptoms and inhibition. Participants (n = 83, 20 men) were 18-51 years old (M = 26.66, SD = 8.73) and diagnosed with ADHD-I (n = 21), ADHD-C (n = 19) or no diagnosis of ADHD (n = 43). Creativity was assessed using a measure of self-perception of creative abilities and a divergent thinking test. The results reveal that the ADHD-C group produced more original and abstract responses to the divergent thinking test than the control group. Compared to the other groups, the ADHD-C group reported greater self-perceived creativity in the domain of performance. This score was associated with symptoms of hyperactivity. These results suggest that creativity varies between ADHD presentations and that certain symptoms may be associated with greater creativity in specific domains. In a second study, which was exploratory, we developed a new creativity test: Creo. Responses to Creo are evaluated based on their level of personal novelty. In doing so, the scoring is not based on statistical rarity in a group, but rather on an innovative calculation to estimate the size of the transformations performed in the responses produced by the participants. Forty-seven men/women aged 16-51 participated in the prevalidation study. Construct validity was measured using tasks of divergent thinking, self-perception of creative abilities, executive functions, graphic fluency, and nonverbal intelligence. Creo presents some evidence of construct validity. The personal novelty score in Creo appears conceptually close to that of originality in divergent thinking. At the end of this work, it appears essential to consider the different presentations of ADHD in research, because they do not present the same creative strengths. Second, measuring personal novelty could be a viable alternative to popular originality scoring methods in divergent thinking. In addition to being an interesting test in research, Creo could be a task that fits easily into a clinical cognitive assessment protocol and has attributes that could make it particularly interesting for the assessment of creativity in ADHD. The theoretical and clinical implications of all our results are discussed.

This study was conducted in order to assess the effects of creative stimulation in early childhood. The quantitative quasi-experimental study was set out to test a target group of 8 children in grade R, ranging in age from five to six years, to determine the importance of stimulation and intervention of creativity from a young age. A pre-test, evaluated the initial level of each child’s creative skills in fluency, flexibility and originality. This was followed by selecting one class as the experimental group and another class, from the same demographical location, as the control group. The experimental group underwent a six-week intervention programme which focused on the primary concepts in each area of fluency, flexibility and originality. Both groups continued with their normal school learning programmes. The results indicate that the impact of stimulation on young children was significant and that there was a great difference in the abilities and understanding of concepts in those children whohad been stimulated. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study was conducted in order to assess the effects of creative stimulation in early childhood. The quantitative quasi-experimental study was set out to test a target group of 8 children in grade R, ranging in age from five to six years, to determine the importance of stimulation and intervention of creativity from a young age. A pre-test, evaluated the initial level of each child’s creative skills in fluency, flexibility and originality. This was followed by selecting one class as the experimental group and another class, from the same demographical location, as the control group. The experimental group underwent a six-week intervention programme which focused on the primary concepts in each area of fluency, flexibility and originality. Both groups continued with their normal school learning programmes. The results indicate that the impact of stimulation on young children was significant and that there was a great difference in the abilities and understanding of concepts in those children whohad been stimulated. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

No description available.

My dissertation deals with the contribution of practical activities as scope for the factors developing creativity of primary school pupils. Firstly, the definitions of the terms creativity, technical education and project teaching, based on specialised literature, are introduced. These three theoretical spheres focus in detail on the creative process and product, creative factors, convergent and divergent thinking skills, the creative person and the methods that help develop his or her creativity. I try to clarify the technique as a means of development of practical activities. After that I deal with the educational area "Man and the World of Work" and present possible topics for the development of creativity in working education. My thesis demonstrates a project together with its types and focuses on the implementation and benefits of project-based learning. The practical part is focused on the development of individual projects. Fifteen individual projects, helping to develop creativity of pupils at primary schools, were offered to twenty-one teachers. These teachers participated in a questionnaire survey and they were given an opportunity to provide feedback on the above mentioned individual projects. The results of the survey are described in the sixth chapter of this thesis.