A Research Report submitted to the Faculty of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Mnster of Arts in Clinical Psychology. September ~991 / The study aimed to examine the ego functioning of the creative child, with a view to testing theories of creative functioning. The development of these theories is reviewed from Freud'e writings at the beginning of the century to more current conceptions of Creativity as a function of ego proCeSses. The theories examined related to the ego functions of Tolerance of Ambiguity, Regression in the Service of the Ego and Empathy, all of which were hypothesised .a being employed to a greater degree by creative individuals. A theoretical conception of the autonomous 1 intellective and creative ego was developed according to Norma Haan's (1977) view of Constructivist Man. The ego function of 60 children (39 male and 21 female' batween the ages of 8 and 12 years were tested by having their mothers rate them on Haan's Q-sort of Ego Processes. A measure of Creativity was obtained using activities from the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance 1974) completed by the chiIdren. AnalysiS for the results failed to show any significant support for the hypotheses concerning the 3 main Ego Functions. Of the other Ego functions also exmined using the Haan instrument, only that of Substitution showed a significant (and negative) correlation with Creativity. This suggested that (a) children employing this ego function to a significant degree tend not to be creative and (b) Mothers valuing substitution highly may tend to stifle creativity in their children by their expectations and parenting styles. The failure to find significant support for the hypothesis is attributed to Ca) possible incomplete measures of Creativity and (b) the Mother's difficulty in using the ego rating instrument in an unbiased way rather than rating for Racial desirability and perceived expectations of the research on Certain key functions. It was concluded that trained professionals may be better equipped to accurately assess ego functioning. A discussion of the results and 1imitations of the study follows with a consideration of methodological problems in the measurement of both Personality and Creativity. suggestions are made for further research. No strong conclusions can be drawn regarding the validity of the theories discussed but they are felt to be very useful formulations for work in the educational and clinical fields.

Thesis--Heidelberg. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 222-224).

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between task and ego goal orientation and ZOF. The subjects consisted of interscholastic athletes of the men's varsity and junior varsity baseball, men's track and field, and women's track and field teams from a local Midwestern high school. By providing a more concise zone of optimal function (ZOF) by breaking down the zone into three components: psychological, physiological, and competitive (evaluated by the Sport Participation Questionnaire) the athletes may be able to manipulate their ZOF by using the characteristics of their task and ego orientation (evaluated by the TEOSQ). The data was analyzed by doing a series of factor analyses and multiple regressions. After finding four significant factors (two separate psychological, one physiological, one competitive) a multiple regression was employed to determine the relationship between the factors and task and ego orientaXon.Nearly significant was the regression with ego-oriented athletes and the thinking construct which consisted of items 16-18 of the Sport Participation Questionnaire. Also, significant were relationships of the task or ego score and the demographic findings. / School of Physical Education

This study investigated the ego development of a group of dropouts who had returned to school. The specific purpose was to explore and evaluate, systematically, the ego development of the former dropouts, and to compare their levels of ego development and their school performance to a group of students who were considered to be at risk to drop out of school. A group of students who were not considered to be at risk to drop out served as a control group. Seventeen high school students served as the subjects in this investigation. The main sources of data were: the results of the Washington University Sentence Completion Test for Ego Development that was developed by Dr. Jane Loevinger, grade and attendance reports, and interviews with the students and their teachers. The findings indicated that while the former dropouts had levels of ego development that were higher than the at risk subjects, the difference was not great enough to be statistically significant. The interviews were examined for indications of the subjects' levels of ego development in the manner in which they spoke about their experiences. The limitations of this investigation are considered, and some suggestions for further research are offered.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-97). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Advisers: Glenn Lambie, Stephen Sivo. Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-207).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on August 12, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2009. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-60). Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [100]-112).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 226-237).