Original thinking as a predictor of creative ...

Roeper Review

ISSN: 0278-3193 (Print) 1940-865X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uror20

Original thinking as a predictor of creative performance in young children Eunsook Hong , Roberta M. Milgram & Hana Gorsky To cite this article: Eunsook Hong , Roberta M. Milgram & Hana Gorsky (1995) Original thinking as a predictor of creative performance in young children, Roeper Review, 18:2, 147-149, DOI: 10.1080/02783199509553720 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02783199509553720

Published online: 20 Jan 2010.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 10

View related articles

Citing articles: 10 View citing articles

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uror20 Download by: [University of Nevada Las Vegas]

Date: 12 January 2016, At: 16:52

Research Original Thinking as a Predictor of Creative Performance in Young Children

Downloaded by [University of Nevada Las Vegas] at 16:52 12 January 2016

Eunsook Hong Roberta M. Milgram Hana Gorsky

The predictive validity of original thinking with reference to the performance of real-world creative activities was examined in 60 secondgraders. Original thinking was operationally defined as jdeational fluency as evidenced in the ability to generate a large number of solutions to problems. Original thinking, as measured by a test of ideational fluency, and intelligence, as measured by two subsets of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, were compared as predictors of creative performance in a wide variety of domains such as art, drama, sport, music, and dance. Original thinking was significantly related to creative performance but not to intelligence. These findings support the continued use of ideational fluency measures of original thinking in the identification of creative abilities—especially at young ages when very few youngsters demonstrate domain specific abilities.

Eunsook Hong is Assistant Professor of Counseling and Educational Psychology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Roeper Review. Roberta M. Milgram is Associate Professor, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Israel. Studying giftedness and creativity in the United States and Israel, she is a noted author and was recently elected to the Executive Board of the International Council of Psychologists. Hana Gorsky is an educational counselor in the Hadar School, Ramat Hasharon, Israel.

N

umerous investigators have conceptualized original thinking as problem-solving with ideational fluency as an essential component (Guilford, 1967; Mednick, 1962; Wallach & Kogan, 1965; Milgram, 1989, 1991; Milgram, Dunn, & Price, 1993). The most widely used measures of original thinking operationally defined original thinking as ideational fluency, that is, the ability to generate many ideas, many responses to a stimulus, or many solutions to a problem (Wallach, 1970). Considerable empirical support for the construct validity of theoretical formulations of original thinking based upon ideational fluency has accumulated over the years. For example, original thinking and intelligence are empirically distinguishable (Wallach, 1970, 1971). There is a relationship between quantity andquality of ideational output, with high ideational production a precondition for quality responding (Milgram, Milgram, Rosenbloom, & Rabkin, 1978), and there is an order effect with popular responses (more conventional/ stereotyped ideas) emitted earlier in the response sequence and more original ideas later (Hong & Milgram, 1991; Milgram, & Rabkin, 1980). Evidence for the construct validity of ideational fluency-based measures of original thinking was reported for subjects ranging in age from three to young adults, in intelligence from low average to highly gifted, at two socio-economic status levels, and in several cultural and subcultural groups (Hong & Milgram, 1991; Milgram, 1983; Milgram & Arad,

1981; Milgram, Moran, Sawyers, & Fu, 1987; Moran, Milgram, Sawyers, & Fu, 1983). Milgram (1989,1991) suggested that out-of-school leisure activities in children and adolescents are a good predictor of talented accomplishment in adults. In a recent study, Hong, Milgram, and Whiston (1993) reported a strong relationship between out-of-school activities in adolescence and adult occupational choice and work accomplishment. They suggested that activities inventories have great value to counselors in identifying domains of interest that are generally not observed in the school setting and that they might provide information of value for the counseling process. The appropriateness of using out-of-school leisure activities as a measure of creative performance in young children has not been examined. he purposes of the present study were to examine the efficacy of original thinking as measured by ideational fluency in predicting ecologically representative real-world creative behavior in young children and to investigate the validity of measures of out-of-school creative activities for children as young as seven. The predictive ability of original thinking with reference to the performance of creative out-ofschool activities was examined by computing a correlation coefficient between the original thinking scores and creative activities scores. Factor analyses were conducted to validate the out-ofschool activities measure for primary grades. Finally, in order to provide evidence of discriminant validity for the measures of original thinking and performance of creative activities, the relationships of each to intelligence was examined separately.

T

Method Subjects The subjects were 60 middle-class children (27 girls and 33 boys) in grade two. The children ranged in age from 7.1 to 8.8 years, with a mean of 7.7 and a standard deviation of .3. IQ scores ranged from 60 to 146, with a mean of 110.43 and a standard deviation of 20.97. Materials

Original thinking. Two types of measures were used. For all tasks, multiple correct solutions were possible. The first materials were adapted from those of Wallach and Kogan (1965) employed by Hong and Milgram (1991) and Milgram et al. (1987) with preschool children in the United States and in Israel. The measure consisted of two subtests with two items per subtest. The two subtests were Uses and Pattern Meanings. In the Uses subtest, the two stimuli were presented verbally by the examiner and children named all the uses they could think Manuscript submitted August, 1994. Revision accepted January, 1995. September, 1995, Roeper Review/147

of, first for a newspaper and next for a shoe. The Pattern Meanings subtest consisted of two three-dimensional stimuli presented on 22 X 22 cm cards. In this task children were asked to tell the examiner all the things a particular shape could be. he second type of materials was two laboratory problem-solving tasks. They were the Box and the Chair as used previously by Hong and Milgram (1991) in their study of original thinking in preschool children. The Box task was used as described by Ray (1955) with instructions adapted for elementary school children. In the Box task subjects were given a small box and small pieces of crepe paper. The child was provided with a number of items that he or she could use to solve the problem, including scissors, Scotch tape, stapler, paper clips, elastic, pencil. The examiner took each item out of a kit and showed it to the child and asked, "How can you put this piece of paper into the box using these things?" After each trial, the child was asked, "Can you think of any other ways to put a piece of paper in the box?" In the Chair task subjects were told, "You want to join your classmates sitting at the table drawing. But the only chair left is broken and has only three legs [examiner shows the child a three-legged chair]. What can you do with the chair so that you can also sit at the table?" A number of items that can be used to solve the problem were provided, including a waste basket, a large vase filled with heavy earth, play dough, long poles, a stake, and oranges.

Downloaded by [University of Nevada Las Vegas] at 16:52 12 January 2016

T

Responses for both types of tasks were scored for ideational fluency, the total number of discrete responses given. The reliability (internal consistency) of the original thinking test items was satisfactory for the current study (a =.63). Creative performance. The Tel Aviv Activities Inventory: Primary Grades (Milgram, 1988) was used to measure the performance of out-of-school creative activities. This is a 60 item self-report scale. It consists of 42 items indicating creative accomplishment and activity in the six domains (i.e., art, music, sport, drama, literature, dance) and 18 items tapping general creative leisure activities typical of young children that did not fall into one of the six domains. Examples of creative activities in specific domains include receiving a prize for dance performance (Dance), participating in a music competition (Music), Receiving a prize in a race (Sport), performing in a dramatic presentation that was presented before an audience (Drama), writing a story or poem (Literature), and receiving a prize in a contest for artistic work (Art). Examples of general leisure activities include participating in after-school enrichment groups, and playing different games of strategy games. One score for creative performance was computed for each subject. It consisted of the total number of positive responses given by the subject (the maximum possible score was 60). In addition, six scores for creative performance for each specific domain was also computed. The reliability of the Tel Aviv Activities Inventory: Primary Grades was found to be adequate (a = .78). Intelligence test. IQ scores were extrapolated from the Information and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) (Wechsler, 1974). A high validity coefficient was reported for this short form (Silverstein, 1970). Procedure The instruments were individually administered in two sessions, approximately one week apart. The two WISC subtests were administered in the first session, the measures of original thinking and the Activities Inventory in the second. No time limits for responding were set. 148/Roeper Review, Vol. 18, No. 2

Results and Discussion Scores on intelligence, original thinking, and creative performance were examined for gender differences. A gender difference was found on intelligence, ?(58) = 2.63, p < .05. Means and standard deviations (in parentheses) for boys and girls were 116.5 (17.85) and 102.93 (22.35), respectively. In the light of this finding all correlations which included intelligence were computed with gender partialed out. There was no gender difference on either original thinking or creative performance. Means and standard deviations (in parentheses) for the four original thinking measures (Uses, Pattern Meanings, Box, and Chair) and a composite score were 10.55 (4.92), 14.48 (8.27), 4.05 (1.25), 5.62 (1.56), and 34.70 (11.90). Because the Box and Chair tasks involved laboratory problem-solving tasks where solutions were scored with more stringent standards (i.e., children were required to actually demonstrate the solution using the materials provided), the mean scores were relatively lower than Uses and Pattern Meanings tasks. he partial correlation of intelligence with original thinking was not significant, p > .10. This finding replicates earlier findings reported by Milgram (1983) for the same age children. The partial correlation of intelligence with creative performance was also not significant, p > .20. These findings indicate that neither original thinking nor creative performance in young children was related to intelligence. The original thinking score was significantly related to creative performance, r{51) = .41, p 1). Inspection of the factors and items revealed that the first factor was composed of Drama and Art items, the second factor was composed of Music items, the third factor was composed of Dance and Sports items, and the fourth factor was composed of Literature items. Table 1 presents the rotated factor matrix with only those items with factor loadings greater than .35. Loadings under .35 have been replaced by zero. Items with factor loadings smaller than .35 on all factors were not reported for the space saving purpose. The intercorrelations among the specific domains included in the current study also support the indistinctive nature of specific activities (interests) in some domains: Correlations between Drama and Literature (r = .45), Drama and Art (r = .40), and Literature and Art (r = .38) were all significant, allps < .01, as well as the correlation between Music and Art, r = .27, p < .05. Sports and Dance were not significantly related to any domain. n a construct validation study of the Tel Aviv Activities Inventory: Adolescent Form (Milgram, 1990) with junior and senior high school students (Hong, Whiston, & Milgram, 1993), factor analyses extracted seven factors for the specific domains of Computer, Literature, Art, Sports, Drama, Music, and Social Activity that were extremely similar to their hypothesized factor structure. Thus, in adolescents, leisure activities indicate domain-specific interests that frequently lead to adult occupational choice (Hong, Milgram, & Whiston, 1993). The current findings, of high intercorrelations among the specific domains, that some factors included items from different domains, and that a large number of items had low factor loadings, indicated that in second grade, specific interests were not yet well developed. Measures of out-of-school activities at this young age are probably not good indicators of creative performance in specific domain and of vocational area of interest in the future. This finding is not surprising since older children tend to have greater career maturity (Super, 1984), while younger children have less reliable and relatively unstable results on many career/interest instruments (Mehrens & Lehmann, 1991; Seligman, 1980). One wonders at what age specific vocational interest is reflected in creative leisure activities. This question is worthy of investigation.

[

It is fashionable to criticize ideational fluency-based measures of original thinking measures, largely due to a widespread predictor/criterion misunderstanding in the field. Ideational fluency has been erroneously regarded as a criterion for creative behavior rather than as a predictor of it, and as an end in itself rather than a means to the end. This confusion is not sufficient basis for abandoning the use of ideational-fluency based original thinking tests. The relationship between original thinking and creative activity in young children, on the one hand, and the lack of clearly delineated domain specific interests in these children, on the other, suggest that ideational fluency-based measures remain the most feasible indicators of creative abilities in young children.

REFERENCES Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hong, E., & Milgram, R. M. (1991). Original Thinking in Preschool Children: A validation of ideational fluency measures. Creativity Research Journal, 4, 253-260. Hong, E., Milgram, R. M., & Whiston, S. C. (1993). Leisure activities in adolescents as a predictor of occupational choice in young adults. Journal of Career Development, 19, 221-229. Hong, E., Whiston, S. C., & Milgram, R. M. (1993). Leisure activities in career guidance for gifted and talented adolescents: A validation study of the Tel Aviv activities inventory. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37, 65-68. Mednick, S. A. (1962). The associative basis of the creative process. Psychological Review, 69, 220-232. Mehrens, W. A., & Lehmann, I. J. (1991). Measurement and evaluation in education and psychology (4th ed.). Chicago, IL: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Milgram, R. M. (1983). A validation of ideational fluency measures of original thinking in children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75, 619-624. Milgram, R. M. (1988). Tel Aviv Activities Inventory: Primary Grades, Tel Aviv University, School of Education, Ramat Aviv, Israel. Milgram, R. M. (1989). (Ed.). Teaching gifted and talented children learners in regular classrooms. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. Milgram, R. M. (1990). Tel Aviv Activities Inventory: Adolescent Form, Tel Aviv University, School of Education, Ramat Aviv, Israel. Milgram, R. M. (Ed.). (1991). Counseling gifted and talented children: A guide for teachers, counselors, and parents. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Milgram, R. M., Dunn, R., & Price, G. S. (Eds.). (1993). Teaching gifted and talented learners for learning style: An international perspective. New York: Praeger. Milgram, R. M., & Arad, R. (1981). Ideational fluency as a predictor of original problemsolving. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 568-572. Milgram, R. M., Milgram, A., Rosenbloom, G., & Rabkin, L. (1978). Quantity and quality of creative thinking in children and adolescents. Child Development, 49, 385-388. Milgram, R. M., Moran, J. D. III, Sawyers, J. K., & Fu, V. (1987). Original thinking in Israeli preschool children. School Psychology International, 8, 54-58. Milgram, R. M., & Rabkin, L. (1980). A developmental test of Mednick's associative hierarchies of original thinking. Developmental Psychology, 16, 157-158. Moran, J. D., Milgram, R., Sawyers, J., & Fu, R. (1983). Stimulus specificity in the measurement of original thinking in preschool children. Journal of Psychology, 114, 99105. Ray, W. S. (1955). Complex tasks for use in human problem-solving research. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 134-149. Seligman, L. (1980). Assessment in developmental career counseling. Cranston, RI: Carroll Press. Silverstein, A. B. (1970). Reappraisal of the validity of the WAIS, WISC, and WPPSI short forms. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 34, 12-14. Super, D. E. (1984). Career and life development. In D. Brown, & L. Brooks (Eds.), Career choice and development (pp. 192-234). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Wallach, M. A. (1970). Creativity. In P. H. Mussen (Ed.), Carmichael's manual of child psychology. Vol. 1 (3rd ed., pp. 1211 -1272). New York: Willey. Wallach, M. A. (1971). The intelligence/creativity distinction. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press. Wallach, M. A., & Kogan, N. (1965). Modes of thinking in young children: A study of the creativity-intelligence distinction. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.

Announcements Gifted Education: Through Problems to Possibilities North Carolina Association for the G/T Annual Conference March 21-23, 1996 Contact: Rick Courtright, PO Box 3554, Chapel Hill, NC 27515 Legal i s s u e s continue to be of interest to parents, teachers, school administrators, and concerned citizens. Please send information on court cases and due process hearings in your state to: Dr. Frances A. Karnes University of Southern Mississippi Box 8207 Hattiesburg, MS 39406-8207

December, 1995, Roeper Review/149