Towards Creativity: Problem Finding in a Divergent-Thinking Exercise.

Conditions which call for the discovery of a problem were introduced in a divergent-thinking exercise by inserting blank cards in Pattern Meanings and Line Meanings, two tests from the Wallach and Kogan báttery. Twenty-three fifth graders were administered the modified tests and responded divergently to their own patterns and lines as well as to the presented ones. Correlation of average numbers of responses with scores on the Group" Inventory for Finding Creative Talent and the WISCr Vocabulary subtest revealed a significant (.05) relationship between responses to personal drawings and creative attitudes and values (but not intèlligence). Just the opposite was true for responses to presented drawings. Although further testing' is planned, these findings offer added evidence that freedom to discover and solve problems appears to be the primary condition of creative performance. Towards Creativity: Problem Finding in a Dive.rgeht-thinking Exercise Much of the research on creativity suggests that creative performance is a function of the conditions under which meaningful response occurs. One "creative" condition is the degree of freedom in solving problems which distinguishes the divergent-thin.k,irrg test from the convergent one (Guilford, 1975). Another is the degree of freedom in finding problems which distinguishes the discovered problem situation from one 'which is presented (GetzelS & Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). Each of these conditions has been related to reasonable criteria of creativity (Barron & Harrington, 1981), and there is no reason why they cannot be coordinated and combined. By their nature, responses to the combined conditions tend to be creative performances (Wakefield, in press). This pilot study for a larger project involved the introduction of problem finding (or discovery) in a divergent-thinking exercise. Modifications were made in Pattern Meanings and Line Meanings, two divergent tests from the Wallach and Kogan (1965) battery. These tests call for each subject to give divergent associations in response to patterns or lines presented on two series of nine 4 x 6" cards. To modify the exercises, a blank card was inserted in each series and the subject told to draw a pattern (or line) before telling what it could be. These insertions effectively allowed subjects to find problems before solving them in an unrestrained manner. It was hypothesized that the average number of responses to personal drawings would be a better indication of creative attitudes and values than the average number of responses to presented drawings. Further details are given below. Method Subjects The 23 pupils (11 boys and 12 girls) who participated in the testing comprised the fifth grade at our university laboratory school. Because of a somewhat selective admissions policy, their fourth-grade scores on a nationally-normed test of academic aptitude ranged from the 48th to the 99th percentile. None of the pupils was below average, and a few could be labelled intellectually gifted. At the time that the following data were gathered, the subjects were between 10 years 5 months and 11 years 6 months old. Instruments and Measures Cards 1 through 5 in each divergent exercise were used, and instructions to the subjects were modified only to accommodate the blank after Card 4 in each series. Each pupil received a creative performance score, which was the average number of divergent responses to his or her own drawings. Each pupil also received a divergent-thinking score, which was the average number of divergent responses to the ten presented drawings. Other scores (e.g., flexibility, originality, elaboration) were not calculated due to the uniqueness of responses to personal drawings and the unidimensionality of divergent-thinking tèst scores (Hocevar, 1979). The reliability of scores was estimated by correlating scores for Pattern Meanings with corresponding scorès for Line Meanings and adjusting the coefficients by the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula. By this method, the reliability of the creative performance score was estimated to be . 82. Similar calculation of the reliability of the divergent-thinking score yielded a value of . 94. The latter was comparable to the Spearman-Brown split-half reliability coefficients obtained by Wallach and Kogan for Pattern Meanings--number-and Line Meanings--number. The divergent tests were followed by three subtests of the WISCr. The Vocabulary subtest was chosen for its high correlation with the WISCr battery, and it was used as a measure of genéral intelligence. Two performance subtests (Picture Arrangement and Block Design) were chosen to control for perceptual or motor problems which might influence drawing skill. Scaled scores on the subtests were used in computations. Two instruments were administered to the group in class. One (the California Achievement Tests) was used to assess total reading, language and math skills. The other (the Group Inventory for Finding Creative Talent) was used to' assess creative attitudes and values (Rimm & Davis, 1976). According to the test author (Rimm, 1980), these attitudes include "independence, curiosity, perseverance, flexibility and breadth of interests. " The GIFT total score served as a criterion of creativity.