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SUSS PSY 355 CREATIVE PSYCH SU 1b Methodological approaches to creativity
SUSS PSY 355 CREATIVE PSYCH SU 1b Methodological approaches to creativity
Psychometric Approaches
Overview
Psychometrics is the branch of psychology which
deals with the measurement of psychological variables.
Psychometrics and psych variables
In psychometrics,
researchers measure psychological variables directly
using various psychological techniques.
They also examine its association with other significant variables.
(i.e. relationship between intelligence and creativity)
The 4 Ps
Psychometric assessment is based on the 4Ps
Assessing the creative process
Assessing the creative person
Assessing the creative product
Assessing the creative press
2. Assessing the creative person
Personality Test
creative people posses certain personality traits which differ from ordinary people.
Personality test
assess the scale of creative personality based on crfeative personality descriptors
.
e.g. The WKOPAY – What kind of person are you test. In this personality test, respondent is asked to describe himself.
If respondent consistently chooses descriptors typically associated with creative individuals (i.e. autonomous, self-accepting, etc) he gets a high score on creative scale
Divergent/Convergent Attitude test
Basadur and colleagues developed
two scales
that assess attitudes towards important aspects of divergent thinking (Mode of thinking associated with creativity).
Preference for active divergence scale
(Positive attitude towards free flowing discussion when addressing a solution).
Preference for convergence scale
(More inclined to structured step-by-step process to solving a problem)
Creative activity Checklist.
Checklist to determine whether experience is associated with creative accomplishment.
This checklist requires respondents to personal creative accomplishment.
Assumes that a stable predictor of future creative behaviour is past creative behaviour
.
(e.g. CAQ – Creativity Achievement Questionnaire)
3. Assessing the creative product
Creative product Semantic scale
Besemer and O'Quin allows raters to rate different attributes of creative product (i.e. problem resolution, novelty, etc)
Consensual assessment technique (CAT)
Amabile suggested that this technique which enlists
experts to assess
the creative products of respondents.
e.g. Professional artist should evaluate the creative product of art students
1. Assessing the creative process
The assesment often assess
divergent thinking in contrast with convergent thinking
.
Researchers suggest that divergent thinking is crucial to the creative problem-solving as it reaquires one to generate alot of ideas (a chracteristic of divergent thought)
Test methods
There are different tests to assess divergent thinking.
TTCT Torrance tests of creative thinking
Consist of verbal and figural tests of divergent.
Verbal tests include: Asking/Questioning on product improvements.
Figural tests include: Picture construction, picture completion.
Time factor
to create a uniform testing environment, Torrenace imposed a time limit on each TTCT task
other resaerchers aruge that a time limit may impede upon the creative process.
Scoring
Regardless of these differences, responses to divergent thinking are evaluated in similar way
responses are scored for:
fluency
flexibility
originality
elaboration
4 more items...
Reliability and validity
Reliability
Good reliability (consistent).
can be used in cross cultural research.
Can predict creative accomplishment in real life
and was shown to be at least three times better in predicting adult creativity then IQ test.
Validity
Researchers suggest validity issues.
For example: time-factor, environtment of tests etc may influence creativity and originality.
4. Assessing the creative press/environment
Psychological climate study for creativity
Creative climate is crucial to creative achivement
In a climate study, psychologist examine
how a group of employees perceive their immediate work environment
based on creative dimensions.
e.g. Respondents may be asked to indicate how they feel about their work environement (Too hierarchical or free and easy going)
Virtual Team Creative Climate (VTCC)
Consist of 11 scales to assess dimensions that influence creativity.
Scored generally based on connection, materials and management/member skills
Useful for assessing psychological climate for creativity in a virtual team.
Aim
Psychometric test is often structured to measure the level of
divergent vs convergent thinking
Convergent thinking
refers to the ability to come up with one right answer.
i.e. positively identifying one solution on how to use an object.
Divergent thinking
refers to the ability to come up with alternative ideas.
i.e. coming up with various ways on how to use a particular object.
Historiometric approach
A scientific method of inquiry which the
biographical and historical records of eminent creators
are systematically
quantified and analysed.
(i.e. analysing creative people)
Aim
Discoverer general
laws or statistical relationships
that transcend the particulars of the historical record.
How to carry out histometric research
1. Quantify
Researchers operationalise qualitative/
ambiguous variables into quantitative
, precise and well-defined
measurement.
E.g. Using past academic records or IQ scores as a meassure for intelligence.
2. Analyse
Having obtained this quantitative measure, researchers
subject the variable to statistical analyses
(i.e. multiple regression, structural equation modelling). To identify if such variable(s) are significant to creativity.
Catherine Cox Histometric study
Cox applied histometrically explored the hypothesis that precocious children with High IQ evntually grew up to become sucessful adults.
By examining the live of 301 famous creators, it was discovered that the average
IQ of eminent creators were four standard deviations above the population mean.
She quatified the term 'precocious child' if they engaged in task-specific behaviour.
Ludwig’s histometric study: is there a link between creativity and madness
Ludwig identified 1004 creative prominent 20th century individuals in a variety of professions (arts, sciences, public life, business, the military and social activism).
Ludwig found a close link between creativity and mental illness
.
Specifically, creative luminaries were about twice as likely to suffer from mental illness in comparison with the general population
Experimental and field approach
In an experimental study on creativity, the researcher analyses how an independent variable (IV) affects a dependent variable (DV)
Aim
Examine specific variable(s) affect creativity
Field research
to ensure external validity, psychologists opt for field research.
Involves data collection in the real world
Advantages and disadvantages of Field research
Advantage of field research
Higher external validity
Result can be generalised (not specific to a target participant)
Disadvantage
Lacks control over participant /variable interactions
Example of field research,
Field research are more fluid and researchers are able to explore interactions between multiple variable.
E.g. Oldhum and Cummings field research on job creativity which factored job complexity and leadership vis creativity.
Experimental research
Advantages and disadvantages of Experimental research
Advantages
There are two major advantages in this experimental approach.
It is a
flexible method
of inquiry which can be used to examine creativity (i.e. IV can be altered depending on the research question).
Researchers can establish
causal relationship between variables
. (i.e. the manipulation of IV allows researchers to effectively project the effects of IV on the DV)
Disadvantage.
Lacks external validity
as results can not be generalised to other situations
Example: Isen and Dubman study
Isen and Dubman examined the relationship between mood and creativity.
It was established that positive mood enhances people's ability to see alternative cognitive perspectives and strengthens their creative problem-solving skill
Typical Components of an Experiment
Causal hypothesis
Random assignment
This is how participants are allocated to a particular group or condition.
Experimental/control group
Experimental Group
-This is the group that
receives treatment
(manipulation of IV). Note that in between-group designs, there
can be more than one experimental group,
depending on how many levels of IV are being manipulated.
Control group
-This is the group that
does not receive treatment
(manipulation of IV).
Significant difference
The DV measured in the
control group is compared with
the DV measured in the
experimental group
to see if there are any significant differences between the two, and hence, whether there is an effect of the manipulation of IV on the DV.
Pre/Post test
Pre-test
-This is the
measurement
of the DV
before treatment
(manipulation of IV).
Post-test
-This is the
measurement
of the DV
after treatment
(manipulation of IV).
IV/DV
IV
- The
manipulated variable
in an experiment to see whether it influences the DV.
DV
- The
variable that is measured/monitored
in the experiment to see if there are any changes in response to the IV.
Qualitative approach
The three methods– psychometric, historiometric as well as experimental & field research – are quantitative approaches to creativity.
Some psychologists prefer to
employ the qualitative approach to study creativity
Such an approach involves a
close-up and in-depth analysis of creativity
Types of Qualitative research
Qualitative approaches in research include
the case study, narrative research
grounded theory research,
ethnography and
phenomenography.
Example: Gruber’s ESA
Gruber (1988) employed the
case study method
, which he termed the
evolving systems approach (ESA)
, to examine how a creator does the work for which he or she is eventually recognized.
The ESA differs from more quantitative approaches to creativity in several ways.
It is
based on a direct study
of creative works and what its creative process,
rather than on indirect measures of creativity
, as in the psychometric approach.
the ESA does not set a list of creative traits that can be measured using psychological scales. Instead, it
notes the unique characteristics
of the creator through careful analysis of his or her creative activities and attainments.
In addition, the ESA
requires that there is ample material available
to permit tracing and reconstructing the actual course of creative work.