John Baer | Rider University (original) (raw)
Papers by John Baer
Creativity: From potential to realization.
APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser c... more APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser configuration. - alerts user that their session is about to expire - display, print, save, export, and email selected records - get My ...
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity Across Domains
How might researchers think about creativity in the domain of teaching? An important first step i... more How might researchers think about creativity in the domain of teaching? An important first step is to recognize that creative teaching, like all forms of teaching, is a polymorphous act (Hirst, 1971). Researchers, therefore, need to distinguish between different forms of creative teaching based on differing pedagogical aims. Elsewhere (Beghetto, 2013a), I have outlined three different but interrelated forms of creative teaching: teaching about creativity, teaching for creativity, and teaching with creativity. These different forms of creative teaching have different pedagogical aims. Whereas teaching about creativity is aimed at increasing knowledge about creativity and the field of creativity studies, teaching for creativity is aimed at cultivating creative thinking and creative actions in students. Finally, teaching with creativity is aimed at teaching any subject matter (be it biology, mathematics, or even creativity itself) creatively. In addition to having different aims, each of these forms of
Hypothermia associated with Hodgkin lymphoma is defined rarely. This may be caused by a dysfuncti... more Hypothermia associated with Hodgkin lymphoma is defined rarely. This may be caused by a dysfunction that shall occur in hypothalamus, central and peripheral vascular system, skin and muscles. In this study, two Hodgkin lymphoma cases with developed hypothermia are presented. Case 1: A 7-year-old girl who applied to the hospital with complaints such as fever, weight loss and night sweating was diagnosed with "Hodgkin lymphoma, mixed cellular type" by a biopsy conducted due to lesions found in her spleen. While diagnostic works continued, the patient was administered paracetamol regularly for fever. The ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vincristine, dacarbazine) therapy protocol was started to be applied on the patient. After chemotherapy was applied in the first day, hypothermia developed on the patient, but this healed spontaneously approximately 5 days later without requiring a further therapy. Case 2: A 9-year-old girl who applied to the hospital with complaints such as fever, itching and swelling on neck was diagnosed with "Hodgkin lymphoma, nodular sclerosing type" by a biopsy conducted by cervical lymph node. While diagnostic works continued, the patient was administered paracetamol regularly for fever. At this stage, hypothermia developed on the patient before the chemotherapy was applied. The ABVD therapy protocol was started to be applied on the patient. Hypothermia healed spontaneously approximately 3 days later without requiring a further therapy. Hypothermia in Hodgkin lymphoma depends probably on the amount of generated endogen pyrogens and accordingly on personally changeable negative feedback threshold of the sensitized hypothalamus.
The Palgrave Handbook of Social Creativity Research, 2018
Roeper Review, 2015
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Research on gender differences in creativity, including creativity test scores, creative achievem... more Research on gender differences in creativity, including creativity test scores, creative achievements, and self-reported creativity is reviewed, as are theories that have been offered to explain such differences and available evidence that supports or refutes such theories. This is a difficult arena in which to conduct research, but there is a consistent lack of gender differences both in creativity test scores and in the creative accomplishments of boys and girls (which if anything tend to favor girls). As a result, it is difficult to show how innate gender differences in creativity could possibly explain later differences in creative accomplishment. At the same time, the large difference in the creative achievement of men and women in many fields make blanket environmental explanations inadequate, and the explanations that have been proposed thus far are at best incomplete. A new theoretical framework (the APT model of creativity) is proposed to allow better understanding of what is known about gender differences in creativity.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2004
The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fierc... more The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated, yet the examination of these differences in creativity is less studied. Our goal in this study was to use the Consensual Assessment Technique, in which experts judge a product's creativity, to examine differences in creativity among gender and ethnic groups. We conducted three separate analyses in which 13 experts rated 103 poems, 104 fictional stories, and 103 personal narratives written by Caucasian, African American, Latino/a, and Asian eighth-grade students. There were no significant African American-Caucasian differences on any of the writing tasks and there were no gender differences on all three tasks. The only significant differences in the creativity ratings on any of the tasks occurred in poetry, between the Latino/ a-Caucasian groups and Latino/a-Asian groups. Implications and future directions are discussed. The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated (e.g., Gould, 1981; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; Jacoby & Glauberman, 1995). Less studied is the question of racial and gender differences in creativity. Yet this gap is an important one, since it is often argued that creativity plays a crucial role in intelligence. Creativity is considered one of five components of Guilford's Structure of Intellect (1967) model; as an integral part of retrieval ability (also known as Glr), one of the eight abilities in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory (
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2009
The Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) argues that the most valid judgments of the creativity ... more The Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) argues that the most valid judgments of the creativity are those of the combined opinions of experts in the field. Yet who exactly qualifies as an expert to evaluate a creative product such as a short story? This study examines both novice and expert judgments of student short fiction. Results indicate a need for caution in using non-expert raters. Although there was only a small (but statistically significant) difference between experts' and novices' mean ratings, the correlation between the two sets of ratings was just .71. Experts were also far more consistent in their ratings compared to novices, whose level of inter-rater reliability was potentially problematic.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2009
Several thousand subjects completed self-report questionnaires about their own creativity in 56 d... more Several thousand subjects completed self-report questionnaires about their own creativity in 56 discrete domains. This sample was then randomly divided into three subsamples that were subject to factor analyses that compared an oblique model (with a set of correlated factors) and a hierarchical model (with a single second-order, or hierarchical, factor subsuming all of the first order factors). After model refinement, both models were then tested on a confirmation sample. The hierarchical model had a better fit with the data than the oblique model, providing support for theories that have proposed a hierarchical structure to creativity, such as the Amusement Park Theoretical Model. The analysis provided evidence of both an over-arching general factor and seven more specific General Thematic Areas of creative performance (
Roeper Review, 2005
The question of whether creativity is general or domain-specific is a frequently debated and d is... more The question of whether creativity is general or domain-specific is a frequently debated and d iscussed issue. No theory or model in creativity has attempted to bridge the gap between these differing views of creativity; most theories either implicitly or explicitly take a generalist perspective. The APT model uses the metaphor of an amusement park to explore creativity. There are four stages: Initial requirements, general thematic areas, domains, and micro-domains. This model attempts to integrate both general and domain-specific views of creativity. The first level (initial requirements) is very general, and each subsequent level gets more and more domain-specific. By the final level (micro-domains), the theory is very domain-specific. We also will discuss errors and variations within the model. What does it mean to be called creative? Picture a chemist who creates a new compound, a poet who writes beautiful sonnets, and a computer scientist who invents a new programming language. Are these people as different as they seem? This question, in its essence, is whether creativity is one thing or many things-is creativity a general ability? Or is it domain-specific? When we speculate about the nature of general or domain specific creativity, we are in essence asking if is there something (or some things) that people may possess in varying degrees that will lead them to exhibiting higher levels of creativity in everything they do-higher than they would have if they lacked these abilities. These abilities may extend to include cognitive skills, personality traits, motivational patterns, thinking styles, or even certain kinds of knowledge. Conversely, are there certain abilities or traits that may be uniquely suited toward a specific type of creative endeavor? This issue is an important one in creativity research that has yet to be resolved. In the only Point-Counterpoint pair of articles in its history, the Creativity Research Journal asked two leading proponents of these competing positions to debate and argue the case for domain specificity versus generality (Baer, 1998; Plucker, 1998). Differences of opinion remain, and evidence continues to be gathered and debated. Yet certainly a middle ground is attainable. Even those who argue for the existence of domain-general creative-thinking skills recognize that domain-specific thinking skills
Review of General Psychology, 2002
A consistent research finding in creativity research has been the tendency of poetsespecially fem... more A consistent research finding in creativity research has been the tendency of poetsespecially female poets-to suffer from mental illness. We explore (a) Why poets? and (b) Why female poets? We posit that poetry may attract those with a predisposition toward illness, the domain of poetry may particularly reward those who exhibit illness, and unusual aspects of the domain of poetry writing may increase the likelihood of poets succumbing to illness. These domain-specific aspects of writing poetry affect men and women alike. In addition, the greater difficulty that women tend to experience in ignoring extrinsic motivational constraints may cause successful female poets to have an even higher incidence of psychological stress, and of mental illness, than male poets.
Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2009
We admire Simonton's valiant attempt to bring all of creativity under a single dimension. We ... more We admire Simonton's valiant attempt to bring all of creativity under a single dimension. We offer a view that is sometimes complementary and sometimes distinct from Simonton's model: Our own multidimensional amusement park theoretical model, which tries to integrate domain-specific and domain-general points of view. We eagerly await future research on Simonton's model and are curious of how his hard–soft dimension can be included into the creativity pantheon.
Learning and Individual Differences, 2010
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright
High Ability Studies, 2003
We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Sternberg's excellent paper proposing the WICS model ... more We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Sternberg's excellent paper proposing the WICS model for identifying gifted individuals. This model broadens the standard conception of giftedness and makes many helpful suggestions how to conceptualize and assess the relevant dimensions of giftedness. There is one area, however, where we would propose an alternate viewpoint. 'In a sense, this essay is about how to avoid selecting the "Denny's" of the world', Sternberg writes (p. 5), in reference to a former gifted student who seemed primed for success-but then committed suicide. Our question is whether it really is best to try and avoid selecting the 'Denny's'. Creativity-one of Sternberg's key elements-often involves the potentially scary and daunting task of 'defying the crowd' (Sternberg & Lubart, 1996; Kaufman & Sternberg, 2000). Perhaps as a result, creativity is often correlated with less desirable traits, such as mental illness (Kaufman, 2001b, 2002; Kaufman & Baer, 2002). The more creative and eminent one is, the higher the risk may be for psychiatric problems (Ludwig, 1995; Kaufman, 2001a). If gifted programmes decide to make avoiding someone like Denny one of their goals, then they run the risk of missing opportunities to provide these gifted but troubled young people the kind of programmes that will best meet their unique needs. This lost chance may make it more likely that the Denny's of the world will squander their gifts and even be harmed by their creative and intellectual abilities. Might it not be wiser to nurture the gifts of such creative individuals, so that they are better equipped to battle their demons and overcome potentially self-destructive tendencies? This question leads to the larger issue of what the proper goals of gifted education programmes should be. Is the goal of gifted education programmes to predict future success-to pick the most likely winners, as it were? Or should the goal be to include all students whose unique gifts require special programmes to develop fully? 1 Rather than aiming for more perfect prediction by avoiding the selection of those likely to fail despite their obvious giftedness, we believe that gifted education programmes, and especially those for younger students, should focus on finding all students of high ability and helping them develop their talents (National Association for Gifted Children, 1998). In doing so we also hope the number of Denny's in the world might be reduced-not by excluding them from gifted programmes, but by including
High Ability Studies, 2004
Gifted Child Quarterly, 2005
Little research has been conducted on how gifted novices compare to experts in their judgments of... more Little research has been conducted on how gifted novices compare to experts in their judgments of creative writing. If novices and experts assign similar ratings, it could be argued that gifted novices are able to offer their peers feedback of a similar quality to that provided by experts. Such a finding would support the use of collaborative feedback in gifted classrooms. We asked gifted high school creative writers and three groups of experts (cognitive psychologists, creative writers, and teachers) to rate a set of 27 short stories and 28 poems for creativity using a scale of 1 to 6. The interrater agreement among the novices was within acceptable standards, and the agreement among the experts was very strong. When the ratings of novices were compared to the ratings of experts, a strong degree of correlation was found, supporting the use of peer feedback among gifted novice creative writers.
Empirical Studies of the Arts, 2004
The degree to which creativity is domain-specific or domain-general remains hotly contested, but ... more The degree to which creativity is domain-specific or domain-general remains hotly contested, but there is at least one area of agreement: people have different creativity profiles. In this study, we asked 241 students to give self-ratings of their creativity in different domains. These ratings were then studied for inter-correlations. We also examined how such self-assessments in diverse domains relate to other measures of cognitive ability and to creativity as measured with a personality scale. In general, if students viewed themselves as generally creative, they also viewed themselves as creative in different areas. The only area that was not correlated with general creativity ratings was mathematics.
Creativity Research Journal, 2006
Applying the idea of "intelligent testing" (Kaufman, 1979, 1994) to creativity assessment could b... more Applying the idea of "intelligent testing" (Kaufman, 1979, 1994) to creativity assessment could broaden our understanding of creativity assessment and would be in accord with the vision of E. Paul Torrance. Such intelligent creativity testing would not seek a single creativity score. Testers would consider patterns of scores in different domains and interpret them for comparative strengths and weaknesses in various areas of creative activity. Specific suggestions on how this might be done are offered.
Creativity Research Journal, 2006
Creativity Research Journal, 2004
The consensual technique for assessing creativity is widely used in research, but its validation ... more The consensual technique for assessing creativity is widely used in research, but its validation has been limited to assessing the creativity of artifacts produced under tightly constrained experimental conditions. Typically, only artifacts produced in response to very similar instructions have been compared. This has allowed researchers to compare such things as the effects of different motivational conditions on creative performance, but it has not allowed many other kinds of comparisons. It has also limited the use of the technique to artifacts gathered for specific experimental purposes, as opposed to already-existing artifacts produced under less controlled conditions. For this study, samples of writings collected by the National Assessment of Educational Progress that were written in response to a very wide variety of assignments and under varying conditions were rated for creativity by 13 expert judges. Judges compared the creativity of 103 stories, 103 personal narratives, and 102 poems, all written by 8th-grade students. Very high levels of interrater reliability were obtained, demonstrating that the consensual method can be validly extended to such samples. New avenues for future research made possible by these findings are then discussed.
Creativity: From potential to realization.
APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser c... more APA PsycNET Our Apologies! - The following features are not available with your current Browser configuration. - alerts user that their session is about to expire - display, print, save, export, and email selected records - get My ...
The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity Across Domains
How might researchers think about creativity in the domain of teaching? An important first step i... more How might researchers think about creativity in the domain of teaching? An important first step is to recognize that creative teaching, like all forms of teaching, is a polymorphous act (Hirst, 1971). Researchers, therefore, need to distinguish between different forms of creative teaching based on differing pedagogical aims. Elsewhere (Beghetto, 2013a), I have outlined three different but interrelated forms of creative teaching: teaching about creativity, teaching for creativity, and teaching with creativity. These different forms of creative teaching have different pedagogical aims. Whereas teaching about creativity is aimed at increasing knowledge about creativity and the field of creativity studies, teaching for creativity is aimed at cultivating creative thinking and creative actions in students. Finally, teaching with creativity is aimed at teaching any subject matter (be it biology, mathematics, or even creativity itself) creatively. In addition to having different aims, each of these forms of
Hypothermia associated with Hodgkin lymphoma is defined rarely. This may be caused by a dysfuncti... more Hypothermia associated with Hodgkin lymphoma is defined rarely. This may be caused by a dysfunction that shall occur in hypothalamus, central and peripheral vascular system, skin and muscles. In this study, two Hodgkin lymphoma cases with developed hypothermia are presented. Case 1: A 7-year-old girl who applied to the hospital with complaints such as fever, weight loss and night sweating was diagnosed with "Hodgkin lymphoma, mixed cellular type" by a biopsy conducted due to lesions found in her spleen. While diagnostic works continued, the patient was administered paracetamol regularly for fever. The ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vincristine, dacarbazine) therapy protocol was started to be applied on the patient. After chemotherapy was applied in the first day, hypothermia developed on the patient, but this healed spontaneously approximately 5 days later without requiring a further therapy. Case 2: A 9-year-old girl who applied to the hospital with complaints such as fever, itching and swelling on neck was diagnosed with "Hodgkin lymphoma, nodular sclerosing type" by a biopsy conducted by cervical lymph node. While diagnostic works continued, the patient was administered paracetamol regularly for fever. At this stage, hypothermia developed on the patient before the chemotherapy was applied. The ABVD therapy protocol was started to be applied on the patient. Hypothermia healed spontaneously approximately 3 days later without requiring a further therapy. Hypothermia in Hodgkin lymphoma depends probably on the amount of generated endogen pyrogens and accordingly on personally changeable negative feedback threshold of the sensitized hypothalamus.
The Palgrave Handbook of Social Creativity Research, 2018
Roeper Review, 2015
The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with p... more The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Research on gender differences in creativity, including creativity test scores, creative achievem... more Research on gender differences in creativity, including creativity test scores, creative achievements, and self-reported creativity is reviewed, as are theories that have been offered to explain such differences and available evidence that supports or refutes such theories. This is a difficult arena in which to conduct research, but there is a consistent lack of gender differences both in creativity test scores and in the creative accomplishments of boys and girls (which if anything tend to favor girls). As a result, it is difficult to show how innate gender differences in creativity could possibly explain later differences in creative accomplishment. At the same time, the large difference in the creative achievement of men and women in many fields make blanket environmental explanations inadequate, and the explanations that have been proposed thus far are at best incomplete. A new theoretical framework (the APT model of creativity) is proposed to allow better understanding of what is known about gender differences in creativity.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2004
The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fierc... more The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated, yet the examination of these differences in creativity is less studied. Our goal in this study was to use the Consensual Assessment Technique, in which experts judge a product's creativity, to examine differences in creativity among gender and ethnic groups. We conducted three separate analyses in which 13 experts rated 103 poems, 104 fictional stories, and 103 personal narratives written by Caucasian, African American, Latino/a, and Asian eighth-grade students. There were no significant African American-Caucasian differences on any of the writing tasks and there were no gender differences on all three tasks. The only significant differences in the creativity ratings on any of the tasks occurred in poetry, between the Latino/ a-Caucasian groups and Latino/a-Asian groups. Implications and future directions are discussed. The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated (e.g., Gould, 1981; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994; Jacoby & Glauberman, 1995). Less studied is the question of racial and gender differences in creativity. Yet this gap is an important one, since it is often argued that creativity plays a crucial role in intelligence. Creativity is considered one of five components of Guilford's Structure of Intellect (1967) model; as an integral part of retrieval ability (also known as Glr), one of the eight abilities in the Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory (
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2009
The Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) argues that the most valid judgments of the creativity ... more The Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) argues that the most valid judgments of the creativity are those of the combined opinions of experts in the field. Yet who exactly qualifies as an expert to evaluate a creative product such as a short story? This study examines both novice and expert judgments of student short fiction. Results indicate a need for caution in using non-expert raters. Although there was only a small (but statistically significant) difference between experts' and novices' mean ratings, the correlation between the two sets of ratings was just .71. Experts were also far more consistent in their ratings compared to novices, whose level of inter-rater reliability was potentially problematic.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 2009
Several thousand subjects completed self-report questionnaires about their own creativity in 56 d... more Several thousand subjects completed self-report questionnaires about their own creativity in 56 discrete domains. This sample was then randomly divided into three subsamples that were subject to factor analyses that compared an oblique model (with a set of correlated factors) and a hierarchical model (with a single second-order, or hierarchical, factor subsuming all of the first order factors). After model refinement, both models were then tested on a confirmation sample. The hierarchical model had a better fit with the data than the oblique model, providing support for theories that have proposed a hierarchical structure to creativity, such as the Amusement Park Theoretical Model. The analysis provided evidence of both an over-arching general factor and seven more specific General Thematic Areas of creative performance (
Roeper Review, 2005
The question of whether creativity is general or domain-specific is a frequently debated and d is... more The question of whether creativity is general or domain-specific is a frequently debated and d iscussed issue. No theory or model in creativity has attempted to bridge the gap between these differing views of creativity; most theories either implicitly or explicitly take a generalist perspective. The APT model uses the metaphor of an amusement park to explore creativity. There are four stages: Initial requirements, general thematic areas, domains, and micro-domains. This model attempts to integrate both general and domain-specific views of creativity. The first level (initial requirements) is very general, and each subsequent level gets more and more domain-specific. By the final level (micro-domains), the theory is very domain-specific. We also will discuss errors and variations within the model. What does it mean to be called creative? Picture a chemist who creates a new compound, a poet who writes beautiful sonnets, and a computer scientist who invents a new programming language. Are these people as different as they seem? This question, in its essence, is whether creativity is one thing or many things-is creativity a general ability? Or is it domain-specific? When we speculate about the nature of general or domain specific creativity, we are in essence asking if is there something (or some things) that people may possess in varying degrees that will lead them to exhibiting higher levels of creativity in everything they do-higher than they would have if they lacked these abilities. These abilities may extend to include cognitive skills, personality traits, motivational patterns, thinking styles, or even certain kinds of knowledge. Conversely, are there certain abilities or traits that may be uniquely suited toward a specific type of creative endeavor? This issue is an important one in creativity research that has yet to be resolved. In the only Point-Counterpoint pair of articles in its history, the Creativity Research Journal asked two leading proponents of these competing positions to debate and argue the case for domain specificity versus generality (Baer, 1998; Plucker, 1998). Differences of opinion remain, and evidence continues to be gathered and debated. Yet certainly a middle ground is attainable. Even those who argue for the existence of domain-general creative-thinking skills recognize that domain-specific thinking skills
Review of General Psychology, 2002
A consistent research finding in creativity research has been the tendency of poetsespecially fem... more A consistent research finding in creativity research has been the tendency of poetsespecially female poets-to suffer from mental illness. We explore (a) Why poets? and (b) Why female poets? We posit that poetry may attract those with a predisposition toward illness, the domain of poetry may particularly reward those who exhibit illness, and unusual aspects of the domain of poetry writing may increase the likelihood of poets succumbing to illness. These domain-specific aspects of writing poetry affect men and women alike. In addition, the greater difficulty that women tend to experience in ignoring extrinsic motivational constraints may cause successful female poets to have an even higher incidence of psychological stress, and of mental illness, than male poets.
Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2009
We admire Simonton's valiant attempt to bring all of creativity under a single dimension. We ... more We admire Simonton's valiant attempt to bring all of creativity under a single dimension. We offer a view that is sometimes complementary and sometimes distinct from Simonton's model: Our own multidimensional amusement park theoretical model, which tries to integrate domain-specific and domain-general points of view. We eagerly await future research on Simonton's model and are curious of how his hard–soft dimension can be included into the creativity pantheon.
Learning and Individual Differences, 2010
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright
High Ability Studies, 2003
We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Sternberg's excellent paper proposing the WICS model ... more We appreciate the opportunity to respond to Sternberg's excellent paper proposing the WICS model for identifying gifted individuals. This model broadens the standard conception of giftedness and makes many helpful suggestions how to conceptualize and assess the relevant dimensions of giftedness. There is one area, however, where we would propose an alternate viewpoint. 'In a sense, this essay is about how to avoid selecting the "Denny's" of the world', Sternberg writes (p. 5), in reference to a former gifted student who seemed primed for success-but then committed suicide. Our question is whether it really is best to try and avoid selecting the 'Denny's'. Creativity-one of Sternberg's key elements-often involves the potentially scary and daunting task of 'defying the crowd' (Sternberg & Lubart, 1996; Kaufman & Sternberg, 2000). Perhaps as a result, creativity is often correlated with less desirable traits, such as mental illness (Kaufman, 2001b, 2002; Kaufman & Baer, 2002). The more creative and eminent one is, the higher the risk may be for psychiatric problems (Ludwig, 1995; Kaufman, 2001a). If gifted programmes decide to make avoiding someone like Denny one of their goals, then they run the risk of missing opportunities to provide these gifted but troubled young people the kind of programmes that will best meet their unique needs. This lost chance may make it more likely that the Denny's of the world will squander their gifts and even be harmed by their creative and intellectual abilities. Might it not be wiser to nurture the gifts of such creative individuals, so that they are better equipped to battle their demons and overcome potentially self-destructive tendencies? This question leads to the larger issue of what the proper goals of gifted education programmes should be. Is the goal of gifted education programmes to predict future success-to pick the most likely winners, as it were? Or should the goal be to include all students whose unique gifts require special programmes to develop fully? 1 Rather than aiming for more perfect prediction by avoiding the selection of those likely to fail despite their obvious giftedness, we believe that gifted education programmes, and especially those for younger students, should focus on finding all students of high ability and helping them develop their talents (National Association for Gifted Children, 1998). In doing so we also hope the number of Denny's in the world might be reduced-not by excluding them from gifted programmes, but by including
High Ability Studies, 2004
Gifted Child Quarterly, 2005
Little research has been conducted on how gifted novices compare to experts in their judgments of... more Little research has been conducted on how gifted novices compare to experts in their judgments of creative writing. If novices and experts assign similar ratings, it could be argued that gifted novices are able to offer their peers feedback of a similar quality to that provided by experts. Such a finding would support the use of collaborative feedback in gifted classrooms. We asked gifted high school creative writers and three groups of experts (cognitive psychologists, creative writers, and teachers) to rate a set of 27 short stories and 28 poems for creativity using a scale of 1 to 6. The interrater agreement among the novices was within acceptable standards, and the agreement among the experts was very strong. When the ratings of novices were compared to the ratings of experts, a strong degree of correlation was found, supporting the use of peer feedback among gifted novice creative writers.
Empirical Studies of the Arts, 2004
The degree to which creativity is domain-specific or domain-general remains hotly contested, but ... more The degree to which creativity is domain-specific or domain-general remains hotly contested, but there is at least one area of agreement: people have different creativity profiles. In this study, we asked 241 students to give self-ratings of their creativity in different domains. These ratings were then studied for inter-correlations. We also examined how such self-assessments in diverse domains relate to other measures of cognitive ability and to creativity as measured with a personality scale. In general, if students viewed themselves as generally creative, they also viewed themselves as creative in different areas. The only area that was not correlated with general creativity ratings was mathematics.
Creativity Research Journal, 2006
Applying the idea of "intelligent testing" (Kaufman, 1979, 1994) to creativity assessment could b... more Applying the idea of "intelligent testing" (Kaufman, 1979, 1994) to creativity assessment could broaden our understanding of creativity assessment and would be in accord with the vision of E. Paul Torrance. Such intelligent creativity testing would not seek a single creativity score. Testers would consider patterns of scores in different domains and interpret them for comparative strengths and weaknesses in various areas of creative activity. Specific suggestions on how this might be done are offered.
Creativity Research Journal, 2006
Creativity Research Journal, 2004
The consensual technique for assessing creativity is widely used in research, but its validation ... more The consensual technique for assessing creativity is widely used in research, but its validation has been limited to assessing the creativity of artifacts produced under tightly constrained experimental conditions. Typically, only artifacts produced in response to very similar instructions have been compared. This has allowed researchers to compare such things as the effects of different motivational conditions on creative performance, but it has not allowed many other kinds of comparisons. It has also limited the use of the technique to artifacts gathered for specific experimental purposes, as opposed to already-existing artifacts produced under less controlled conditions. For this study, samples of writings collected by the National Assessment of Educational Progress that were written in response to a very wide variety of assignments and under varying conditions were rated for creativity by 13 expert judges. Judges compared the creativity of 103 stories, 103 personal narratives, and 102 poems, all written by 8th-grade students. Very high levels of interrater reliability were obtained, demonstrating that the consensual method can be validly extended to such samples. New avenues for future research made possible by these findings are then discussed.