Poster #19 - Childhood creativity: Exploring developmentally-appropriate creativity measurement in preschoolers

• In Event: Poster Session 09

Abstract

Creativity involves generating a product that is unique, high-quality, and appropriate to the task (Sternberg et al., 2002). This skill is not reserved for artists and prolific achievers, but is something that even young children can accomplish (Russ, 2010). Furthermore, creativity may be an essential skill that is predictive of several positive long-term outcomes, such as academic success (Gajda et al, 2017), physical health and psychological wellbeing (Richards, 2010). Despite this, there is scant research examining how creativity develops in early childhood. This may be due to a lack of developmentally-appropriate measures for this age group (Lillard et al., 2013). Traditionally, researchers have utilized divergent thinking tasks to measure creativity (Guilford, 1950; Wallach & Kogan, 1965). These measures have been criticized for validity issues (Silvia et al., 2008) and when used with children, these measures may rely on foundational skills that are still developing in this age (e.g., executive functioning and language skills; Beck et al., 2006; Peterson & McCabe, 1983). Therefore, the field is in need of developmentally-appropriate creativity measures that can capture preschool children’s creativity, without taxing developmental skills. The aim of the current study is to explore two new direct child measures of creativity and to assess whether these measures are related to developmental skills in early childhood. We hypothesized that the new creativity measures will rely less on developmental skills than divergent thinking tasks. Preschoolers (ages 3-5, N = 100) completed three creativity tasks: the divergent thinking task and two new measures of creativity that allow children to express their creativity across multiple domains. The Childhood Creative Preferences Scale asked children to indicate their preferences for activities that span several domains, such as creating new games, drawings, and block creations. In addition, children completed The Triple Creativity Task, where they were given a prompt (e.g., “an imaginary animal”) and were asked to (1) generate a drawing, (2) create a narrative for the drawing, and (3) create a pretense based on the prompt. Responses were coded subjectively utilizing the three-part definition of uniqueness, quality, and appropriateness (See Table 1). In addition, children completed developmental measures of self-regulation, vocabulary, and imagination. Parents and teachers reported on children’s creative behaviors and preferences, self-regulation, and imagination. Data analysis is forthcoming to determine if these new measures of creativity are feasible for this age range, whether they have convergent validity with existing creativity measures, and whether they tax developmental skills. This study may add to the existing literature by providing researchers and practitioners with alternative measures of creativity for preschool children that span several domains. With these new measures, research in children’s creativity can advance to in order to investigate methods of fostering creativity in early childhood.

Authors

• Rebecca H. Bauer, Hampden-Sydney College
  Presenting Author

• Taryn Crone, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

• Ansley Gilpin, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

• Lindsey Held, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa