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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 0.71. Experts were also far more consistent in their ratings compared to novices, whose level of inter-rater reliability was potentially problematic. (Contains 1 footnote.)

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 (Artistic-Verbal, Artistic-Visual, Entrepreneur, Interpersonal, Math/Science, Performance, and Problem-Solving). (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)

Non-cognitive factors represent a chance to learn more about how to help students succeed in early college experiences. This study examined personality and motivation as predictors of first-quarter GPA in a sample of 315 non-traditional undergraduates at a Hispanic-serving institution. Our results provide support for the importance of high levels of conscientiousness, intrinsic motivation, and low levels of extrinsic motivation in first-quarter school success. Implications and possible interventions are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

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. (Contains 4 tables.)

Different cultures have unique perspective on creativity, yet it is usually the American/Western perspective represented in the psychological literature. Here the authors test previous, Western research findings in creativity on Turkish participants. Study One looks at gender and age differences in creativity. Study Two explores the relationship between creativity and motivation, and Study Three examines the factor structure of creativity. In general, the authors were able to validate past research on Western populations. Creativity tended to increase with age, and intrinsic motivation is significantly correlated with creativity. Some gender differences were found (unlike in Western findings), and there were some differences in the factor structure of creativity. (Contains 6 tables.)

The consensual assessment technique (CAT) is a measurement tool for creativity research in which appropriate experts evaluate creative products [Amabile, T. M. (1996). "Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity." Boulder, CO: Westview]. However, the CAT is hampered by the time-consuming nature of the products (asking participants to write stories or draw pictures) and the ratings (getting appropriate experts). This study examined the reliability of ratings of sentence captions. Specifically, four raters evaluated 12 captions written by 81 undergraduates. The purpose of the study was to see whether the CAT could provide reliable ratings of captions across raters and across multiple captions and, if so, how many such captions would be required to generate reliable scores, and how many judges would be needed? Using generalizability theory, we found that captions appear to be a useful way of measuring creativity with a reasonable level of reliability in the frame of CAT. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)

Creativity is sometimes seen as irrelevant to educational practice. With an increased focus on standardized test scores, creative teachers and those who encourage creativity in the classroom often are accused of being idealists or missing the big picture. But the authors believe instead that creativity brings valuable benefits to the classroom. In this Resource Review, they provide answers drawn from the literature to the four questions most often asked about creativity: (1) What is it?; (2) Is Creativity just for geniuses?; (3) Is creativity an object of study only in psychology?; and (4) Is the study of creativity just a western phenomenon? (Contains 27 resources and 6 online resources.)

The "ten-year rule" suggests that it takes about 10 years of preparation to reach "expert" status. How long does it take, however, for someone to reach a level of creative greatness? Through an analysis of 215 contemporary fiction writers, we found that these writers took an average of 10.6 years between their first publication and their best publication, although there was a high degree of variability. This tentatively suggests that at least for modern fiction writers, a second phase after the first ten years may be crucial for achieving eminence. We discuss these findings in the context of results found in other domains of creativity, along with limitations and future directions. (Contains 1 figure.)

One of the most contentious areas in creativity theory is the question of domain specificity. How we conceptualize creativity--as something that transcends content domains, or as something that varies depending on the domain in question--has important implications for both creativity research and creativity training programs. The Amusement Park Theoretical (APT) model of creativity is the first creativity theory to successfully bridge the gap between these contrasting views of creativity. 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. The first level (initial requirements) is very general, and each subsequent level gets more and more domain-specific. The APT model can provide a powerful framework for creativity assessment, selection of students for gifted education programs, and the development of creativity training programs.

Most studies of writers have focused on Western writers, including studies of personal characteristics and success. The Chinese culture has traditionally had a much different view of creativity. Would a study of modern Chinese writers mirror past Western findings, indicating that Chinese and Western conceptions of creativity may be converging, or would there be different results? This study examined 722 twentieth-century Chinese writers and yielded two main findings, which generally correspond to past, Western-based research. First, female writers, particularly poets and fiction writers, were more likely to suffer a personal tragedy than male writers. Second, writers who were politically persecuted were more likely to eventually receive an award than those not politically persecuted. Explanations and implications for future studies are then discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)

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.

While most scholars acknowledge the existence of self-deception, they debate its paradoxicality: How can a person be convinced of a truth then delude himself into believing its contrary? Implicit in this paradox is the notion that self-deception is akin to others-deception, such that one intentionally misleads himself to authentically embrace a false belief. In this article, I propose a resolution to the paradox of intentional self-deception by analyzing the work of Reformed philosopher Greg Bahnsen. According to Bahnsen, self-deception occurs when a subject believes an uncomfortable truth, then deliberately obscures both his first-order belief and his intention to obscure it. By misconstruing evidence, the self-deceiver comes to subscribe genuinely to a false second-order belief regarding his firstorder belief, leaving him culpable for both his ill intent and his false belief. Bahnsen's model has much to commend in its logical coherence and accordance with Scriptural principles. Especially helpful is his distinction between the deceiver and the deceived located in the separation between first- and second-order beliefs rather than in personality or temporality. Bahnsen's emphasis on conscious intentionality, however, exacerbates the inherent difficulty of formulating a plausible explanation for self-deception. In response to this difficulty, I propose a revised version of Bahnsen's model that retains its core elements while assigning greater responsibility to unconscious influences without forfeiting human culpability. Specifically, my changes assume that most denied first-order beliefs and a portion of deceptive motivations reside in unconsciousness and that first-order beliefs may themselves be tainted by unconscious self-deception. Most importantly, I assume a primary role for the unconscious mind in secondorder self-deception. In support of these changes, I appeal to sociological and neuroscientific research indicating the majority of human cognitive activity is unconscious and to philosophical and theological scholarship finding greater coherence in the incorporation of implicit cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few high school students will be involved in design or technical education, but someday they may have to understand what design and the application of technology can do for them, either personally or professionally. This article is a first look at how this may be accomplished. Over the last ten or so years, there have been many higher education attempts to create interdisciplinary courses of product design and development. Taking into consideration all of the communication efforts and literature to promote industrial design within the corporate product community, there are several aspects that may have been overlooked by these efforts and/or organizations that are highlighted in this article. Other topics discussed include: a proposed solution; studio methods; understanding of design research; design action; evaluation techniques; and two models for implementation.

The objective of the study reported here was to explore the relationship of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test scores to selected personality traits--conscientiousness, rationality, ingenuity, quickness, creativity, and depth. A sample of 342 GRE test takers completed short personality inventory scales for each trait. Analyses revealed statistically significant, but slight (positive) correlations of GRE verbal, quantitative, and analytical scores with both creativity and quickness. (Quickness was defined here by, for instance, the ability to handle a lot of information and the ability to understand things.) The results also revealed significant, but very slight (negative) correlations of GRE scores with conscientiousness.

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. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.)

Background/Context: Creativity is an indispensable force in intellectual, social, cultural, and economic development. Yet societal forces conspire to erode it. Educators have despaired for many years over how schools often fail to encourage creativity, but society as a whole is just as guilty. But how do schools and society fail to encourage, or actually even erode, creativity? This essay addresses this question. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: The goal of our research was to specify the specific societal forces that erode creativity. We have labeled these forces ERODE: Education, Resources, Opportunities, Diffusion, and Exaggeration. The bottom line is that, although our society claims to want creativity, it most wants it when no one is negatively affected. Because creativity almost always negatively affects some people and groups, society tends to be much more supportive of creativity in theory than in practice. We show why. Research Design: Our research design is an analysis of the forces in society that erode creativity. We used historical analysis, media analysis, and analysis of educational practice to draw our conclusions.

Undergraduate creative writing students (n=41) and 40 student journalists (n=40) wrote sentences in response to photographs. Responses were then scored according to Burner's theory of Narrative and Paradigmatic Thought. Creative writers scored significantly higher than journalists on narrative thought. Male journalists outscored male creative writers on paradigmatic thought. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This article discusses using the Cognitive Assessment System based on the PASS theory, which centers on Planning, Attention, Simultaneous, and Successive cognitive processes, for identifying gifted children. It is argued that this more extensive and inclusive measure of intelligences could identify gifted children who would not traditionally be identified. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

Two studies involving a total of 2149 writers and other eminent individuals found that female poets were significantly more likely to suffer from mental illness than female fiction writers, than male writers of any type, or than eminent individuals in other fields. This finding has been dubbed the "Sylvia Plath" effect. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)

This article applies a propulsion model of creative contributions to the arts and letters. It opens with a general discussion of creative contributions and reviews existing models before describing the propulsion model and suggesting eight types of contributions that follow from this model. Examples illustrate use of the model in understanding creativity in the arts and letters. (Contains references.) (Author/DB)