| Abstract: | Administered to 75 children (ages 4 and 5 yrs) 2 divergent-thinking (DT) measures (Instances and Unusual Uses) and 2 conventional tests of general intelligence. Six and 7 yrs later, these Ss—then preadolescents—were evaluated with respect to creativity by their 6th-grade teachers. These creativity evaluations at 11 yrs exhibited substantial discriminant and construct validity and were relatively free of halo effects. A composite score based on the number of high-quality, divergent-thinking responses in childhood (i.e., responses reflecting both imagination and sensitivity to task constraints) correlated significantly with teacher evaluations of preadolescent creativity. This construct-validating correlation, which spanned 6 and 7 yrs and 2 measurement domains, was .45, uncorrected for attenuation. Even more important, this composite DT high-quality score in early childhood incrementally accounted for 14% of the variance in preadolescent creativity evaluations beyond that accounted for by sex and conventionally measured intelligence and DT fluency (number of responses regardless of quality). (1? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
