Artistic and Scientific Creative Behavior: Openness and the Mediating Role of Interests

The arts and sciences have been identified as two specific domains that are dependent upon the creative process. A total of 369 undergraduate students served as research participants in two separate studies. In the first study, participants (N = 238) completed a measure of Openness to Experience (NEO‐PI; McCrae & Costa, 1999) and a questionnaire assessing artistic and scientific creativity (ASAS; Guastello & Shissler, 1994). Results from study 1 indicated that the Aesthetics and Actions personality traits were significantly related to artistic creativity, while the Ideas trait was the only lower level personality trait to significantly correlate with scientific creativity. In the second study, participants (N = 131) completed a measure of Openness to Experience (NEO‐PI), Vocational Interests (Holland, 1985), and an artistic and scientific creativity questionnaire (Guastello & Shissler, 1994). Findings from study 1 were largely replicated in study 2. Namely, Aesthetics and Ideas were significantly related with artistic and scientific creativity, respectively. Results from partial correlation computations were used to identify specific personality traits that were used in a series of regression models testing the second goal of the second study. Specifically, vocational interests were observed to mediate the relationship between personality dispositions and creativity. Results suggest the ability of lower level personality traits of Openness to differentiate between artistic and scientific creativity. In addition, results lend support for the motivational aspect of vocational interests.     

Createativity and Mood: Towards a Model of Cognitive Mediation

Empirical and biographical evidence reveals that the highly creative are more likely to experience mental health problems; most commonly depression and particularly within artistic fields. Cognitive theories of creative thinking suggest that artistic creativity may be associated with a divergent style of thinking, which is distinguished by specific differences with respect to logical appraisal skills. As similar patterns of appraisal are frequently found in those experiencing depression, it is suggested that appraisal may be a mediating feature between creativity and affect. This hypothesis is tested in the present study. Creativity, cognitive appraisal patterns and mood were measured in 104 undergraduate students (N = 36 art and 68 science) by standardised assessments. In keeping with predictions, art students were found to be more creative, experienced lower mood, and displayed greater degrees of distortion and bias in their appraisals.     

Cultural influences on artistic creativity and its evaluation

Two studies were designed to compare (a) the rated creativity of artworks created by American and Chinese college students, and (b) the criteria used by American and Chinese judges to evaluate these artworks. The study demonstrated that the two groups of students differed in their artistic creativity. American participants produced more creative and aesthetically pleasing artworks than did their Chinese counterparts, and this difference in performance was recognized by both American and Chinese judges. The difference between the use of criteria by American and Chinese judges was small, and consisted mainly of the American judges' use of stricter standards in evaluating overall creativity. Moreover, in general, there was a greater consensus among Chinese judges regarding what constitutes creativity than among American judges. The study also revealed, but preliminarily, that the artistic creativity of Chinese students was more likely to be reduced as a function of restrictive task constraints or of the absence of explicit instructions to be creative. The results of this study seem to support the hypothesis that an independent self‐oriented culture is more encouraging of the development of artistic creativity than is an interdependent self‐oriented culture. Other possible explanations, such as differences in people's attitudes toward and motivation for engaging in art activities, or socioeconomic factors might also account for differences in people's artistic creativity.     

General,Artistic and Scientific Creativity Attributes of Engineering and Music Students

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to investigate similarities and differences in general, artistic, and scientific creativity between engineering versus music students, as 2 groups respectively representing scientific and artistic domains. One hundred music and 105 engineering students from a large, Northeastern university completed measures of general creativity, music creativity, engineering creativity, and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicated that musicians scored higher in general and artistic creativity, with no significant differences in scientific creativity. Participants had higher levels of creativity, compared with normative data from previous studies. Gender, age, and specialization within major yielded no significant differences. Implications for creativity measures are discussed, including cognitive risk tolerance.     

Cultural and Bilingual Influences on Artistic Creativity Performances: Comparison of German and Chinese Students

Empirical research on the relationship between culture and creativity has thus far yielded no consistent results. Investigations of the differences are mostly post-hoc, and results are inconclusive. A creativity-value-oriented theory is proposed to explain cultural differences, as an alternative to ethnic and language effects. This study was conducted to compare the performances of artistic creativity of Germans and Chinese. Results revealed that the four groups of students examined (German students of Caucasian descent, German students of Asian descent, Chinese students studying abroad, and Chinese students studying in China) differed in their artistic creativity. German participants (Caucasian Germans and Asian Germans) produced more creative and aesthetically pleasing artwork than did their Chinese counterparts (Chinese studying abroad and domestic Chinese). This difference was observed by both German and Chinese judges. There no significant subgroup differences in creative performances—no difference between the two German groups, and no difference between the two Chinese groups. Finally, although there were significant differences between German judges, Chinese judges studying abroad, and domestic Chinese judges in judging the artworks, these were not due to a preference for artwork from students from their own cultural background. Chinese and German judges roughly agreed on what constitutes creativity. These results suggest that cultural differences affect creative performances.     

Anxiety and Flexibility of Defense Related to High or Low Creativity

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in anxiety and defense mechanisms between differently creative people. Two extreme groups that scored either very high or very low on a test of the creative function were selected from a larger cohort (N = 60). Each group consisted of 12 male undergraduate students, who took a test of defense mechanisms and completed anxiety inventories. The results showed that the high-creative group had more anxiety than the low-creative group. The high-creative group also used a greater number of different defense categories than the low-creative group. The number of defense categories was positively correlated with a fluency measure in the creativity test. These results are discussed in terms of variability in basal arousal, flexibility, and a creative defensive style.     

高创造力个体的群体差异性研究

高创造力群体的界定是创造力研究的重要前提,但迄今极少有研究关注以往研究中高创造力群体间的同质性问题。本研究以创造力问题提出能力测验调查了两所高校（一所地方高校和一所教育部直属高校）的975名大学生的创造力,通过极端组方法（extreme groups approach, EGA）为大学生创造力水平分组,考察不同创造力分组之间的差别。研究发现：地方高校和部属高校的高创造力大学生被试,在创造力的流畅性、变通性和独特性三个维度上,均存在显著差异。本研究结果提示,大学生高创造力组间可能存在质的差别,因此相关研究在外推结果时需要采取谨慎态度;研究者在实验过程中和讨论文献结果的可比性时一定要关注样本的同质性问题。     

The use of imagery by intelligent and by creative schoolchildren

Two studies focusing on differences in thinking strategies between intellectually gifted and creative children were undertaken. In the first study (N = 29), ethnographic techniques of observation along with testing and problem-solving interviews were used in a regular classroom. Three subjects (one high IQ and high creativity, one high IQ and low creativity, and one low IQ and high creativity) were identified for intensive observation. In the second study, testing procedures and problem-solving interviews were completed with 30 children who were placed in a gifted program within an urban school system. Both studies produced evidence supporting the link between imaging abilities and creative thinking.     

'Paradoxical' Mood Effects on Creative Problem-solving

Two studies examined the influence of various affective states on creative problem-solving. In Study 1, individual differences in mood were measured using an adjective checklist immediately prior to task performance. Insight problems were then employed to measure creative problem-solving. Performance was compared with that obtained for analytic problem-solving tasks that were included as contrast variables. Results showed that positive mood led to significantly poorer creative problem-solving performance. No link was found between negative mood and general arousal. Performance on the contrasting analytic problem-solving tasks was negatively related to anxiety, but not to positive or negative mood states. In Study 2, the procedure was followed with the addition of experimentally induced mood states. The results obtained in Study 1 for mood ratings were replicated. In the induced mood conditions, negative mood significantly facilitated creative problemsolving performance relative to induced neutral mood, which in turn was better than the control condition. The poorest performance was obtained in the positive mood condition. The results are discussed in the context of contrasting theories of the relationships between mood and problem-solving performance.     

Unity and diversity of executive functions in creativity

Increasing evidence suggests that executive functions (EFs) – a set of general-purpose control processes that regulate thoughts and behaviors – are relevant for creativity. However, EF is not a unitary process, and it remains unclear which specific EFs are involved. The present study examined the association between the three EFs, both uniquely (EF-Specific) and together (Common EF), and three measures of creativity. Participants (N = 47) completed a divergent thinking test, and self-reported their real-life creative accomplishments. A subset of participants indicated their involvement in the artistic or information technology (IT) professions. Results indicated that fluency (but not originality) of divergent thinking was uniquely predicted by working memory Updating. Better response Inhibition predicted higher number of real-world artistic creative achievements. Involvement in the artistic (versus IT) professions was associated with better Common EF, and with enhanced mental set Shifting abilities. Results demonstrate that different EFs predict creativity depending on its operational definition.     

两岸四地大学生对创造力特征及创造力 人才的认知调查

该研究表明,北京、广州、香港和台北的大学生在对创造力和创造力人才的内隐认知甚为一致。其中北京和广州大学生的内隐认知更为接近,而香港和台湾大学生的内隐认知更为接近。在对高创造力特征的内隐认知上,四地大学生一致看重的条目有：有创造力、有创见、创新、有观察力、有思考力、愿做尝试、灵活性、有自信、有想象力、有好奇心、有个性和有独立性等。而在对低创造力表现的内隐认知上,四地大学生的一致认同的条目有：呆钝、保守、跟随传统和愿做让步。在对创造力人才的认知上,四地的大学皆首推政治名人,次推科技界名人。四地大学生最不看重的创造力人才是艺术界和音乐界名人。这说明,两岸三地的中国人虽然分离长久,但其对创造力的认知上仍相当一致,都甚看重政治与科技人物的影响。     

Attitudes toward suicide among highly creative college students

Two groups of college students (n = 58 each) were identified through a combination of teacher nominations and creativity test scores, were labeled as creative or control, and matched on gender, age, college major, and vocabulary level. Their attitudes towards suicide were assessed using the Suicide Opinion Questionnaire (SOQ). Seven of the eight SOQ scales statistically differentiated the two groups, with creative subjects showing greater agreement of endorsement on the Mental Illness, Right to Die, Normality, and Aggression scales, and greater disagreement on the Cry for Help, Religion, and Moral Evil scales. The results suggest considerable attitudinal differences towards suicide between highly creative subjects and their control peers, with creative students perceiving suicide in more liberal and less judgmental terms.     

创造性思维能力高、低大学生特性负启动效应的实验研究

本研究采用问卷法筛选出创造性思维能力高、低大学生作为被试,利用负启动实验范式考察两组大学生特性负启动效应的异同,探讨汉字特性负启动效应与创造性思维的关系。结果发现：低创造性思维能力组大学生具有显著的特性负启动效应,而高创造性思维能力组大学生则没有产生明显的特性负启动效应。     

In the World or in the Head: External and Internal Implicit Theories of Creativity

This research is an initial step to bringing existing research on cultural differences in attribution and holism to the study of implicit theories of creativity. Two studies examined the tendency to consider creativity to be prototypically expressed internally via reflection and internal states versus expressed externally via interaction and products. Study 1 had Caucasian American, Asian American, and Japanese undergraduates list activities and traits they associated with creative groups and individuals. In Study 2, Japanese, Chinese, Caucasian Americans, and Asian Americans chose specific professions as more creative using a paired forced-choice method. In both studies, East Asians had a greater propensity to choose external traits, activities, and professions as creative, whereas Caucasian Americans and to a lesser degree, Asian Americans showed a preference for internal items. The implications of cross-cultural differences in implicit theories of creativity are discussed.     

语义距离与创造性思维关系的元分析

自然语言处理的发展为探究语义距离与创造性思维的关系提供了可靠且有效的研究方法。近些年关于两者之间关系的研究逐渐增多,但研究结论并不一致。本研究基于创造力联想理论及扩散激活模型,通过元分析的方法探讨了语义距离与创造性思维的整体关系,并且分析了以往研究结论不一致的原因。本文经过文献检索和筛选后获得14项研究,提取r值作为效应值(共53个效应值,4729个独立样本),并使用随机效应模型进行了元分析。结果显示：语义距离与创造性思维存在中等程度的正相关(r=0.379, 95%CI [0.300, 0.452]);二者的相关强度受到被试年龄和创造性思维不同测量指标的调节。研究结果表明语义距离与创造性思维关系密切,同时解释了以往研究结论不一致的原因。上述结果不仅能为更深入地探讨创造性思维的认知神经机制提供新的研究视角和理论解释,而且有助于更全面地理解语义距离与创造性思维二者的关系及其边界条件,为更好地解释、预测和提升创造力提供科学依据和重要启示。     

认知抑制对艺术创造力的影响:认知风格的调节作用

以114名大学生为被试, 采用Mittenecker指向测验和粘贴画任务考察了认知抑制能力与艺术创造力的关系, 并采用镶嵌图形测验考察了认知风格在其中所起的调节作用。研究结果表明:(1)认知抑制能力与艺术创造力之间呈现负相关, 认知抑制对于个体的创造程度、沟通传播水平和艺术创造综合印象可以起到显著的负向预测作用, 对于个体艺术创造的可爱程度和想象水平可以起到边缘显著的负向预测作用;(2)认知风格在认知抑制能力与艺术创造力的关系中起着调节作用, 主要表现为认知抑制能力对于场依存个体的创造程度、想象水平和沟通传播水平具有显著的预测作用, 对于场独立个体的艺术创造力则不具有预测作用。     

具有创造成就的科学家关于创造的概念结构

运用Q分类及多尺度分析方法,研究具有创造成就的科学家关于创造成就的概念结构。被试是30名来自物理、化学、数学、地学和生命科学领域的具有创造成就的科学家。研究发现,具有创造成就的科学家关于创造成就的概念结构由“成就取向/内心体验取向”、“主动进取/踏实肯干”两个维度构成;取得科学创造成就的重要特征是“成就取向”和“主动进取”。作者进一步讨论了主动进取对于取得创造性成就的意义     

An Empirical Assessment of the GAM Theory of Creativity

ABSTRACT: Therivel (1993, 1998, 1999a, 1999b), in a series of articles, presented the GAM theory of creativity, which postulates that creativity is a function of genetics, assistances, and misfortunes. Two studies were undertaken to determine whether empirical data support this theory. In the first study, a sample of 529 undergraduate students completed a questionnaire designed to assess their creativity and the presence of anecdotal evidence regarding the three components of Therivel's theory. Two subsamples were formed of high creative (n = 40) and low creative (n = 38) individuals, and their scores on the three components were compared. In a second study, college students who were low on creativity but either high (n = 52) or low (n = 47) on academic achievement were identified and compared to the high creative individuals of Study 1 on the three components. In general, the results present at best modest support for Therivel's theory and no difference in applicability of the theory to creativity versus achievement.     

Chronic Effects of Ionizing Radiations and the Hypothesis that Irradiation Produces Aging-Like Changes in Behavior

On the basis of theories and research on cognitive and perceptual processes, several hypotheses concerning psychophysiological differences between high and low creative subjects were made. Thirty male undergraduates were divided into high and low creative groups on the basis of the Remote Associates Test and a version of the Uses Test. Basal alpha index, alpha blocking in response to stimulus onset, and performance on alpha enhancement and suppression in a feedback situation were measured. High creative subjects exhibited a lower alpha index and a greater decrement in alpha due to stimulus onset. High creatives showed immediate acquisition of control in alpha enhancement trials but no improvement across trials, while low creative subjects showed continual improvements and quickly reached the level of control of high creative subjects. High creatives were much better at alpha suppression than at alpha enhancement.