Problem Finding,Creativity Style and the Musical Compositions of High School Students

This study sought to understand the effect of problem finding and creativity style on the creative musical product. Participants (N = 32) were categorized by creativity style (adaptor or innovator) using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory. The participants completed two musical composition problems involving two different degrees of problem finding behaviors: an open (ill defined) and a closed (more defined) problem. The resulting products were scored for creativity by three judges using a modified version of Amabile's “consensual assessment technique.” A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data. The independent variables were composition problem type and creativity style, and the dependent variable was the creativity score on the open and closed problems. No significant differences due to problem type, creativity style, or the interaction of the two factors was found. This research supports the assertion of Kirton that adaption-innovation theory is a measure of creativity style rather than creativity level, but calls into question its use in individual creativity style.     

Relationships between adaptation-innovation, experienced control, and state-trait anxiety

This study examines correlations among scores on the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, the Tiffany Control Scales, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for 104 undergraduates enrolled in the general psychology classes at a middle-sized midwestern university. Analysis indicated that adaptors and innovators perceive control from and/or over some aspects of their lives differently. Innovators feel control over internal (self) and over external (environment) while adaptors feel control from internal (self) and from external (environment). These results suggest innovators generally feel that they are in control of both themselves and the environment. Adaptors, however, generally feel they are controlled by internal drives and impulses or environmental events. The present study yielded no correlation between choice of college major and adaption-innovation but more research is needed. A relation between adaption and state anxiety was found, which may suggest adaptors feel more pressure when completing a novel task (answering questionnaires) than innovators. Finally, no significant correlation was found between the Kirton scores and trait anxiety.     

Effects of valence and framing in decision making II: Estimating subjective weighting1

Abstract: In comparison between choice options, judgments of “How much better is a preferred option?” and “How much worse is a less preferred option?” may differ in their magnitudes. Such discrepancies are called “valence effects.” Previously, Yamagishi and Miyamoto (1996) observed systematic positive valence effects (“Better” exceeding “Worse”) in the domain of gains and systematic negative valence effects (“Worse” exceeding “Better”) in the domain of losses. The current experiment used the directions of valence effects as a tool to assess the decision maker's interpretation of choice tasks under the “framing effect” ( Tversky & Kahneman, 1986 ). Preferences under the framing effect switch from certain options in the domain of gains to uncertain options in the domain of losses. This study examined whether preferences for certain options were associated with positive valence effects, whereas preferences for uncertain options were associated with negative valence effects. Moreover, conditions under which preference reversals under the framing manipulations ceased to occur were examined. The effects of valence showed that framing effects ceased to occur when decision makers maintained consistent task interpretations as pertaining to gains or to losses. Most importantly, the pattern of subjective weighting under the valence effects was consistent with previous explanation of valence effects ( Yamagishi & Miyamoto, 1996 ). Possibilities for extending the current findings to understanding related psychological phenomena are discussed.     

Effects of valence and framing in decision-making: Assessing decision-makers' perceived domains of choice

Abstract: In comparison between choice alternatives, judgments of “How much better is a preferred option?” and “How much worse is a less preferred option?” may differ in their magnitudes. Such discrepancies are called “valence effects”. Previously, Yamagishi and Miyamoto (1996 ) observed systematic positive valence effects (“Better” exceeding “Worse”) in the domain of gains and systematic negative valence effects (“Worse” exceeding “Better”) in the domain of losses. The current experiments used the directions of valence effects as a tool to assess decision‐maker's interpretation of choice tasks under “framing effects” ( Tversky & Kahneman, 1986 ). Preferences under the framing effect switch from certain options in the domain of gains to uncertain options in the domain of losses. Two experiments showed that preferences for certain options were associated with positive valence effects, whereas preferences for uncertain options were associated with negative valence effects. Moreover, conditions wherein the framing manipulations lose the effectiveness were examined. Valence effects showed that framing effects ceased to occur when decision‐makers maintained consistent domain perceptions as pertaining to gains or to losses, across the domains of gains and losses. Implications are discussed.     

矛盾视角下调节焦点在领导力领域的应用

根据调节焦点理论, 个体在追求目标和选择行动策略的过程中存在两种调节焦点：促进型调节焦点的个体以利益最大化为目标, 倾向用“接近式”的方式达成目标; 防御型调节焦点的个体以损失最小化为目标, 倾向用“避免式”的方式达成目标。近年来, 调节焦点理论在领导力领域的研究中得到了广泛应用, 但关于两种调节焦点之间的关系及两者共同作用的研究却十分稀少。在回顾调节焦点在领导力领域研究的应用现状的基础上, 本文指出了矛盾视角的必要性和可行性, 并基于矛盾理论, 提出了未来研究的发展方向。     

Adaptors and Innovators: Preference for Educational Procedures

We tested the hypothesis that differences in attitudes toward conflicting procedures would depend on the context of the presentation and an individual's cognitive style. Data from 182 British school teachers who completed the Kirton (1976) Adaption–Innovation Inventory and two questionnaires concerned with aspects of educational procedures provided results broadly in line with expected adaption–innovation theory. Innovators were found to have a preference for procedures loose in structure, with aims not easily defined, and without easy methods of assessment. The adaptors showed a preference for procedures containing a tighter structure, more definable aims and more precise methods of assessment. The data also provide useful additional norms and information on teachers' cognitive style differences with regard to subject taught, gender, and length of service.     

The construction of risk in relationships: The role of framing in decisions about intimate relationships

Two studies examined the applicability of Kahneman and Tversky's (1979) notion of “framing” to decision making in romantic relationships. Using scenarios about hypothetical relationships, the results of Study 1 demonstrated that framing objectively identical alternatives in terms of losses versus gains affected participants' preferences for risky versus cautious actions. Furthermore, adult attachment style was found to moderate the impact of this framing effect. Study 2 examined individual differences in people's spontaneous tendencies to frame their feelings about their actual relationships in terms of losses or gains. Consistent with the findings of Study 1, attachment style was reliably associated with spontaneous framing. Secure individuals were most likely to represent their feelings in terms of a “gains frame” whereas fearful individuals were most likely to represent their feelings in terms of a “loss frame.”     

Votes Without Power:Procedural Justice as Mutual Control in Majority-Minority Relations1

In an application of procedural justice theory (Lind & Tyler, 1988; Tyler, 1989) to the domain of intergroup relations, we investigated justice preferences among members of numerical majority and minority groups as a function of two parameters: the number of representatives allotted to each group, and the decision rule used to determine the outcome (ranging from simple majority vote to unanimity). In the first study, minority group members perceived the combination of proportional representation and majority vote to be significantly less fair than all other combinations, and their choices of procedure stressed “mutual control” (when the decision rule exceeds the number of representatives possessed by either group). In a second study, majority group members perceived the combination of equal representation and majority vote to be significantly less fair than other procedures, but their choices of procedure did involve a considerable degree of mutual control. These findings suggest that there may be some basis for agreement between majority and minority group members' justice preferences and that both groups may perceive situations of mutual control to be acceptable. A third study involving both majority and minority group members ruled out an interpretation of the previous results in terms of motivation to maintain vs. change the status quo.     

Creative Style and Divergent Production

In a sample of British working men and women, scores on the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (MI) were compared with divergent production scores on Guilford's Consequences and Alternate Uses tests. On the Consequences test, adaptors and innovators produced approximately equal numbers of common responses, but the innovators produced a higher number of uncommon (remote) responses, and a higher number of responses in total. Innovators also produced more responses than adaptors on the Alternate Uses test. The results are discussed with reference to the distinction between creative style and creative level. Creative style appears to be more strongly, related to some measures of creative level than to others, and the results are consistent with Kirton's view that when solving problems, innovators access a larger cognitive domain than adaptors.     

认知风格影响框架效应的ERP研究

采用ERP方法,考察了不同认知风格被试在决策过程中的框架效应。分析的脑电成分为N200和P300成分。结果发现：场依存者的反应时显著高于场独立者;场依存者诱发的N200和P300平均波幅均显著低于场独立者;大脑右半球的N200和P300平均波幅均显著高于左半球。这些结果表明,场独立者在决策过程中更具有理性,基本不受决策问题表述方式的影响,且该决策过程主要发生在大脑的右半球。     

Suggestive Parallels between Kirton's A-I Theory of Creative Style and Koestler's Bisociative Theory of the Creative Act

ABSTRACT Kirton's Adaption-Innovation (A-I) theory of cognitive style was reviewed with particular regard to the three factors [Sufficiency of Originality, Efficiency, and Rule/Group Conformity] assumed to underlie the basic (AI) continuum. The basic additive model (AI = SO + E + R) set out by Kirton was then related to Koestler's bisociative theory of the creative act. The compatibility of the two theories offered mutual support for both. The intent of this paper is to explore connections between Kirton's Adaption-Innovation Theory and Koestler's theory of the creative act. In Koestler's distinctive term, the “bisociation” of the two theories offers interesting possibilities for reciprocal illumination. Kirton's work, initiated by the publication (Kirton, 1976) of his measure of creative style, the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI), will be sketched first, followed by a brief overview of Koestler's 1963 monograph (Koestler, 1967). Parallels between the two theories will be suggested in a final section that casts the three Kirton factor/traits into the conceptual framework of the creative act set out by Koestler.     

Enhanced Cardiac Perception Is Associated With Increased Susceptibility to Framing Effects

Previous studies suggest in line with dual process models that interoceptive skills affect controlled decisions via automatic or implicit processing. The “framing effect” is considered to capture implicit effects of task‐irrelevant emotional stimuli on decision‐making. We hypothesized that cardiac awareness, as a measure of interoceptive skills, is positively associated with susceptibility to the framing effect. Forty volunteers performed a risky‐choice framing task in which the effect of loss versus gain frames on decisions based on identical information was assessed. The results show a positive association between cardiac awareness and the framing effect, accounting for 24% of the variance in the framing effect. These findings demonstrate that good interoceptive skills are linked to poorer performance in risky choices based on ambivalent information when implicit bias is induced by task‐irrelevant emotional information. These findings support a dual process perspective on decision‐making and suggest that interoceptive skills mediate effects of implicit bias on decisions.     

Stochastic transitivity and the unidimensional control of choice

A concurrent-chains paradigm was used to test three models of preference for schedules of reinforcement. Each model assumes choice to be a monotonic function of values on a single dimension (“simple scalability”). For choices involving variable-interval and fixed-interval schedules, this dimension is assumed to be an harmonic average of the interreinforcement intervals; for choices involving fixedinterval and fixed-ratio schedules, the dimension is the time to reinforcement irrespective of response rate; for choices involving different combinations of rate and duration of reinforcement, the dimension is the rate of “reinforcement-time”, or the product of the two parameters. Each model implies a strong form of transitivity (“functional equivalence”), which held for half the subjects (that half exclusively sensitive to the reinforcement variable specified by the model). An alternative unidimensional model which implies a weaker form of transitivity (“weak binary utility model”) was consistent with the preferences of all subjects. This model states that a single factor controls the direction of preferences but not necessarily the exact choice probability, as simple scalability assumes.     

An overcorrection framing effect

With the “typical” attribute framing manipulation, assimilation effects have often been obtained; people often judge the attributes of a judgmental target more positively when the attributes are framed positively (e.g., 99% pure) than negatively (e.g., 1% impure). Research has not, however, explored or demonstrated the effects of correcting or overcorrecting for the frame's influence. Overcorrection framing occurs when a more positive response is produced by the negative frame. Across three experiments, overcorrection as well as typical framing effects were obtained. In Experiments 1 and 2, overcorrection effects were obtained when participants were prompted to consider complementary information and, in Experiment 3, when the frame's source was described as untrustworthy. In contrast, typical framing effects were obtained when prompts were not supplied and when the frame's source was not described as being untrustworthy. These results supported the unification model that uses a priming analysis to account for assimilation (typical framing) and contrast (overcorrection framing) effects. We discussed how overcorrection is expected with other framing manipulations, such as risky-choice framing. We provided reasons for asymmetrical correction effects and discussed implications of our analysis for holistic/analytical as well as System 1/System 2 processing styles, the influence of different amounts of cognitive resource allocations, and the possibility of a correction process involving averaging.     

Does Cognitive Style Moderate Expected Evaluation and Adolescents' Creative Performance: An Empirical Study

Two studies investigated the effects of cognitive and school environmental factors on adolescents' creative performance. The first study tested the effects of expected evaluation and cognitive style on creativity among 89 high school students. The second study tested the effects of evaluation type and cognitive style on creativity among 92 high school students. Study 1 found main effects of expected evaluation and cognitive style on creativity. The interaction between expected evaluation and cognitive style was statistically significant. Under an experimental condition of expected evaluation, field‐dependent adolescents performed more creatively (i.e., higher originality) than those without expected evaluation. Study 2 uncovered main effects of expected evaluation type and cognitive style on creativity but no interactions between expected evaluation type and cognitive style. Adolescents performed better on the dimension of flexibility in a controlling evaluation condition, compared with adolescents in informational evaluation condition, and field‐independent adolescents showed more fluency and originality than field‐dependent adolescents. Together, this research provides a better understanding of the effects of expected evaluation and cognitive style on adolescents' creative performance. Implications for further research are discussed.     

Relationship of field dependence/independence to adaption-innovation in alcoholics

Using alcoholics as subjects, the present study attempted a replication of Kirton's 1978 study in which he demonstrated a relationship between his adaption-innovation theory and Witkin's concept of field dependence/independence. Correlations obtained in the present study paralleled those of Kirton. As a group, alcoholics tended to be field-dependent in orientation. Innovators were less field-dependent than adaptors and "average" individuals. It was suggested that the varied characteristics of alcoholics should be considered when planning therapeutic strategies.     

Linguistic–Numeric Presentation Mode Effects on Risky Option Preferences

In this study, we examine preferences between lotteries with chances presented either numerically or linguistically. Presentation mode is predicted to affect preferences due to the perception of linguistic chance as skewed distributions of risk. Based upon weighting functions incorporating risk/uncertainty aversion from ambiguity theory and cumulative prospect theory, we predict that presentation mode effects on risky choices will be detectable in very small risks and in large risks. In two experiments, subjects chose between both gain and loss lotteries with constant payoffs and equivalent numeric and linguistic chances. Presentation mode affected choices when chances were above 50%, where lotteries with numeric chances were more frequently preferred in gains while lotteries with linguistic chances were more often preferred in losses. The effect of presentation mode for low-chance lotteries (5% and less) also affected choices such that numeric choices were generally preferred more frequently in losses and linguistically expressed choices were generally preferred more often in gains. Overall, these results suggest that theories of the effects of second order uncertainty on risky choice may be used to model decisions involving linguistic risk. They also suggest that the study of the perception of linguistic risk assessments can provide insight into the cognitive processing behind the weighting functions proposed to depict decision under risk and uncertainty. Finally, the results have practical implications since information providers can affect decision makers’ choices by controlling presentation mode in such a way as to alter the relative attractiveness of uncertain events.     

A factor analysis of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory using an alcoholic population

The present study reports a factor analysis of the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory using 103 alcoholic men. Kirton in 1976 and we in an unpublished work in 1986 noted identical factor structures when responses from nonalcoholic populations to the inventory were factor analyzed. Recent reviews regarding personality characteristics of alcoholics suggest characteristics similar to the adaption-innovation concepts of Kirton. This factor analysis for an alcoholic sample supports the validity of the inventory as a measure of problem-solving style of alcoholics.