The Impact of Culture on the Creative Potential of American,Russian, and Iranian College Students

This study presents evidence for the impact of sociocultural environment on creative potential. The divergent thinking performance of American, Russian, and Iranian college students was compared on the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults. The study revealed that, compared to the Iranians, Americans and Russians have superior abilities to consider a problem from different perspectives and to generate original solutions to a problem. The performance differences on the originality measure of the representatives of the Western and Eastern countries calls for the possible revisions of the traditional definition of creativity as a construct emphasizing originality in thinking. Although originality and innovation are inherent properties of creative behavior in the Western thought, it might have lesser value in the East.     

Bicultural Effects on the Creative Potential of Chinese and French Children

This study examined possible bicultural effects on creative potential of children in four groups of Chinese and French children in Hong Kong and Paris. An international battery of widely used divergent measures (Wallach-Kogan Creativity Tests; WKCT) and newly constructed divergent-plus-integrative measures (Evaluation of Potential Creativity; EPoC) was established for assessment. Study 1 showed that most measures of WKCT and EPoC were reasonably high in reliability and they had expected correlations with the fluency scores of some subtests of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Study 2 found some interestingly mixed bicultural effects favoring verbal divergent responses for French children and graphic integrative responses for Chinese children. Compared with Paris-French children, the bicultural Hong Kong-French children had significantly higher scores in figural fluency, figural flexibility, and figural uniqueness of WKCT (requiring only verbal divergent responses) but significantly lower scores in the graphic divergent-exploratory measure of EPoC. Compared with Hong Kong-Chinese children, the bicultural Paris-Chinese children had significantly higher scores in the graphic convergent-integrative measure of EPoC, but significantly lower scores in verbal fluency, verbal flexibility, figural fluency, figural flexibility, figural uniqueness, and figural unusualness of WKCT. Implications of the mixed bicultural effects in relation to the diverse creativity measures and children groups are discussed.     

"问题意识"是创新精神的基石--青少年科学精神教育的思考

一、问题的提出 对于科学精神的解释,我们从当今科学家和学者的观点中可以看出,虽然他们对科学精神的内涵的看法各有不同,但是,大部分包含有这样几个基本内容:求真求实,追求真理,理性的怀疑精神,民主、自由和开放性,多元化,求证和检验的精神.而我们认为理性的怀疑即普遍的问题意识是科学精神的基础,问题意识是思维的动力,创新精神的基石.强烈的问题意识,能促使人们去发现问题、解决问题,直到进行新的发现--创新.创造性思维,创新能力是人类素质的重中之重,唯有怀疑,才可能在习以为常中求真,在虚无缥缈中求实,唯有经常探究,勤思考才能达到真理.由此可见,科学精神,问题意识对学生的能力的形成、素质提高和全面发展以及他们个人将来对社会的贡献都起到至关重要的作用.     

Creative Potential and Multicultural Experiences: The Mediating Role of Creative Self-Efficacy

In two studies, one in Mexico and another one in Germany, we examined the indirect influence of self-reported multicultural experience on creative potential, through its influence on creative self-efficacy, and its direct influence on creative personal identity. In both studies, business students from Mexico and Germany completed a battery of questionnaires assessing creative self-efficacy (with two different operationalizations), creative personal identity, multicultural experiences, and a divergent thinking task designed to generate ideas to solve two different business problems. Structural equation modeling was used to test our hypotheses. Results from both studies found a positive relationship between self-reported multicultural experiences and creative personal identity. Similarly, multicultural experiences had an indirect, positive relationship with originality scores from a divergent thinking task, through its influence on creative self-efficacy. Hence, the positive influence of multicultural experience on creative potential, through creative self-efficacy, was established in two countries and with different operationalizations, trait like versus state like, of creative self-efficacy. The implications of the results were discussed.     

Examining the Potential of Community-Based After-School Programs for Latino Youth

Results are presented from two pilot studies examining the potential influence of community-based after-school programs (ASPs) on regionally diverse Latino youth of varying ages. Study 1 examined relations between dimensions of ASP attendance and content, and ethnic identity development, and self-worth in urban Latino adolescents. In this study, higher ratings of the ASP’s emphasis on ethnic socialization were associated with a more developed ethnic identity, while greater intensity of ASP participation and perceptions of ASP quality were associated with higher levels of self-worth. Study 2 examined relations between ASP participation and development of concentration and emotion regulation skills in rural Latino grade-school youth. In this study, youth who regularly attended the ASP demonstrated significantly better concentration and regulation skills than those who did not regularly attend, if they exhibited preexisting concentration and regulation problems. Findings illustrate how ASPs with varying strategies, activities, and assessment tools can be evaluated in the interest of designing future large-scale investigations into ASPs and Latino positive youth development.     

Energizing The Creative Potential in Future Engineers

ABSTRACT Three agents needed for energizing the creative process in future engineers are realistic challenge, creative involvement, and relevant constraints. Two conditions for continuing the reaction are a reservoir of knowledge and experience, and an integrated conceptual framework. Curricula and courses can be structured to emphasize these agents and conditions.     

社会动机与“自我-他人”对创造性表现的影响

以往研究发现个体为自己和为他人的创造表现存在差异,但研究结论不一致。另外,考虑到社会动机是影响“自我-他人”表现的重要因素,本研究采用2（社会动机：亲社会、利己）×2（“自我-他人”：自我、他人）混合实验设计,考察社会动机与“自我-他人”如何来影响创造性表现。结果发现,亲社会组创造性表现的新颖性、有效性和总分均高于利己组,支持了动机性信息加工理论。自我组在创造性表现的新颖性和总分上高于他人组,这与解释水平理论的观点不一致。矛盾的原因可能是在东方“紧”文化背景下,人们按照社会认可的价值体系来为他人创造时,人们对新颖性的态度是谨慎的,因此为自我创造比为他人创造更加新颖。     

Interactive Effects of Multicultural Experiences and Openness to Experience on Creative Potential

Extensiveness of multicultural experiences and Openness to Experience were used to predict European American undergraduates' performance on two measures of creative potential: (a) generation of unusual uses of garbage bags and (b) retrieval of nonprototypical or normatively inaccessible exemplars in the conceptual domain of occupation. The results showed that having extensive multicultural experiences predicted better performance on both measures of creative potential only among participants who were open to experience. Among those who were not open, having more extensive multicultural experiences was associated with a lower level of creative potential. Implications of these findings for promoting creativity in schools are discussed.     

Investigating the Impact of Strength-Based Assessment on Youth with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

The trend toward adopting a strengths approach to mental health practice with children and adolescents amounts to a paradigm shift from an emphasis on diagnosing disorders to tapping child capacities and assets toward the achievement of treatment goals. While the potential value and challenges associated with this shift has received ample attention in the literature, minimal research has been conducted to assess the benefits and barriers related to the use of strength-based strategies with youth. Utilizing an experimental design, this author examined the impact of strength-based assessment using the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale (BERS) with seriously emotionally or behaviorally disturbed children and adolescents. Results revealed that child functioning outcomes were significantly better for youth who received BERS-guided assessment versus the usual deficit-based assessment protocol only when the treating therapist reported an orientation toward service that reflects highly strength-based attitudes and practices. Furthermore, high adherence to the strength-based assessment protocol was associated with significantly higher parent satisfaction with services and lower rates of missed appointments. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for practitioner effects and treatment fidelity in future studies of strength-based practice effectiveness.     

Impact of Youth Strengths and Objective Strain on the Experiences of Subjective Strain Among Caregivers of Youth with Behavioral Health Conditions

Caregivers of youth with behavioral health conditions often experience significant and chronic caregiving strain. Caregiving strain is thought to consist of three dimensions: objective strain (observable negative events), subjective internalized strain (negative feelings directed inwardly), and subjective externalized strain (negative feelings directed outwardly). Based on a modified stress process model, the aims of this study were to: (1) examine whether the association between youth emotional-behavioral problem severity (measured with the Child Behavior Checklist/6–18) and subjective internalized and subjective externalized caregiving strain is mediated by objective strain for caregivers, and; (2) identify other predictors of subjective internalized and subjective externalized strain, particularly related to youth emotional-behavioral strengths as measured by the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale-Parent Rating Scale. We also explored the extent to which the association between youth emotional-behavioral problem severity and subjective internalized and subjective externalized strain may be moderated by perceived youth emotional-behavioral strengths. One-hundred and eighty-five (N = 185) caregivers of youth served by a community-based system of care participated in structured survey interviews at program enrollment. Regression analyses indicated that objective strain was found to fully mediate the association between youth emotional-behavioral problem severity and subjective externalized strain. Greater youth strengths related to family involvement were also associated with lower subjective externalized strain. Higher caregiver age, lower education, biological parent relationship to youth, greater youth emotional-behavioral problem severity, higher objective strain, and lower youth strengths related to school functioning were associated with higher subjective internalized strain. A significant interaction was found between youth problem severity, youth affective strengths, and subjective internalized strain such that caregivers who reported higher levels of youth affective strengths experienced stronger effects from youth emotional-behavioral problem severity on subjective internalized strain. These findings shed light upon the complex set of circumstances that may lead caregivers of youth with behavioral health conditions to experience subjective internalized and subjective externalized strain.