Influence of play on creative thinking

The immediate influence of flexible and highly structured play on the creative thinking of 184 fourth-grade boys and girls was investigated. Following either flexible or highly structured art, drama, and playground activities, children's performances on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were evaluated. Children who participated in flexible play experiences showed significantly greater creative thinking than children participating in the highly structured play experiences. No significant differences were found between boys and girls related to effects of flexible and structured play on creative thinking. Implications for curriculum are explored.     

Effects of classroom age composition on the play and social behaviors of preschool children

Preschool children enrolled in same- and mixed-age day care classrooms were observed during free play to examine patterns of social and play behavior. In mixed-age rooms, there was more interactive-functional play, for both older and younger children, more dramatic play and negative interactions for younger children, and a tendency for older children to be onlookers. In the same-age rooms, there was more conversation and more parallel-functional interaction for both older and younger children. While previous research has emphasized the benefits of mixed-age rooms, the current research indicates that some costs may also be involved.     

The creative thinking and ego functioning of children

Abstract:

One hundred highly creative children and 100 uncreative children were selected from a sample of 1,450 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade children. They were identified with the the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Comparisons revealed significant differences in terms of quantity and quality of primary process content. The creative children gave not only more primary process ideation, but the quality was (a) significantly more libidinal than aggressive, (b) more regressive (greater DD), and (c) showed more effective use of regression in the service of the ego (calculated by using the popular response to score defense effectiveness). There were no sex differences in the TTCT scores or the primary process content, but girls gave more libidinal content and boys gave more aggressive content.     

The scope of teleological thinking in preschool children

These studies explore the scope of young children's teleological tendency to view entities as ‘designed for purposes'. One view (‘Selective Teleology') argues that teleology is an innate, basic mode of thinking that, throughout development, is selectively applied by children and adults to artifacts and biological properties. An alternative proposal (‘Promiscuous Teleology') argues that teleological reasoning derives from children's knowledge of intentionality and is not restricted to any particular category of phenomena until later in development. Two studies explored the predictions of these two hypotheses regarding the scope of children's functional intuitions. Using different methods, both studies found that, unlike adults, preschoolers tend to attribute functions to all kinds of objects – clocks, tigers, clouds and their parts. A third study then explored this finding further by examining whether the developmental effect was due to differences in children's and adults' concept of function. It found that both children and adults predominantly view an object's function as the activity it was designed to perform. Possible explanations for the developmental differences found in the first two studies, and implications for notions of a teleological stance are discussed.     

The effects of varying toy detail within a prototypical play object on the solitary pretend play of preschool children

Claims about the relative holding-power and play-versatility of low-versus high- realistically detailed replica toy cars were tested in a solitary play environment with and without the use of props using 36 middle-class preschoolers. Results are contrary to traditional claims and suggest that when detail is varied within the toy prototype, highly detailed cars as compared with low-detailed cars had a greater holding power on children's pretend play as evidenced by a greater play elaboration and less distracted behavior with the highly detailed cars. Also, contrary to traditional claims, there were no significant differences in the subjects' play versatility between high- and low-detailed cars. Props in the form of roads had little impact upon the length of time children spent in pretend play; however, props did appear to focus play toward prototypic-theme behaviors.     

Effects of a handwashing intervention package on handwashing in preschool children

Young children who attend out‐of‐home care (e.g., preschool) are more susceptible to infections than children who do not attend out‐of‐home care. Previous research suggests handwashing is effective in reducing risk of infection and illness. However, research suggests that individuals do not routinely wash their hands using methods that healthcare agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have determined best practice. We evaluated the effects of a multicomponent handwashing intervention package on correct handwashing across groups of preschool children. Furthermore, we measured the degree to which their hands were clean using premeasures and postmeasures. Results suggest the intervention package was effective at increasing both correct handwashing and cleanliness of participants' hands.     

禅修对创造性思维的影响

禅修是一种能够对人类心理有广泛影响的训练工具。作为两种重要、相似但又不同的禅修方式, 冥想和正念对创造性思维中的发散思维和聚合思维产生了不同影响。在发散思维方面, 冥想主要通过对注意调控和无意识激活影响以及对解题动机和情绪的有效调控两方面显著增强了发散思维, 尤其是认知灵活性; 在聚合思维方面, 正念和冥想的影响相当复杂, 主要是通过聚合思维所需的执行功能和可能涉及表征重构来促进定势转移或功能固着的消除。就机制而言, 禅修对创造性思维的影响总体上不仅得益于走神时的无意识关联加工, 而且受禅修中诱发的情绪效应的调节。基于这些, 对未来研究的趋势进行了展望。     

The social play of two behaviorally disordered preschool children during four activities

The effect of contingent teacher attention on the social play of two behaviorally disordered preschool children was investigated. Using a multiple baseline design with reversal conditions, social play was measured on four activities: pegs and pegboard, athletic ball, blocks, and water pail. Baseline data indicated considerable variability in the amount of social play across the four activities. The initiation of the experimental contingency produced a dramatic increase in percentage of time in which the subjects engaged in social play. The implications of these results for the remediation of isolate behavior in young children with multiple behavioral deficits are discussed.     

Prosocial and creative play: Effects of a programme on the verbal and nonverbal intelligence of children aged 10–11 years

The objective of this research was to design a prosocial and creative play programme, in order to assess its effects on intellectual development. The study used a pretest–intervention–posttest design with control group. The sample was made up of 86 participants aged 10–11 years from two schools in the Basque Country, northern Spain. From the complete sample, 54 participants were assigned at random to the experimental condition, while 32 were assigned to the control condition. With the aim of assessing the effect of the programme, before and after its implementation, in the pretest phase and the posttest phase, two assessment instruments were administered to measure the dependent variables, that is, verbal intelligence, nonverbal intelligence, and verbal associative thinking related to verbal creativity. Subsequently, the experimental participants took part in the psychological intervention programme, which consisted of a weekly 2‐hour play session throughout the academic year. The session was structured with a sequence of two or three recreational activities and their subsequent debates. The games included in the programme stimulate communication, cohesion, confidence, and the development of creativity; underlying all of them is the idea of acceptance, cooperation, and sharing, while playing and inventing together. The games constituting this programme have five structural characteristics: participation, communication, cooperation, fiction‐creation, and fun. Results of the analysis of variance suggest significant impact of the programme on verbal intelligence, on the ability to form concepts or define words, and on the capacity for verbal associative thinking. Also confirmed was a greater effect of the intervention on participants who showed low intelligence levels in the pretest, but no differences were found according to sex. The results indicate a positive effect of interventions that stimulate prosocial play and behaviour on intellectual factors.     

Laying the foundations of well being: a creative psycho-educational program for young children

Dysfunctional cognitive schemata and pessimistic explanatory styles are usually held responsible for some of the commonest features of depressed mood such as feelings of meaninglessness, resignation, and underachievement which seem to affect even young children. This pilot study investigates the applicability and efficacy of an interactive, creative psycho-educational program for preschoolers that aims at enhancing mastery and shaping optimistic explanatory styles. Twenty preschoolers participated in once-a-week hourly sessions which took place in their school and lasted for one school year. The intervention consisted of several playful tasks and novel creative activities specially designed to meet the needs and abilities of preschoolers, while satisfying the objectives of the school curriculum. The tasks were based on the principles of cognitive behaviour theory. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of our results support the efficacy of the intervention for preschoolers.     

Original thinking in preschool children: A validation of ideational fluency measures

This investigation examined the original thinking of preschool children (N=48). The instruments were lenient and stringent solution‐standard measures of original problem solving and two subsets of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Scores for popular and original responses were computed for the lenient and stringent measures. Findings supported the construct validity of conceptualizations of original problem solving based on ideational fluency within the lenient measures, but not within stringent measures. Findings also indicated that the lenient measures are better predictors of real‐world original behavior than stringent measures, especially for young children. The need for development of more reliable and valid measures for assessing real‐world creative behavior is discussed.     

Sex differences in the original thinking of preschool and elementary school children

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to assess the development of sex differences in the creative potential of preschool and early elementary school children. Preschool, first‐, and third‐grade children (N = 188) received the Multidimensional Stimulus Fluency Measure (MSFM). The MSFM assesses creative potential in terms of popular and original responses (ideational fluency). Comparisons of the three groups of children indicated that sex differences emerged throughout early elementary school. No sex differences were found within the preschool sample; but by third‐grade, boys were found to score significantly higher than girls on both popular and original responses. These findings were discussed with regard to evaluation, conformity, assimilative strategies, and the environmental factors which might affect creative potential.     

Interpersonal problem solving: An intervention program for preschool children

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program designed to train preschool children in interpersonal problem solving skills. Forty preschool age children were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. Experimental subjects were trained in interpersonal problem solving skills for ten weeks, four days per week, for a total of 10–13 hours. Problem-solving skills were assessed at pretest, posttest, and three months after training was completed. Seventy-eight percent of the children who participated in pretest and posttest were tested at follow-up. Results indicated that the experimental group, compared to the control group, showed a significant increase in both cognitive—verbal and behavioral interpersonal problem-solving skills from pretest to posttest and that these changes were maintained at follow-up testing. Discussion focuses on suggestions for future research and implications for applied settings.