Versatility,Openness to Experience,and Topical Diversity in Creative Products: An Exploratory Historiometric Analysis of Scientists,Philosophers, and Writers

Creative individuals are considered versatile when their achievements extend beyond their most commonly cited domain, thus indicating remarkable and varied interests and abilities. The present study examined the association between versatility and (a) the personalities of eminent creators and (b) the topical diversity of their creative products. The main sample consisted of 67 eminent scientists, creative writers, philosophers, and scholars drawn from the history of Western Civilization, with a subsample of 38 creators obtaining observer‐based scores on openness to experience. Versatile creators were found to have produced works with greater topical diversity than did their non‐versatile counterparts. In addition, topical diversity was positively associated with openness. These relationships varied according to the domain of creative achievement.     

Cinematic Creativity and Production Budgets: Does Money Make the Movie?

Although filmmaking requires substantial capital investment, it is not known whether cinematic creativity is positively correlated with the size of the film's budget. Therefore, budgetary impact was investigated in a sample of feature films released between 1997 and 2001. Although production costs were positively related to box office success (as measured by both first weekend and gross), such expenditures had no correlation with best picture awards and were negatively correlated with critical acclaim (as gauged by both film reviews and movie guide ratings). These divergent consequences could be partly interpreted in terms of how the budget and success criteria differentially correlated with what have been identified as the four creative clusters of filmmaking, namely, the dramatic, visual, technical, and musical.     

Faculty Perceptions of College Creativity Courses

If you were going to teach a college-level course in creativity, would you be interested in what other instructors believe about such courses? Would you like to know their views about planned outcomes, evaluation and course content? These are some of the areas addressed in this report. The study orginated discussions at the First National Conference on Creativity in American Colleges and Universities.¹ The conference was promoted by the work of McDonough and McDonough (1987),² and was held in July of 1990 at the Alden B. Dow Creativity Center of the Northwood Institute in Midland, Michigan. It was an exciting opportunity for university-level teachers of creativity to get together and talk. To facilitate discussions, most participants brought with them copies of their course syllabi. Much of the ensuing discussion centered around the purposes of creativity courses, appropriate course experiences, required products, and the evaluation of student participation and learning. While the diversity of opinion of those present soon become clear, many participants were left questioning if the opinions heard and syllabi offered at this conference were representative of what was being done nationally. The present study is born from that question.     

The Structure of Family Perceptions Among Adolescents and Their Parents: Individual Satisfaction Factors and Family System Factors

This study examined the underlying structure of self-reports of family functioning by adolescents, mothers, and fathers (N of individuals = 360) from intact families. Participants completed a multidimensional self-report measure of family functioning, and their responses were entered into a factor analysis with the family as the unit of analysis (N of cases = 120). The results indicate two types of factors: individual satisfaction factors and family system factors. The findings are consistent with the view that different types of characteristics assessed in self-report measures of the family may be stored as different kinds of memories. The findings also provide preliminary data toward understanding the linkages between family system factors and satisfaction with the family based on family roles as adolescents, mothers, and fathers.     

Black freshmen in large colleges: a survey

This study sought to answer the basic question: What is the gap between published articles on black admissions and actual admissions practices in the colleges? Results indicated that very few blacks (3 percent of 1969 entering freshmen) are entering the large, primarily white universities. While many schools have established special programs for blacks, the admissions procedures used for these programs and for regular black admissions remain very traditional.     

Improving Research Training in Doctoral Counseling Programs

The authors surveyed the research training practices of doctoral-level, APA-approved counseling psychology programs, non-APA-approved counseling psychology programs, and counselor education programs to identify ways to improve such training. Some differences were found according to program type. No differences were found in percentage of students' publishing or presenting research during 1983–84. Suggestions for improving future research training were assessed; highest ratings were given to required participation in research teams; 1st-year, “hands-on” research experience; and greater emphasis on design rather than statistics training. Programs characterized by high and low student research productivity differed in the areas of required research training, research emphases and research climate, required presentation or submission of research for publication, and material support for student research. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Counselor Credentialing and Interprofessional Collaboration

The history and development of counselor credentialing are presented, including the dimensions of standards, accreditation, certification, and licensure. Unresolved issues critical to the success of interprofessional collaboration are analyzed. The authors offer predictions for the future of the nonmedical mental health professions, based on their assessment that collaboration is an essential but often neglected ingredient.     

PREDICTION OF TRADES APPRENTICES'PERFORMANCE ON JOB SAMPLE CRITERIA

A criterion-related validation was conducted to assess the validity of four aptitude tests and five tests of content taken directly from job tasks in predicting job sample performance of apprentices in eight skilled trades. Observed validities were above .40 (corrected for range restriction, validities averaged .52). Though there were large subgroup mean differences on both predictor and criterion measures, there was no evidence of significant differential prediction.     

Body image and personality: Associations between the Big Five Personality Factors,actual‐ideal weight discrepancy,and body appreciation

Studies have suggested associations between personality dimensions and body image constructs, but these have not been conclusively established. In two studies, we examined direct associations between the Big Five dimensions and two body image constructs, actual‐ideal weight discrepancy and body appreciation. In Study 1, 950 women completed measures of both body image constructs and a brief measure of the Big Five dimensions. In Study 2, 339 women completed measures of the body image constructs and a more reliable measure of the Big Five. Both studies showed that Neuroticism was significantly associated with actual‐ideal weight discrepancy (positively) and body appreciation (negatively) once the effects of body mass index and social status had been accounted for. These results are consistent with the suggestion that Neuroticism is a trait of public health significance requiring attention by body image scholars.