The Conditions for Creativity

ABSTRACT We must attempt to formulate those conditions which are both necessary and sufficient for creativity. These conditions, at a minimum, appear to be: (1) Motivation. This includes inherent needs, which provide the “push”, and acquired traits and attitudes, which provide the “pull”. (2) Self-limitation (or selectivity). This means proper use and the setting of proper curbs on our talents and energies; the adoption of an adequate valuing-system and the development of the kind of character that will help us meet the demands of the environment and our creative projects. (3) Receptivity (or openness). This makes it possible for us to take in new ideas, experience new feelings and attitudes, apprehend new aesthetic forms relevant to originality. (4) Competence. This involves mastery of those tools used in, and required for, the creative project. These conditions may be held to be minimal for creativity.     

MOTIVATIONAL COMPONENTS OF TEST TAKING

The first phase of this research effort describes an effort to directly measure the attitudes and opinions of employment test takers toward the tests they just took; the instrument is called the Test Attitude Survey (TAS). Nine factors were developed which reflect test takers' expressed effort and motivation on the test, the degree of concentration, perceived test ease, and the like. Several studies were conducted showing that TAS factors were significantly sensitive to differences in test types and administration permitting the inference that the TAS possessed construct validity. The second phase of this study tested several propositions and hypotheses. In one study, it is shown that the applicants report significantly higher effort and motivation on the employment tests compared to incumbents, even when ability is held constant. A second study showed that a small but significant relationship exists between TAS factor scores, test performances, and the person factors. Moreover, some of the racial differences on test performances can be accounted for via the TAS factor scores; it is observed that after holding these TAS factors constant, racial differences on the employment tests scores diminished. In a third study, very limited evidence was found for the incremental and moderating effects of these attitudes, but there were several limitations to the study associated with small sample sizes, unknown reliabilities in the criterion scales, and so forth. Discussion focussed on the potential practical applications of the TAS instrument and factor scores. It is suggested that further research could have some utility in this domain.     

Philosophical Orientation of Counselors in Iowa Secondary Schools

Guidance and counseling in the schools lack focus and direction. Some attribute this confusion within guidance and counseling to a lack of a philosophical foundation. Little is known about the philosophical assumptions of counselors functioning in secondary schools. In this study, the counselors in the secondary schools of Iowa identified most frequently with the phenomenological orientation. The experience of the counselors was related to their philosophical orientation. Counselors with less experience subscribed to an existential orientation.     

On “knowing your partner”: Dangerous illusions in the age of AIDS?

We identified two characteristics of the impression formation process that may cause people to underestimate the riskiness of potential sexual partners. In Study 1, participants were quite confident that they could determine whether someone was lying to them about risk-related behavior when, in reality, they could not. Particularly troubling was a “truth bias” that resulted in relatively high rates of truth detection, but poor lie detection. In Study 2, increased familiarity with a target person (who actually was HIV+) caused participants to lower their estimates of the target's riskiness, despite the fact that we explicitly warned them that the target might be HIV+. We suggest that such processes may foster the illusion of knowing one's partner when one does not.     

Calibration of sensory and cognitive judgments: A single model for both

In a recent issue of this journal, Winman and Juslin (34 , 135–148, 1993) present a model of the calibration of subjective probability judgments for sensory discrimination tasks. They claim that the model predicts a pervasive underconfidence bias observed in such tasks, and present evidence from a training experiment that they interpret as supporting the notion that different models are needed to describe judgment of confidence in sensory and in cognitive tasks. The model is actually part of the more comprehensive decision variable partition model of subjective probability calibration that was originally proposed in Ferrell and McGoey (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 26 , 32–53, 1980). The characteristics of the model are described and it is demonstrated that the model does not predict underconfidence, that it is fully compatible with the overconfidence frequently found in calibration studies with cognitive tasks, and that it well represents experimental results from such studies. It is concluded that only a single model is needed for both types of task.     

The Career Satisfaction of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Members

Members of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision completed a questionnaire on career satisfaction. A majority reported being quite satisfied with their careers. Most experienced only occasional burnout, and over half perceived their career stress as no greater than moderate.     

PREDICTING NAVY EFFECTIVENESS: EXPECTATIONS, MOTIVATION, PERSONALITY, APTITUDE, AND BACKGROUND VARIABLES

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of performance within seven Navy occupational groups. Life history, expectations, motivation, personality, and aptitude variables were used as predictors of a 2-year effectiveness criterion for 7,923 enlisted Navy men and women. Results of multiple regression analyses showed that the most powerful predictors included: years of schooling, school expulsions and suspensions, the two Comrey Personality Scales of Social Conformity and Orderliness, arrests, age, General Classification Test (aptitude), and Peer Cohesion (expectations). Comparisons across groups indicated that the development of separate equations for each occupation was not supported. Recommendations were made to improve selection procedures and to change several aspects of the organization, suggestions which would be expected to increase rates of effective performance.