中国人整体性思维特征的情境评估法及其应用

创设了新的中国人思维特征的情境评估方法, 初步应用于整体性思维特征与创造力倾向关系的研究并对其信效度进行了检验。新评估法选取体现典型文化意境和中国人思维特征的成语谜语作为材料, 利用虚拟现实技术构建形与意、情境与语境相互转换的成语谜语文化园, 记录被试游览时即景说出的成语建立成语库, 并编码所录成语的思维特征类型以作为被试的整体性思维测量指标。基于测试数据的信效度分析表明整体性思维成语测试系统信效度表现良好。整体性思维与创造力倾向的相关分析表明, 整体性思维与创造力倾向中的好奇性显著负相关。研究首次证实了利用虚拟现实技术来重建传统文化情境以实现对中国人思维特征的情境评估的可行性, 提示基于虚拟现实技术的情境评估法在未来心理学相关研究中的应用价值。

Situational evaluation method of the Chinese people’s holistic thinking characteristics and their application

The Chinese method of thinking includes dialectical and holistic thinking. Holistic thinking refers to people’s tendency to think in a holistic manner and focus on the relationship between things, which has no effective measurement method at present. Numerous studies have speculated on the relationship between Chinese thinking and creativity, but no known empirical research has focused on exploring their relationship. An uncertain aspect is whether and how Chinese thinking styles make an impact on creativity. The present study developed a situation assessment test to measure holistic thinking and explored its relationship with creative tendency. We hypothesize that (1) holistic thinking may be (1) correlated with field-dependence cognitive style and (2) may prohibit creative tendency. To verify the preceding hypothesis, idiom stories with typical Chinese thinking styles are first selected. Thereafter, an idiom riddle cultural park with transformation of form and meaning, situation, and context was constructed using virtual reality technology. By recording and coding idioms reported by participants when they visited the park, their level of holistic thinking could be measured. Lastly, cognitive style was evaluated using embedded figure test, personality traits were evaluated using the Chinese Big Five Personality Inventory brief version, and creativity tendency was evaluated by utilizing the Williams Prefer Measurement Forms. SPSS 18.0 was used for statistical analyses. Reliability and validity research has shown that the coefficient of homogeneity is high. Results showed that under an experimental condition, holistic thinking was significantly positively correlated with field-dependence cognitive style, the proportion of subjective words was significantly negatively correlated with neuroticism, the proportion of words with deep meaning was significantly negatively correlated with agreeableness, and the proportion of words that focus on the overall effect was significantly negatively correlated with openness. These results proved that the developed test has good calibration validity. Cluster analysis indicated two types of participants: (1) people with strong holistic thinking (i.e., report words with deep meaning, considerably self-involved, and focus on overall effect) will report numerous words and are considerably unreasonable, and (2) people with weak holistic thinking (i.e., report words with plain meaning, minimally self-involved, and focus on details) will report a few words and are substantially reasonable. The independent sample T-test on the creativity tendency of the two types of participants showed that the curiosity of people with strong holistic thinking was significantly higher than that of people with weak holistic thinking. Moreover, no significant difference was observed in other aspects of creativity tendency. Results support our hypothesis. The situation assessment test we developed has good reliability and validity and a useful method to measure Chinese holistic thinking. Compared with previous test methods, the current test has better ecological validity, can measure Chinese thinking in the natural cultural mood, and provide reference for other cultural tests. The current study can also contribute to an improved understanding of Chinese thinking styles and creativity tendency. This research is the first to realize the relationship between the two concepts in a virtual reality environment. Lastly, this method provides new ideas for a follow-up research on thinking and creativity.