Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:15:23.675Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Attitude Change as the Precursor to Creativity Enhancement

from PART II - VOICES FROM THE RESEARCH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2016

Ronald A. Beghetto
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
Get access

Summary

Educational theorists such Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky have all highlighted the importance of using experiential learning, active hands-on learning, and problem-solving activities to promote learners’ creative development. More recently, research has provided evidence that these engaging instructional strategies can be used to enhance creativity. For example, inquiry-based laboratory activities appear to increase creative thinking levels and attitudes among pre-service science teachers (Yakar & Baykara, 2014).

Although many of these techniques have a well-established track record of success in motivating students and improving critical and creative thinking (Dow & Wagner, 2015), not all teachers embrace these techniques in their own classrooms. Policy and environmental factors, such as test-based accountability systems and diminishing teacher autonomy (Olivant, 2015), can be in direct conflict with creativity-fostering classrooms. And teachers’ negative attitudes toward creativity may be a potential source of bias when promoting creative behavior (Geake & Gross, 2008). The goal of this chapter is to propose a practical approach to enhancing creativity in today's schools and classrooms, primarily by modifying learner attitudes toward and beliefs about creativity.

Attitudes toward creativity are influenced by prior experiences (e.g., teacher education programs) and experiences in the classroom. These attitudes develop and grow into complex, organized mental frameworks of knowledge (Anderson, 1977; Piaget, 1926) that then influence curriculum planning, lesson plan development, and classroom activities. Although attitudes may be flexible, it is very difficult to completely change them, even in light of contradictory evidence (see Palmer, 1981; Wheatley & Wegner, 2001). This causes particular concern among educational psychologists, because some attitudes may be inaccurate or based on partially incorrect information.

Creativity is not immune from inaccurate attitudes or myths. Creativity, defined in this chapter as “the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context” (Plucker, Beghetto, & Dow, 2004, p. 90, emphasis in original), is plagued by implicit myths that, in our view, have led to widespread, inaccurate schemata.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albarracín, D., & Handley, I. M. (2011). The time for doing is not the time for change: Effects of general action and inaction goals on attitude retrieval and attitude change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 983–998.Google Scholar
Albert, M. A., & Runco, R. S. (1990). Theories of creativity. London: Sage.
Alpaugh, P. K., Parham, I. A., Cole, K. D., & Birren, J. E. (1982). Creativity in adulthood and old age: An exploratory study. Educational Gerontology, 8, 101–116.Google Scholar
Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity. New York: Springer Verlag.
Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview Press
Anderson, R. (1977). The notion of schemata and the educational enterprise: General discussion of the conference. In Anderson, R. C., Spiro, R. J., & Montague, W. E. (Eds.), Schooling and the acquisition of knowledge. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baer, J. (1997). Gender differences in the effects of anticipated evaluation on creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 10, 25–31.Google Scholar
Baer, J. (1998). Gender differences in the effects of extrinsic motivation on creativity. Journal of Creative Behavior, 32, 18–37.Google Scholar
Barron, F. (1969). Creative person and creative process. New York: Holt.
Beaty, R. E., Benedek, R. W., Jaukb, E. Finkb, A. Silvia, P. J., Hodges, D. A., Koschutnigb, K., & Neubauerb, A. C. (2014). Creativity and the default network: A functional connectivity analysis of the creative brain at rest. Neuropsychologia, 64, 92–98.Google Scholar
Bechtel, R. B. (1977). Enclosing behavior. Stroudsburg, PA: Dowden, Hutchinson, & Ross.
Benedek, M., Jauk, E., Sommer, M., Arendasy, M., & Neubauer, A. C. (2014). Intelligence, creativity, and cognitive control: The common and differential involvement of executive functions in intelligence and creativity. Intelligence, 46, 73–83.Google Scholar
Blicbau, A. S., & Steiner, J. M. (1998). Fostering creativity through engineering projects. European Journal of Engineering Education, 23, 55–65.Google Scholar
Bowman, V. E., & Boone, R. K. (1998). Enhancing the experience of community: Creativity in group work. Journal for Specialists in Group Work, 23, 388–410.Google Scholar
Burkus, D. (2013). The myths of creativity: The truth about how innovative companies and people generate great ideas. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Carson, S., Peterson, J. B., & Higgins, D. M. (2003). Latent inhibition and creative achievement in a high-achieving normative population. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 499–506.Google Scholar
Chan, S., & Yuen, M. (2014). Personal and environmental factors affecting teachers’ creativity-fostering practices in Hong Kong. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 12, 69–77.Google Scholar
Dacey, J. S., & Lennon, K. H. (1998). Understanding creativity: The interplay of biological psychological and social factors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Davis, G. A. (1999). Creativity is forever (4th ed., revised). Dubuque, IA: KendallHunt.
Davis, G. A., & Subkoviak, M. J. (1978). Multidimensional analysis of a personality-based test of creative potential. Journal of Educational Measurement, 12, 37–43.Google Scholar
Dennis, W. (1966). Creative productivity between the ages of 20 and 80 years. Journal of Gerontology, 21, 1–8.Google Scholar
Diakidoy, I. N., & Phtiaka, H. (2001). Teachers’ beliefs about creativity. In Nagel, S. (Ed.), The handbook of policy creativity: Creativity from diverse perspectives (Vol. 3, pp. 12–32). Huntington, NY: Nova Science Publishers.
Diehle, M., & Stroebe, W. (1986). Productivity loss in brainstorming: Toward the solution of a riddle. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 497–509.Google Scholar
Domino, G. (1970). Identification of potentially creative persons from the Adjective Check List. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 35, 48–51.Google Scholar
Dow, G. T., & Mayer, R. E. (2004). Teaching students to solve insight problems: Evidence for domain specificity in training. Creativity Research Journal, 16, 389–402.Google Scholar
Dow, G. T., & Wagner, S. (2015). Promoting integrative STEM in the classroom. Virginia Journal of Education.
Finke, R. A., Ward, T. B., & Smith, S. M. (1992). Creative cognition: Theory, research and applications. Cambridge, MA: Bradford MIT Press.
Fontenot, N. A. (1993). Effects of training in creativity and creative problem finding upon business people. The Journal of Social Psychology, 133, 11–22.Google Scholar
Fusarilli, L. (2008). Flying (partially) blind: School leaders’ use of research in decisionmaking. In Hess, F. M. (Ed.), When research matters: How scholarship influences education policy (pp. 177–196). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gardner, H. (1993). Creating minds. New York: Basic Books.
Geake, J., & Gross, M. (2008). Teachers’ negative affect toward academically gifted students: An evolutionary psychologic study. Gifted Child Quarterly, 52(1), 40–54.Google Scholar
Halloran, J. D. (1967). Attitude formation and change. London: Leicester University Press.
Halpern, D. F. (1996). Thought and knowledge: An introduction to critical thinking (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hass, R. W. (2014). Domain-specific exemplars affect implicit theories of creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8, 44–52.Google Scholar
Hennessey, B. A., & Amabile, T. M. (1988). The conditions of creativity. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), The nature of creativity: Contemporary psychological perspectives (pp. 11–38). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hui, N. N., Yeung, D. Y., Sue-Chan, C., Chan, K., Hui, D. C. K., & Cheng, S. (2014). Gains and losses in creative personality as perceived by adults across the life span. Developmental Psychology, 50, 709–713.Google Scholar
Innamorato, G. (1998). Creativity in the development of scientific giftedness: Educational implications. Roeper Review, 21, 54–59.Google Scholar
Isaksen, S. G. (1987). Introduction: An orientation to the frontiers of creativity research. In Isaksen, S. G. (Ed.), Frontiers of creativity research (pp. 1–26). Buffalo, NY: Bearly Limited.
Fink, A., & Benedek, M. (2014). EEG alpha power and creative ideation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 44, 111–123.Google Scholar
Kaufman, J. C. (2001). The Sylvia Plath effect: Mental illness in eminent creative writers. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 35(1), 37–50.Google Scholar
Kaufman, J. C., & Baer, J. (2005). The amusement park theory of creativity. In Kaufman, J. C. & Baer, J. (Eds.), Creativity across domains: Faces of the muse (pp. 321–328). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Kim, K. H., Shim, J., & Hull, M. (2009). Korean concepts of giftedness and the self-perceived characteristics of students selected for gifted programs. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3, 104–111.Google Scholar
King, B. J., & Pope, B. (1999). Creativity as a factor in psychological assessment and healthy psychological functioning. Journal of Personality Assessment, 72, 200–207.Google Scholar
Krasner, L. (1980). Enviromental design and human behavior. London: Pergamon.
Kurtzberg, T. R. (1998). Creative thinking cognitive aptitude and integrative joint gain: A study of negotiator creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 11, 283–293.Google Scholar
Lehman, H. C. (1953). Age and achievement. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Lindauer, M. S. (1993). The old-age style and its artists. Empirical Studies of the Arts, 11, 135–114.Google Scholar
Livingston, J. A. (1999). Something old and something new: Love, creativity and the enduring relationship. Bulletin of the Menniger Clinic, 63, 40–52.Google Scholar
Maisuria, A. (2005). The turbulent times of creativity in the National Curriculum. Policy Futures in Education, 3(2), 141–152.Google Scholar
Malekoff, A. (1987). The preadolescent prerogative: Creative blends of discussion and activity in group treatment. Social Work with Groups, 10(4), 61–81.Google Scholar
Michinov, N., Jamet, E., Métayer, N., & Le Hénaff, B. (2015).The eyes of creativity: Impact of social comparison and individual creativity on performance and attention to others’ ideas during electronic brainstorming. Computers in Human Behavior, 42, 57–67.Google Scholar
Nusbaum, E. C., & Silvia, P. J. (2011). Are openness and intellect distinct aspects of openness to experience? A test of the O/I model. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 571–574.Google Scholar
Olivant, K. F. (2015). “I am not a format”: teachers’ experiences with fostering creativity in the era of accountability. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 29(1), 115–129.Google Scholar
Olson, J. M., & Zanna, M. P. (1993). Attitudes and attitude change. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 117–154.Google Scholar
Olton, R. M., & Johnson, D. M. (1976). Mechanisms of incubation in creative problem. American Journal of Psychology, 89, 617–630.Google Scholar
Osborn, A. (1963). Applied imagination: Principles and procedures of creative problem-solving (3rd ed.). New York: Charles Scribner and Sons.
Paige, R., Hickok, E., & Neuman, S. (2002). No child left behind: A desktop reference. Jessup, MD: Education Publications Center, U.S. Department of Education.
Palmer, W. S. (1981). Research: Reading theories and research: A search for similarities. The English Journal, 70(8), 63–66.Google Scholar
Parnes, S. J. (1962). Can creativity be increased? In Parnes, S. J. & Harding, H. F. (Eds.), A source book for creative thinking (pp. 185–191). New York: Scribner's Publishing.
Piaget, J. (1926). The language and thought of the child. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
Plucker, J. A., & Beghetto, R. A. (2003). Why not be creative when we enhance creativity? In Borland, J. H. (Ed.), Rethinking gifted education (pp. 215–226). New York: Teachers College Press.
Plucker, J. A., & Beghetto, R. A. (2004). Why creativity is domain general, why it looks domain specific, and why the distinction does not matter. In Sternberg, R. J., Grigorenko, E. L., & Singer, J. L. (Eds.), Creativity: From potential to realization (pp. 153–167). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Plucker, J. A., Beghetto, R. A., & Dow, G. T. (2004). Why isn't creativity more important to educational psychologists? Potential, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. Educational Psychologist, 39, 83–97.Google Scholar
Plucker, J. A., & Dana, R. Q. (1999). Drugs and creativity. In Runco, M. A. & Pritzker, S. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (Vol. 1, pp. 607–611). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Plucker, J. A., Runco, M. A., & Long, H. (2011). Deviance. In Runco, M. A. & Pritzker, S. R. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity: Vol. 1 (2nd ed., pp. 379–382). San Diego, CA: Academic Press/Elsevier.
Poe, E. A. (1996). Tales of mystery and imagination. Consett, UK: Wordsworth Classics.
Poe, E. A. (2005). Tales of mystery and imagination. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing.
Pyryt, M. C. (1999). Effectiveness of training children's divergent thinking: A meta-analytic review. In Fishkin, A. S., Cramond, B., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (Eds.), Investigating creativity in youth: Research and methods (pp. 351–365). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Reiter-Palmon, R. (2011). Introduction to special issue: The psychology of creativity and innovation in he workplace. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 5, 1–2.Google Scholar
Reiter-Palmon, R., Illies, M. Y., Cross, L. K., Bubolz, C., & Nimps, T. (2009). Creativity and domain specificity: The effect of task type on multiple indexes of creative pro0blem solving. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 3, 73–80.Google Scholar
Rickards, T. (1999). Brainstorming. In Runco, M. A. & Pritzker, S. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of creativity (pp. 219–227). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Runco, M. A. (2014). Creativity: Theories and themes: Research, development, and practice. Waltham, MA: Elsevier.
Russ, S. (1993). Affect and creativity: The role of affect and play in the creative process. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Schoen, L., & Fusarelli, L. (2008). Innovation, NCLB, and the fear factor: The challenge of leading 21st century schools in an era of accountability. Educational Policy, 22, 181–203.Google Scholar
Silvia, P. J., Beaty, R. E., Nusbaum, E. C., Eddington, K. M., Levin-Aspenson, H., & Kwapil, T. R. (2014). Everyday creativity in daily life: An experience-sampling study of “little c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 8, 183–188.Google Scholar
Simonton, D. K. (1999). Creativity from a historiometric perspective. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 116–133). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, S. M., Ward, T. B., & Finke, R. A. (Eds.). (1995). The creative cognition approach. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Stein, M. I. (1974). Stimulating creativity: Individual procedures. New York: Academic Press.
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1992). Buy low and sell high: An investment approach to creativity. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1, 1–5.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1999). The concept of creativity: Prospects and paradigms. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 3–15). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Thornburg, T. (1991). Group size and member diversity influence on creative performance. Journal of Creative Behavior, 25, 324–333.Google Scholar
Tierney, P., Farmer, S. M., & Graen, G. B. (1999). An examination of leadership and employee creativity: The relevance of traits and relationships. Personnel Psychology, 52, 591–620.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1962). Guiding creative talent. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Torrance, E. P. (1972a). Can we teach children to think creatively? The Journal of Creative Behavior, 6, 114–143.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1972b). Career patterns and peak creative achievements of creative high school students 12 years later. Gifted Child Quarterly, 16, 75–88.Google Scholar
Torrance, E. P. (1987). Recent trends in teaching children and adults to think creatively. In Isaksen, S. G. (Ed.), Frontiers of creativity research: Beyond the basics (pp. 204–215). Buffalo, NY: Bearly Limited.
Treffinger, D. J., Isaksen, S. G., & Dorval, B. K. (1996). Creative problem solving: An overview. In Runco, M. A. (Ed.), Problem finding, problem solving, and creativity (pp. 223–235). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Van Kleef, G. A., van den Berg, H., & Heerdink, M. W. (2014). The persuasive power of emotions: Effects of emotional expressions on attitude formation and change. Journal of Applied Psychology, doi: http://0-dx.doi.org.read.cnu.edu/10.1037/apl0000003
Ward, T. B., Smith, S. M., & Vaid, J. (1997). Creative thought: An investigation of conceptual structures and processes. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Weber, R., & Crocker, J. (1983). Cognitive processes in the revision of stereotypic beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 961–977.Google Scholar
Westberg, K. L. (1996). The effects of teaching students how to invent. Journal of Creative Behavior, 30, 249–267.Google Scholar
Wheatley, T., & Wegner, D. M. (2001). Psychology of automaticity of action. In Smelser, N. J. & Baltes, P. B. (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (pp. 991–993). Oxford: Elsevier Science Limited.
Williams, W. M., & Yang, L. T. (1999). Organizational creativity. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 373–391). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Yakar, Z., Baykara, H. (2014). Inquiry-based laboratory practices in a science teacher training program. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 10, 173–183.Google Scholar
Zelinger, J. (1990). Charting the creative process. British Journal of Projective Psychology 35: 78–96.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×