Examines biological and environmental determinants of creative/divergent thinking in light of two studies--one showing an inverse relationship between serum uric acid and divergent thinking and one showing a positive correlation between family size and creativity in upper socioeconomic status groups. Outlines classroom practices that promote…

Reviews the major literature on creative processes in children that should be predictive of adult creativity, focusing on affective processes and children's play. Describes Russ's (1993) model of affect and creativity, and cognitive processes, personality processes, and affective processes important in creativity. Discusses theories of play,…

Examines six sets of data on giftedness and creativity, finding little evidence for the belief that creativity in adults is mirrored in children. Questions whether children are creative, and whether creativity can be taught. Discusses creation of transitional objects; gaps, novelty, curiosity, and exploration; puberty as a developmental marker;…

Reviews theory and research on the relationship between humor and creativity. Briefly describes two Israeli projects aimed at encouraging humor creativity in adolescents and at teaching teachers to use humor to foster creativity. (FMW)

This article argues that any progress we have made in understanding creativity is being threatened by the increased emphasis on objective criteria of all aspects of learning. Indicators of creative potential are discussed, including originality and flexibility. Because creativity is often intrinsically motivated, the need for appropriate…

In this article, the author provides a concise discussion on creativity, defining the term, sharing theoretical background information and offering insights into promoting creativity in online university classes. Emphasis will be placed on relevant ways to integrate creativity into instructional activities across the academic disciplines. He…

Adding to the benefits of using metaphors as tools, "analoguing" (a method of analysis that focuses on metaphors for meanings in use and meanings of metaphors in use) helps avoid excessive categorization and separation by looking for unities and patterns in phenomena rather than for divisions. Six months of observation of patterns of…

How to deal with the absence of creativity and critical thinking in the educational setting is discussed. All efforts to improve education will be futile if we don't take into account the absence of relationship among the participants and between the participants and the content of education. Relationship--i.e., connecting with others and with…

THIS PROJECT INVESTIGATED TWO PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVE THINKING ABILITIES AT THE FOURTH-GRADE LEVEL--(1) THE DIFFICULTIES TEACHERS EXPERIENCE IN ENCOURAGING AND GUIDING CREATIVE EXPERIENCES IN THE CLASSROOM AND RELATING THEM TO CURRICULAR CONTENT AND (2) THE DEVELOPMENT OF WAYS FOR COUNTERACTING THE NUMEROUS INFLUENCES WHICH…

Four papers address issues of identification, secondary program alternatives, guidance to develop creativity, and needed research in gifted education. In the first paper, "Some Creative Dimensions to the Issue of Identification," E. Torrance analyzes the problem of idntifying and cultivating creative giftedness in an unfavorable national climate.…

Two main viewpoints have been consistently implied in linguistic research on creativity. The externalist sees creativity as outside the normal language, and the internalist views creativity as a basic process of language use. In this paper, creativity is regarded as the adaptation of the potential of systems to the demands of a particular act of…

The relationship between self concept and several measures of divergent thinking and related attitudes was investigated among the thirty-three boys and twenty-six girls in the fourth grade. They were given the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Covington's Attitude Inventory for Problem Solving, and the Piers-Harris Self Concept Scale. High self…

This paper examines how pedagogical approaches in writing classrooms can better draw upon the whole of students' abilities--intellectual, affective, and creative. Many teachers know too well that students rarely respond well to writing prompts which monopolize their cognitive, linear capacities while ignoring creative strategies and affective…

The effects of self-instructional use of programed creativity materials for gifted and regular students were investigated. Pre- and post-tests of creative thinking were administered. Students in the creativity training group attained significantly greater gains on verbal fluency. Creative thinking abilities were improved for both gifted and…

Four creativity tests were administered to 264 Sudanese students (ages 15-20) to investigate the differing effects upon creativity of traditional and modern education. Those receiving a modern education performed better on two tests measuring cognitive ability, while the traditionally educated group performed better on an Egyptian test measuring…