The author identifies and describes what he regards as 25 of the most significant outcomes or products of 25 years of creativity research. Some were selected for the influence they have had on educational practices; others were selected for their potential in making a difference in future educational practice. (JN)

This paper explores definitions of creativity, theories and models of creativity, and the classic stages of creativity. Creativity is best defined in terms of an interactive process. The creative process in adults often results in creative and useful products, and such creativity is judged in terms of their quantity and quality of patents,…

The author proposes a four-step plan for identifying and facilitating creative potential in children. (SBH)

Children, ages 7 and 11, were asked to manipulate strips of cardboard into outlines of ideas and objects. Responses were categorized to show if novel configurations appeared and developed and if this phenomenon was a function of creative thinking as measured by Torrance's Figural Test, Form B. (Author/SJL)

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)

There are many myths about young children based on the definition of creativity as an innate capacity for openness to experience. This definition of creativity as a personality trait or attitude (creativity as expressiveness) has little relationship to creativity as the making of original and socially valuable products. Studies of children's art…

Evaluations of creativity training programs are described: (1) Productive Thinking; (2) Purdue Creative Thinking; (3) Parnes; (4) Myers-Torrance workbooks; and (5) Khatena. Conceptual and methodological problems are discussed. Although gains on tests of divergent thinking have been noted, it is unclear whether these programs improve real-life…

The aim of this paper is threefold: (1) to develop a concept of what creativity is (with particular reference to what musical creativity is); (2) to decide whether or not creativity is a plausible educational goal; and (3) to suggest what might be done to either promote or discourage musical creativity based upon the results of the first two…

In order to assess the effect of relaxation training and imagination exercises on the creativity of elementary-age students, 94 children in first through fourth grades were randomly assigned to either a treatment or control group. Prior to the treatment, all students were pretested on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Children in the…

The effects of the self-instructional use of programed creativity materials was investigated with 648 regular and intellectually gifted fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students, using the Purdue Creativity Training Program (PCTP), and with the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking as a measurement. In general, the results indicated that the…

The two studies reported here investigate the role of experiential factors in the development of creative thinking of children and adolescents. The first assigned 400 male students from six high schools in the New York metropolitan area to four criterion groups of 100 each: (1) Creative Art or Writing, (2) Creative/ Scientific, (3) Control Art or…

This study explores the usefulness of a creativity construct for arts education. It is hypothesized that an arts orientation is a valid personality construct, that this orientation is correlated with contrasting cognitive skills, and that these skills are manifested in creative behaviors. Sixty-five high school seniors were given the ACT Interest…

This monograph is designed to be a tribute to E. Paul Torrance, a renowned creativity researcher, university teacher, and mentor. It is presented in three sections, the first of which is a discussion of Torrance's life. It reviews his childhood in rural Georgia, his academic accomplishments, the emergence of his interest in creativity and the…

This project was undertaken to develop programs for gifted/talented students in vocational education. The primary considerations were to investigate methods to identify highly creative students and to develop a curriculum model to nurture creativity. A seminar on creativity was held at Glassboro State College for the purpose of assisting in the…