An adapted coding scheme for measuring divergent thinking strategies with the alternative uses task in 4-year-olds

Description

Divergent thinking is seen as an estimate (Runco, 2011) or indicator (Preckel, Wermer, & Spinath, 2011) of creative potential. It is important for innovation and problem solving (Bijvoet-van den Berg & Hoicka, 2014), especially for daily ill-structured problems. Early childhood is a golden period for developing divergent thinking because: 1) young children are flexible and have mindsets that are less ‘fixed’ compared to adults; 2) there is not yet a strict academic standard, which leaves time and space for educators to conduct activities for promoting creativity. As found by Gilhooly, Fioratou, Anthony, and Wynn’s (2007), divergent thinking strategies can influence the quality of divergent thinking as measured by fluency and originality among adults. These authors developed a coding scheme to measure strategies that adults use while generating answers on the alternative uses task. In the present study, this coding scheme was adapted for use with young children, and subsequently its psychometric properties were examined. Such a coding scheme is vital for educational purposes to provide a description of the process of generating (novel) ideas in young children, which can, for example, help teachers estimate the actual developmental level of children in creative thinking and visualize their zone of proximal development.

Period	1 Jun 2018
Event title	Jean Piaget Society: The Dynamics of Development: Process, (Inter-)Action, & Complexity
Event type	Conference
Conference number	48
Location	Amsterdam, NetherlandsShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International