Psychology in today's society Conference Venue: Fisher's Hotel, Pitlochry Scottish Branch
From: 26 Nov 2004 To: 28 Nov 2004
Peer-Reviewed
The Effects of Age and Schooling on Creative Performance in 4- to 11-year-old Children
Sharon Philips <[email]>
Glasgow Caledonian University
Glasgow Caledonian University
Alan Tuohy <[email]>
Glasgow Caledonian University
Previous European and American research has found that creativity in children peaks at around seven years of age, drops as the child gradually adapts to school life, but then rises again in the child’s mid-teens. The object of this study was to examine whether this trend occurs in British children, where schooling begins at a younger age. That is, whether the pattern of creative performance in children is affected by age in general, or whether the variable of schooling and children’s gradual adaptation to school life is significant. A drawing task using a Christmas theme (artistic ability) and the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking(storytelling) were administered to 106 children between four and eleven years of age. It was found, using one way unrelated ANOVAs and polynomial contrasts that artistic ability showed a positive linear trend while storytelling scores showed a u-shaped linear component with a reduction in performance from primary 1 (age 5) to primary 3 (age 7) recovering and increasing thereafter. This may indicate a temporary effect of adjustment to different types of schooling e.g. a relatively flexible, informal education in respect of art work/drawing compared to more formal education in respect of story-telling. These trends suggest that age of starting school rather than age in general may be reflected in changes in creativity.
Correspondence Dr Cynthia McVey, Department of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Cowcaddens, Glasgow G4 OBA.
