Provides a rebuttal to critical comments on the author's earlier article concerning the concept of epistemological rationality. Main disagreements center on the view that the use of terms with evaluative connotations about cognitive functions have a potential for abuse and that one cannot make judgments about the relative efficacy of the…

Examines alternative views of creativity. Considers creativity as a function that is structured linearly. Discusses creativity research that obviates meaning implied in the ways in which one accounts for experience. Notes that, in the present conception of creativity, traits that exist in combinations influence the production of creative actions.…

Behaviors that characterize play with convergent and divergent materials and the effects of play on convergent and divergent problem solving were examined in this study. Seventy-two 3- and 4-year-old children were assigned to one of three conditions: (1) play with convergent materials; (2) play with divergent materials; and (3) non-play control.…

Unless sensitized to avoid them, Ss (regardless of grade) tended to draw overly sweeping inferences, perhaps because of a need for closure. Older Ss, however, were more successful at suspending judgment when no definite conclusion was justified. (Author/DLS)

This study examined the relationship between convergent and divergent thinking and performance errors in reversal and nonreversal concept tasks. The results show: (1) a positive relationship between convergent performance and concept errors; and (2) an inverse relationship between divergent performance and concept errors. These correlational…

A study examining the performance of college freshmen trained in thinking skills and the relationship of this training to scores on an intelligence scale indicates that groups taught divergent thinking skills scored significantly higher in a comprehension subtest than did groups taught convergent thinking skills or the control group. (Author/CB)

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) was reauthorized by the U.S. Congress in 2004, yet ongoing regulatory efforts are required to determine its operationalization and implementation. Of particular concern to school psychologists and others involved in the educational process are the guidelines for identification of…

J. P. Guilford's "structure of the intellect" provides a system that explains the intellectual abilities of students and identifies major types of productive thinking. A study was conducted to examine whether one of these types--divergent production, which focuses on responses of an individual's own creations--could be enhanced through…

For 235 ninth-grade students, intercorrelations of Guilford's structure-of-intellect (SOI) tests and of three measures of critical thinking were factor analyzed. The study reveals the viability of using SOI constructs involving cognition and evaluation of semantic content as likely explanatory components of critical thinking. (Author/AL)

This book provides a collection of brief biographical sketches with accompanying problems for students to learn the Creative-Problem-Solving (CPS) process. Selected profiles include man as the following: painter, writer, musician, composer, sculptor, actor, dancer, architect, photographer, and designer. In order for students to effectively use…