A comparison was made of the effects of a topic-centered lecture and a skill-centered practice session on creativity, as measured by two tests of divergent thinking. Results were interpreted as supporting De Bono's claim that thinking skills are best taught by focusing on techniques which, with practice, can be deliberately applied to a number of…

Effective residential care of disturbed adolescents depends on integration of treatment programs. For a unit to be successful, an important function of its director is monitoring the therapeutic input so the recurring conflicts of aims do not render staff ineffective. Director qualities required include a capacity to be at ease with divergent…

Describes types of questions that marketing teachers use to evaluate student knowledge and understanding. Discusses narrow question types which are (1) cognitive-memory or (2) convergent, and broad question types which are (1) divergent or (2) evaluative. (CH)

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)

The article describes Academic Game Bowls, a program of academic competition for gifted and talented elementary and secondary students in the Allegheny Intermediate Unit of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Aspects discussed include preparation, follow-through, follow-up, game models, and facilities. (DLS)

The domain specificity and generality of an important critical thinking skill was examined by administering nine reasoning and decision-making tasks to 125 adults. Performance across tasks displayed considerable domain specificity, but five tasks displayed moderate convergence. Performance on tasks that displayed domain generality was more…

Representations and changes between them play a major role in education (e.g., Hewson, Beeth, & Thorley, 1998), problem solving (e.g., Bauer & Reiser, 1990), cognitive development (e.g., Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992), and the history of science (e.g., Kuhn, 1970). By definition, change of representations is also indispensable for collaborative work…

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…

A pilot study in reasoning readiness was conducted in 1971 by administering tests of linguistic errors to 27 fifthe and sixth-grade students at School 21 in Yonkers, N.Y. It was found that they are able to understand and correct fallacies and linguistic oddities. Journal available from Editor, Dept. of Philosophy, Jersey City State College, 2039…

An analysis of the problem solving process reveals at least three options: (1) finding the cause, (2) solving the problem, and (3) anticipating potential problems. These methods may be illustrated by examining "Oedipus Tyrannus," a play in which a king attempts to deal with a problem that appears to be beyond his ability to solve, and…

Intelligence is related to executive performance though different kinds of executive work seem to require differing intellectual abilities. To examine these different intellectual functions and their relationship to performance ratings, 208 male executives completed the School and College Ability Test (SCAT), the Abstract Reasoning Test, and three…

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a supplementary program of 30 lessons to increase the productive thinking abilities (divergent thinking) of educable mentally handicapped students. An experimental group of 30 institutionalized children were given the supplementary lessons at a rate of three per week. The lessons, based…

Presents a problem-solving model comprised of nine generalizations derived from the methods and principles which guided the investigations of the fictional London detective, Sherlock Holmes. (EM)

The Joyce-Hudson scale proved to be more closely related to science/non-science bias than to convergence/divergence. (Authors/CB)

Verbal reasoning and semantic divergent thinking scores together with assessments of conventional and creative English attainment were gained for 331 10-year-old children. A factor analysis demonstrated a separation of the ability and attainment measures. (Author)