Marie Dellas

DEVELOPMENT OF AN OBJECTIVE INSTRUMENT TO MEASURE IDENTITY STATUS IN TERMS OF OCCUPATION CRISIS AND COMMITMENT

Using male/female high school seniors and college students (freshman through seniors), a 40-item, forced-choice, easily scored, group-administered, objective instrument (DISI-O) was developed, corresponding to Marcias (1964) interview procedure, to assess five levels of occupation identity status in terms of crisis and commitment. Item and factor analyses demonstrated the construct validity of the status scales and discriminant analyses the predictive power. Showing acceptable reliability estimates, the DISI-O related satisfactorily to other methods of assessing occupation identity status—a Likert procedure and Marcias interview. Chi-square analyses among the identity statuses and sex, grade and age reflected a pattern of psychosocial growth consistent with Eriksons (1963) proposals. Uses of the DISI-O by researchers and counselors were discussed.

Occupational identity status development, gender comparisons, and internal-external control in first-year air force cadets

This study of cadets at the United States Air Force Academy during their first six months assessed the pattern of developmental changes in occupational identity status for males and females, examined the relationship of internal-external control to identity statuses, and discussed the data in terms of Eriksons proposals and factors involved in gender differences in identity development. More than half of the cadets entering the academy were in uncommitted occupational identity statuses. Over the time period, half the cadets remained in their identity statuses, with the Foreclosed cadets the most stable and Achieved the least stable. The expected changes in the Achieved identity status, and other changes, established a pattern of identity development congruent with Eriksons theory of developmental progress or regression in identity formation. Only male cadets demonstrated significant changes into or out of a status, and significant associations between their identity statuses and internal-external control, with more internally controlled males being Achieved and more externally controlled males being Diffused-diffused.

Creative Personality and Identity

Assuming that particular personality configurations would encounter particular situations and problems which affect their approach to and resolution of the identity task, this article considers the relationship of the concept of identity proposed by Erikson to those characteristics that distinguish highly creative individuals. Several hypotheses are advanced regarding the conditions encountered by these individuals in the process of identity formation as a function of their characteristics. On the basis of these conditions, it is suggested that their sense of identity is tentative and tenuous, involving a series of configurations, each more complex and comprehensive and reflecting a deeper penetration of their constituent elements. It is also suggested that this is a functional state compatible with their creative orientation.

Concept formation and creativity in children

It has become a psychological truism that the kinds of information selected and utilized by the individual are intimately related to success in problem solving and concept formation (Stafford, 1966). That creative endeavor appears to be the outcome of the ability to take familiar information and rearrange it into new and meaningful patterns also appears well documented in the psychological literature. But the exact nature of the process that leads to what is perceived as creative continues to elude both the classroom

Effects of Affective Expression on Divergent Thinking Production

Summary The effects of affective expression on divergent thinking performance were studied in 40 male and female graduate education students. Divergent thinking was operationally defined in terms of the ideational fluency and originality dimensions of Guilfords (4) Plot Titles test. Experimental group E1, in which emotional states were related to visual stimuli, produced significantly more original responses than experimental group E2 (p < .025), in which the same visual patterns viewed in terms of their geometrical-technical dimensions, and control group C1 (p < .01), in which no training was administered. Groups E2 and C1 demonstrated no significant differences. The groups did not differ with respect to ideational fluency. Verbal ability was a poor predictor of individual differences in ideational fluency and originality. The results suggest an effective approach toward fostering originality and indicate that nonintellective variables may be significant in the creative process.

INCIDENTAL LEARNING AND MEASURES OF CREATIVE POTENTIAL

The relationship between incidental learning and creative potential was assessed by two measures of cognitive complexity (the Barron-Welsh Art Scale and the Asch-Barron inventory), and responses of 59 male and female undergraduate students showed that, while incidental learning had high positive correlations with intelligence and intentional learning, r with the creativity predictors was nonsignificant. Results indicate the functioning of independent motivational and cognitive processes, with differing outcomes for these variables.