Robert S. Albert

The Reliability and Validity of Ideational Originality in the Divergent Thinking of Academically Gifted and Nongifted Children

Divergent thinking tests are probably the most commonly employed measures of creative potential and have demonstrated adequate psychometric properties with many populations. Recently, however, a partial correlation evaluation revealed that the indices drawn from divergent thinking tests are highly redundant. That is, in the nongifted population, ideational “originality” and “flexibility” were seriously confounded by ideational “fluency,” and hence were not reliable indices of divergent thinking. Because the ideation of gifted individuals is qualitatively and quantitatively different from that of nongifted individuals, the present investigation utilized partial correlation procedures in order to compare the reliability of ideational originality in academically gifted and nongifted intermediate school children (N = 225). The results indicated that the divergent thinking interitem and intertest correlations of the gifted children were significantly larger than those of the nongifted children. Still, ideational originality was adequately reliable after fluency was controlled only in the figural (nonverbal) divergent thinking tests.

Handbook of Creativity: A History of Research on Creativity

The title we have given this chapter is meant to signal to readers that we recognize that the history we describe is one among other possible histories of the same subject. This chapter truly presents a and not the history of research on creativity. Our attempt to describe the broad and extended historical changes in the concept of creativity can be easily contrasted with efforts to describe the narrower historical changes in actual creativity. Bullough, Bullough, and Mauro (1981), Gray (1966), Kroeber (1944, 1956), Martindale (1992), Naroll et al. (1971), and Sorokin (1947) compared specific historical eras in terms of various indices of creativity. Bullough et al., for instance, compared eighteenth-century Scotland with fifteenth-century Italy. Historical differences in content and abstractness are also implied in studies of Zeitgeist; these assume that there is a “spirit” that is unique to creative eras (Boring, 1929; Simonton, in press). Additional historical perspectives are involved in studies of eminent creatorss developmental background and careers. Although they may not have influenced the meeting of research and creativity , investigations of eminent persons have contributed chiefly to the way we think about creativity (see, e.g., Albert, 1975; Gardner, 1994; Ochse, 1990; Roe, 1952). Our own perspective directed us to the work of eminent individuals (e.g., Francis Bacon, Darwin, Galton, Malthus, and Adam Smith) who had particular impact on the clarification and eventual meeting of the concepts of research and creativity.

Family Positions and the Attainment of Eminence: A Study of Special Family Positions and Special Family Experiences.

There are two basic transformations in the achievement of eminence. The first is that of intellectual giftedness to creative giftedness (Albert, 1979); the second, even more important, is the transformation of this intelligent creativeness into a combination of talent, drive, and values that &dquo;succeed.&dquo; The transformation of early giftedness into adult eminence is one of the most enthralling and secretive processes of human development. Because its occurrence is relatively difficult to predict, it does not mean one should appeal to shopworn explanations such as &dquo;luck,&dquo; &dquo;breaks,&dquo; &dquo;knowing the right people,&dquo; &dquo;genius,&dquo; or other cliche. The attainment of eminence, although difficult to predict, is not without rational, developmental aspects (Albert, 1975). In this paper I wish to show how the family position of gifted children can put them in alignment with selected family experiences, socialization, and motivations that help prepare them for particular careers; secondly, I wish to show that often an unanticipated event such as the death of older siblings and/or a parent is not necessarily an impediment to this growth but can be an opportunity and a challenge to healthy ego development. The means and the direction in which these traumatic experiences influence

Observations and Suggestions Regarding Giftedness, Familial Influence and the Achievement of Eminence.

First of all, it is axiomatic that good research always leads to more questions than answers. On this basis alone (and there are others) these comments are predicated on my belief that the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (SMPY) is the most important piece of research on giftedness since Leta Hollingworth’s 1942 report about children with IQs 180 or more. It is superbly conceived and constructed. It is a study that has been much needed. When it is finished (if ever), we shall know much more clearly what might have become of some of Hollingworth’s subjects than we now do, not because an SMPY researcher has been locating some of

Cognitive Development and Parental Loss among the Gifted, the Exceptionally Gifted and the Creative

This paper reports an analysis of descriptions of children with IQs of 155 or better. It is suggested that these children be distinguished from gifted children by the label exceptionally gifted. The paper reports some important cognitive differences between the two groups as well as the high rate of early parental loss among historically famous highly intelligent persons. This finding is discussed in the light of how certain parent-child relationships might contribute to the development of cognitive giftedness into high level of creative behavior.

Exceptionally Gifted Boys and Their Parents

*The writer thanks Dr. Julian Stanley for making available the pool of math-gifted subjects and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and Pitzer College for their generous financial support. Parts of the paper were presented in earlier form at the Twenty-sixth National Annual Convention of the National Association for Gifted Children, Baltimore, Maryland, October 1979. The developmental gaps between gifted intelligence and creativity and exceptional early giftedness and the later attainment of eminence in adulthood are well

Real‐world creativity and eminence: An enduring relationship

Abstract: Recently, Runco (1988) stated that “research on creativity comes in various guises.” Before we lose sight of some of its enduring characteristics in the midst of this variety, it is important to remember real‐world creative behaviors relationship to eminence. From the earliest cave drawings has come evidence of an inherent capacity and need to create. This paper states that this relationship had—and continues to have—survival value for the individual and the culture; that this may have preceded language development; and that research on eminence is intended to uncover the parameters of this essential relationship.

Separation Phenomena as a Basis for Resistance To Hospitalization

patient from his customary framework of relationships. We shall discuss the ways in which the structure and atmosphere of the hospital condition the patient’s experience of separation, with particular reference to the structural variable of &dquo;openness-closedness&dquo;. The meaning of separation to the patient is also influenced by intrapersonal factors; we shall attend especially to ego-strength, and to the ways in which relatively strong and relatively weak-egoed patients accept hospitalization. Our discussion of separation phenomena, while primarily descriptive and analytical, has therapeutic import. We are convinced that therapists and others concerned with patient welfare can achieve a more therapeutic stance through more sensitive attention to separation phenomena.