Solange Muglia Wechsler

VALIDITY OF THE TORRANCE TEST OF CREATIVITY THINKING TO THE BRAZILIAN CULTURE

This research provides evidence of the validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; 1966, 1990). The sample consisted of 59 Brazilians (29 males, 30 females) who have received public recognition through awards and 69 Brazilians (31 males, 38 females) who have not received recognition. The TTCT were administered to all participants and scored using Torrances procedure as well as Wechslers procedure (1985). Results analyzed through Pearson correlations indicated there were significant relationships among creative achievements and the creative indicators in the TTCT (r = .14 to r = .33, p ≤ .05 to p ≤ .001). Persons with recognized and without recognized achievements also could be distinguished on the basis of the presence of creative indicators in the TTCT using t tests. Figural and Verbal Creative Indexes were significantly related. The validity of the Verbal and Figural TTCT to the Brazilian culture was confirmed.

Avaliação multidimensional da criatividade: uma realidade necessária

A avaliacao da criatividade ate o momento, tem sido pautada, quase que exclusivamente, em medidas de pensamento divergente tentando-se encontrar uma forma unica para a sua identificacao. Nosso objetivo e demonstrar a necessidade de se avaliar a criatividade sob os mais diversos enfoques, situando a sua expressao dentro de campos especificos da sua aplicacao. Uma bateria para avaliacao multidimensional da criatividade e apresentada, sendo composta por dois testes internacionais. Pensando Criativamente com Figuras e Pensando Criativamente com Palavras e dois testes nacionais, de nossa autoria, Estilos de Pensar e Criar e Adjetivos Auto-descritores. O processo de validacao destes instrumentos encontra-se descrito demonstrando assim a possibilidade de medir algumas das interacoes entre a pessoa, processo e o ambiente criativo. Concluindo, e demonstrada a importância de se buscar, cada vez mais, instrumental que atenda os parâmetros cientificos da psicometria e que permita uma abordagem mais ampla, completa e multifacetada na avaliacao da criatividade.

Brazilian Adaptation of the Woodcock-Johnson III Cognitive Tests

An adaptation of the standard battery of Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ-III) for Brazilian children and youth was investigated. The sample was composed of 1094 students (54 percent girls), ages 7—17, living in Sao Paulo state (91 percent). Items from Brazilian school books as well as from the WJ-III Spanish version (Batería-R) were added to comprehension-knowledge tests. Brazilian words were adapted to the auditory tests according to syllabic division and stressed syllables. Items were examined through IRT and age differences through analysis of variance. Results indicated the need to remove items from all WJ-III subtests with the exception of the visual learning test. Analysis of Variance indicated significant age differences (p ≤ 0.001) for all tests. Thus, the importance of a Brazilian adaptation for the WJ-III was confirmed.

Criatividade e inteligência: analisando semelhanças e discrepâncias no desenvolvimento

Creativity and intelligence: analyzing developmental similarities and discrepancies. The similarities and discrepancies between intelligence and creativity were investigated as well as the impact of gender and educational level upon their development. The sample was composed of 172 students (91 women, 81 man), ages ranging from 7-17 years old. Intelligence was assessed through the Brazilian version of the WoodcockJohnson III tests, whereas creativity was evaluated through the Torrance tests of creativity. Results analyzed by MANOVA and ANOVA indicated significant effects of educational grade upon intelligence and creativity, and sex effects only on verbal creativity. No significant correlations were found between intelligence and creativity according to median results on intelligence tests. Factor analysis demonstrated the distinction among intelligence, verbal and figural creativity. On conclusion, creativity and intelligence were found as being independent constructs.

Thinking and Creative Styles: A Validity Study

The validity evidences of thinking and creative styles were analyzed. Two studies are reported, one analyzing the dimensionality of creative styles and the other verifying their external validity. Participants were Brazilians, 1,752 in the first study (55% women) and 128 in the second study (53% women), among whom 45% had demonstrated creative talent. The instruments were a scale of thinking and creative styles and Torrances figural and verbal creativity tests. Item analysis used the Rasch model. Two styles were identified: cautious–reflexive and nonconforming–innovative. Linear regression for predicting recognized creative achievements indicated significant contributions from the verbal creativity index and the nonconforming–innovative style. Styles were found to have predictive and constructive validity for creativity.

Variáveis que afetam a aprendizagem: percepção de alunos de licenciatura e professores

The purpose of this work was to analyses the variables which affect the process of teaching and learning. Our sample was composed by 90 students of the Mathematics, Psychology and Pedagogy Courses and 30 public teachers from state schools in Sao Paulo. The first instrument used was a questionnaire in a Likert scale, investigating the following teaching areas: a) student daily activity; b) pedagogical planning; c) teachersstudent interaction and d) teaching creativity. As a second instrument, it was asked the students to name ten adjectives of a real teacher and ten for ideal teacher. The results revealed that the most important area was “creativity” in teaching, for students and teachers. The adjective “creative” was the most mentioned as a quality for the ideal teacher. Thus, it is necessary to give more emphasis to the creativity process in the courses mentioned above.

Preventive Strategies for Promoting the Education of Low-income Brazilian Children Implications for School Psychologists from Other Third World Nations

Various problems that contribute to the cycle of low achievement, grade repetition and high drop-out rates among Brazilian students, particularly those from low-income families, are reviewed. Information from Brazilian studies is considered together with studies from other Third World nations. Ways in which educational and school psychologists can contribute to the promotion of achievement and the decrease in school repetition and drop-out rates through research and other professional activities are discussed.

Estudo da estrutura fatorial da bateria multidimensional de inteligência infantil

Este trabalho teve como principal objetivo o estudo da estrutura fatorial da Bateria Multidimensional de Inteligencia Infantil, destinada a avaliacao intelectual de criancas de sete a doze anos, por meio de algumas capacidades incluidas no Modelo Cattell-Horn-Carroll. Os resultados demonstraram que, no que diz respeito as correlacoes entre os testes e a analise fatorial confirmatoria, parece ter havido, de maneira geral, uma concordância entre os dados obtidos e os estudos associados ao modelo teorico. Alem disso, a bateria mostrou-se capaz de avaliar fundamentalmente as capacidades de inteligencia cristalizada e velocidade de processamento cognitivo. A maior parte da variância dessas capacidades gerais foi explicada pelos testes destinados a mensura-las.

Bateria Multidimensional de Inteligência Infantil: desenvolvimento de instrumento

Resumo O estudo objetivou elaborar um conjunto de testes, denominado “Bateria Multidimensional de Inteligencia Infantil” ou BMI, para avaliar capacidades do Modelo Cattell-Horn-Carroll. Entre as capacidades avaliadas estao as de inteligencia cristalizada, inteligencia fluida, velocidade de processamento cognitivo, memoria a curto prazo, armazenamento e recuperacao associativa a longo prazo e conhecimento quantitativo. A BMI foi composta por nove testes, apresentados a duas amostras de participantes. A primeira foi formada por 240 criancas, com idade entre sete e 12 anos. Constituida para que novos itens fossem testados, a segunda amostra foi formada por outras 206 criancas. Os resultados demonstraram a influencia altamente significativa da idade sobre o desempenho dos testes. Os testes Informacao Geral, Inducao, Desempenho em Matematica, Vocabulario Geral e Vocabulario Ilustrado apresentaram elevados coeficientes de precisao. A analise dos indices de dificuldade e do poder discriminativo permitiu a selecao do conjunto mais adequado de questoes para compor a configuracao final da Bateria. Palavras-Chave: Inteligencia; Testes; Modelo Cattell-Horn-Carroll, Avaliacao psicologica. Multidimensional Battery for Children’s Intelligence: Development of an instrument

School Psychology in Brazil An Examination of its Research Infrastructure

This article discusses the infrastructure of school psychology in Brazil and reviews the nature of scholarly literature relevant to school psychology. Basic features of Brazil, its culture and its educational characteristics are briefly described in order to provide a context for understanding the status of school psychologys research infrastructure in Brazil. The review of scholarly literature discusses the ages and other personal characteristics of subjects, common sources of data, typical data analyses, psychological variables examined and other research and publishing characteristics. Relative to the five stages that seemingly characterize the development of psychology in Third World nations, Brazil is within the third stage and is emerging into the fourth in which Brazilian psychologists are conducting and publishing more research relevant to its culture and society.