I was shocked when I first heard someone got a PhD in creativity. I didn’t know this was something studied to the extent that one could major in it, much less get a higher degree. So, I started to do some research to find out what scientists are learning about creativity.
The focus of today’s post will be about teenagers. It seems that research agrees, adolescences is the prime time to develop creativity for the future. If they only are given questions with one correct answer to find, they tend to not be very creative when they grow up. Hello schools out there! Middle and high school students need to work on divergent thinking. That means they need questions with more than one right answer. AND, added bonus, these types of questions are much harder to have AI do your homework.
There is a common creativity test where a subject is given an everyday object and asked to name different ways to use that object. This image is most often used for eating soft, semi liquid, or liquid foods. So, creative answers would be considered answers outside the normal use. Thing is, when I see this image, the first thing I think of is catapults. Second is waves. These are not creative answers for me. They are based on my experience and very normal, routine answers in my world. They don’t require the usage of creative parts of my brain.
So, a new test was created that offered the subject a way to use their experience in a creative, divergent answer. The results were much more creative use of the brain.
This image already gets my creative juices flowing, but a prompt can help: You slowly walk across the wooden bridge. The sound of water splashing against rocks fills your head. What happens after you cross the bridge? What is waiting for you down the other side of the hill that we can’t see? This is shown, by scientific research, to start the creative mind working. If teenagers are presented with these types of questions, they will be more creative as adults.
Another interesting note to the study was reflection helps with creativity. What if you were asked to name the colors you see in the image? How about the shapes you see? While these answers may vary from one person to another, they aren’t divergent. They don’t require your mind to go into create mode, either. So, now think back. Which task was more enjoyable? Which was easier? Why? Reflection helps you learn more about yourself, how you think, and helps you become more creative in the future. You’ll be able to recognize if a spoon being stuck to your nose is a creative act, or just another common answer in your list of experiences.
