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Immersive virtual reality (IVR) takes advantage of exponential growth in our technological abilities to offer an array of new forms of entertainment, learning opportunities, and even psychological interventions and assessments. The field of creativity is a driving force in both large-scale innovations and everyday progress, and imbedding creativity assessment in IVR programs has important practical implications for future research and interventions in this field. Creativity assessment, however, tends to either rely on traditional concepts or newer, yet cumbersome methods. Can creativity be measured within IVR? This study introduces the VIVA, a new IVR-based visual arts creativity assessment paradigm in which user create 3D drawings in response to a prompt. Productions are then rated with modern extensions of a classic product-based approach to creativity assessment. A sample of 67 adults completed the VIVA, further scored using item-response modeling. Results demonstrated the strong psychometric properties of the VIVA assessment, including its structural validity, internal reliability, and criterion validity with relevant criterion measures. Together, this study established a solid proof-of-concept of the feasibility of measuring creativity in IVR. We conclude by discussing directions for future studies and the broader importance and impact of this line of work for the field of creativity and virtual reality.

The idea of a "creativity crisis" is widely accepted in the creativity and education literature. Its popular interpretation as a decline in creativity across generations originates from Kim's (2011) influential analysis of the re-norming data in the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). The present work offers a critical review and reappraises the findings of Kim (2011), while incorporating new data from the latest norming edition of the TTCT. We posit that Kim's (2011) claim of creativity decline was grounded on problematic empirical decisions, statistical approaches, data representation, and interpretation of findings. Based on a sample of over 330,000 participants across TTCT norming editions, we further present a set of cross-temporal meta-analyses to revisit generational trends. These analyses reveal no evidence for the notion of a generational decline of creativity, and even less so, for a "creativity crisis." We conclude by discussing more broadly how beyond the lack of empirical evidence, the notion of creativity crisis represents a counter-productive societal and scientific myth. A few directions for the improvement of research and assessment practices in creativity are also discussed.

The present study examines effort in narrative creative writing (operationalized as time-on-task) using a new assessment approach, the storyboard task. Participants (N = 125) completed alternate forms of the storyboard task in two sessions five weeks apart. They also completed measures of divergent thinking and self-reported ideational behavior. Time-on-task, story length, and rated creativity scores were obtained for the participants' stories. The storyboard task demonstrated good alternate form reliability and convergent validity with the criterion measures. Although time-on-task was strongly, positively associated with creativity scores, this relationship was confounded by the contribution of story length. Relationships amongst these variables were similar when creativity was rated by novice raters using a rubric or experienced raters using the consensual assessment technique. Additionally, story length and time-on-task were moderately correlated with the external criterion measures of creativity. Thus, the strong associations between rated creativity, story length, and time in creative writing raise important issues and avenues for future research, and results for the storyboard task suggest that it is a valuable assessment of narrative creative writing.

The development of divergent thinking (DT) in school-age children and adolescents has received considerable attention in the educational psychology literature since the 1970s. A body of research has outlined the existence of slumps (i.e., temporary declines) in this development with, however, conflicting findings concerning the magnitude and timing of these slumps. This study is the first to meta-analyze prior research findings regarding DT development from Grades 1 to 12, with a particular emphasis on the widely controversial fourth-grade slump. A total of 2139 standardized means from 41 studies involving 40,918 subjects were analyzed using a meta-analytic three-level model. The findings showed an overall upward developmental trend of DT across grade levels, with some discontinuities. Specifically, there was no evidence of a general fourth-grade slump; rather, evidences for a seventh-grade slump were found. Moderator analyses indicated that a fourth-grade slump might be observed depending on DT test, task content domain, intellectual giftedness, and country of study. The existence of the seventh-grade slump was also moderated by DT test, task content domain, and gender. Together, this study deciphers a longstanding debate regarding DT development, a prerequisite knowledge to support age-appropriate educational strategies that encourage creativity development. Implications of these findings for creativity research and practice are discussed.

Background: The originality of divergent thinking (DT) production is one of the most critical indicators of creative potential. It is commonly scored using the statistical infrequency of responses relative to all responses provided in a given sample. Aims: Response frequency estimates vary in terms of measurement precision. This issue has been widely overlooked and is addressed in the current study. Sample and method: Secondary data analysis of 202 participants was performed. A total of 900 uniquely identified responses were generated on three DT tasks and subjected to a 1-parameter logistic model with a response as the unit of measurement which allowed for the calculation of response-level conditional reliability (and marginal reliability as an overall summary of measurement precision). Results: Marginal reliability of response propensity estimates ranged from 0.62 to 0.67 across the DT tasks. Unique responses in the sample (the basis for the classic uniqueness scoring) displayed the lowest conditional reliability (across tasks: [approximately equal to] 0.50). Reliability increased nonlinearly as a function of both the frequency of occurrence predicted by the model (conditional reliability) and sample size (conditional and marginal reliability). Conclusions: This study indicates that the common practice of frequency-based originality scoring with typical sample sizes (e.g., N = 100 to N = 200) yields unacceptable levels of measurement precision (i.e., in particular for highly original responses). We further offer recommendations to mitigate the lack of measurement precision of frequency-based originality scores for DT research.

This manifesto, discussed by 20 scholars, representing diverse lines of creativity research, marks a conceptual shift within the field. Socio-cultural approaches have made substantial contributions to the concept of creativity over recent decades and today can provide a set of propositions to guide our understanding of past research and to generate new directions of inquiry and practice. These propositions are urgently needed in response to the transition from the Information Society to the Post-Information Society. Through the propositions outlined here, we aim to build common ground and invite the community of creativity researchers and practitioners to reflect up, study, and cultivate creativity as a socio-cultural phenomenon.

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real-world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding "how" we do developmental science and "what for" are outlined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for "integrative," "inclusive," "transdisciplinary," "transparent," and "actionable" developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Although empirical investigations on the Creative Self have historically started with a focus on self-esteem, the literature on its relationship with creative performance remains thin and inconsistent, with estimated relationships ranging from moderate and negative, to strongly positive. Discrepancies may be explained by the domain-specificity of both creativity and self-esteem that have been widely overlooked in this line of work. Therefore, this study explores the multivariate relationships between creativity in three domains (Music, Literary-Verbal, Graphic) and self-esteem in seven domains (e.g., Academic, Emotional) among 170 adolescents. Creative productions were scored by four raters, and latent consensus in each domain captured using a multi-informant latent-consensus model in SEM. This model was further extended in a structural model reveling that (a) creativity is mainly domain-specific, and (b) the contribution of domain-specific self-esteem on domain-specific creativity greatly varies according to both the domains of creativity and self-esteem. Up to 30% of the variance in creative performance was explained by "domain-relevant" self-esteem facets, and a moderate contribution of creative self-esteem across creativity domains. Results are discussed in light of several important methodological directions for this line of work, as well as its implications for creativity-based interventions designed to support positive self-esteem development in adolescence.

The "Messaging Motivations Questionnaire" ("MMQ") is a concise 8-item measure, which consists of two subscales capturing people's typical motivations to text. The MMQ was developed through focus groups and item analysis based on a pilot study, followed by a larger validation study involving a sample of 982 young adults. Factor analyses supported a 2-factor structure, yielding highly reliable scale scores: "Escape," characterized by the wish to escape or avoid internal or external stimuli when texting; and "Express," characterized by the use of text messaging over richer forms of communication media to facilitate self-expression. Criterion validity of the MMQ scores was established using measures of problematic smartphone use, social anxiety, self-esteem, and the Big Five dimensions of personality. Women exhibited slightly higher scores on both subscales. There were no race/ethnicity-related MMQ score differences, and marginal age-related differences. The MMQ is a promising tool for counselors to better understand and discuss their young adult clients' texting behaviors, as well as for future research focused on texting behavior and its consequences.

Background: There is no study to date that has examined the association between history of abuse and adaptive functioning deficits in youth with co-occurring and psychotic disorders or mood disorders. Method: This study used a retrospective chart review of 98 youth under the age of 18 (Mean age = 16.06 years) with co-occurring intellectual impairment (Mean IQ = 63.9) and psychotic disorders, mood disorders, or other psychiatric disorders. Using multimediation models in the path analytic framework, this study examined the relationships between psychiatric diagnosis (based on DSM-IV criteria), cognitive functioning (Full Scale IQ Scores), adaptive functioning (Socialization, Communication, Motor Skills, Daily Living Skills), and the presence of the history of physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse/neglect. Results: A very high incidence of all three forms of abuse was present in the study sample, with more than three-quarters of the youth having experienced at least one form of abuse and more than half having experienced two or the three forms of abuse. A history of sexual abuse was significantly and directly associated with an increased incidence of mood disorders. Mood disorders were the strongest predictors of adaptive functioning deficits. Youth with schizophrenia spectrum disorder scored significantly lower in communication skills than those with bipolar disorder. Conclusion: Results are discussed in terms of the need for treatment studies and further investigations of the relationship between childhood maltreatment and adaptive functioning in youth with intellectual impairment and psychiatric disorders.

This article presents the concept of creative potential and its link to talent. Psychological measures to assess creative potential in children and adolescents (EPoC) and adults (Creative Profiler) are then described. Implications for developing creativity are proposed.

The EMES-16 is a very short multidimensional measure of domain-specific Self-Esteem designed for French-speaking adolescents. This study presents a psychometric evaluation of this measure among 2603 adolescents with a focus on its factor structure tested in CFA for alternative, theoretically grounded models. Results revealed the superiority of a domain-specific, and partly hierarchical structure, over unidimensional or fully hierarchical structures. This structure supports the derivation of five domain-specific scores (Emotional, Social, Physical, Academic and Creative Self-Esteem) as well as a superordinate composite index (Core Self-Evaluation) underlying the Emotional, Social and Physical Self-Esteem. Measurement invariance testing supported partial equivalence of the construct measured by the EMES-16 across gender and strict equivalence by age groups. Construct validity evaluation suggested strong evidence of EMES-16's scores convergent and divergent validity with measures of unidimensional Self-Esteem, Self-Concept Clarity, Big Five Personality and Social Desirability. Internal consistency was also satisfactory given the concision of the EMES-16 scales. In conclusion, we discuss the promise of the EMES-16 as a psychometrically solid measure for screening and developmental research purposes among French-speaking adolescents.

The current study combines 2 related, yet distinct, lines of research demonstrating that (a) creative cognition is supported by both associative and executive abilities (i.e., dual-process perspective), and (b) individual differences may influence creative outcomes through 2 distinct processes (i.e., dual pathway to creativity model). We fill several gaps within both lines of research by examining how individual differences in executive and associative abilities predict creative writing through processes related to persistence and effort. Tasks assessing Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) broad abilities (Gf, Glr, and Gc), semantic distance, and creative writing were administered to a total sample of 209 young adults. A multivariate multiple mediation model in the path analytic framework shows that creativity was directly predicted by an indicator of associative ability (semantic distance) and indirectly predicted by several of the CHC broad cognitive abilities through processes related to persistence and effort (i.e., length of text and time-per-word). Specifically, persistence and effort fully mediated the relationship between creative writing and performance on several tasks assessing fluid reasoning, comprehension knowledge, and long-term storage and retrieval. Together, the model explained 40% of the variance in text length, 33% of time-per-word, and 65% of creativity (Consensual Assessment Technique-based scores). We discuss how these results are not only consistent with previous work demonstrating an association between both executive and associative abilities with creativity, but also provide evidence for the dual pathway model in the generation of creative products and support the role of persistence and effort in creative writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in learning patterns of vocabulary acquisition in children at risk (+SRD) and not at risk (-SRD) for Specific Reading Disability (SRD) were examined using a microdevelopmental paradigm applied to the multi-trial Foreign Language Learning Task (FLLT; Baddeley et al., 1995). The FLLT was administered to 905 children from rural Chitonga-speaking Zambia. A multi-group Latent Growth Curve Model (LGCM) was implemented to study interindividual differences in intraindividual change across trials. Results showed that the +SRD group recalled fewer words correctly in the first trial, learned at a slower rate during the subsequent trials, and demonstrated a more linear learning pattern compared to the -SRD group. This study illustrates the promise of LGCM applied to multi-trial learning tasks, by isolating three components of the learning process (initial recall, rate of learning, and functional pattern of learning). Implications of this microdevelopmental approach to SRD research in low-to-middle income countries are discussed.

The skills, knowledge, attitudes, motivations, and personality traits that lead to creative thinking and creative behavior do not exist--and do not develop--in a vacuum. They are inextricably tied to content, to domains, in particular, and they therefore vary by domains. The more we learn about creativity, the more we discover how domain specific creativity is. This means we cannot nurture creativity, or any of the skills or attributes that contribute to creativity, without thinking about content. One cannot become physically fit by doing just one kind of exercise that trains a single set of muscles; all-around fitness requires diverse exercises that use and train many different sets of muscles. So it is with creativity. Different domains require different creativity-relevant skills, knowledge, attitudes, motivations, and personality traits. If we want to help children and adolescents become more creative, then we need to attend to the domains we use in the development of creativity.

This article reviews developmental studies of creativity in children and adolescents with a focus on "peaks" and "slumps" that have often been described in the literature. The irregularity of the development of creativity is interpreted in light of conceptual and measurement issues and with regard to the interaction between individual-level resources, task-specific demands, and environmental influences, resulting in apparent individual differences in the development of creativity. The need for longitudinal designs, multidimensional and multi-domain assessment of creative potential limiting the contribution of task-specific factors is outlined and discussed as an important direction for developmental research on creativity.