Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
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Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Creative ability in children--Psychological aspects; Creative ability--Psychological aspects;
Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the effect of mood induction on the creativity of first‑grade students. It examined whether students who reported being in a happy mood scored higher on measures of creative ability than students who reported being in a sad mood. Two hypotheses related to mood’s effect on creativity were tested. Hypothesis 1: There is no difference between the pretest figural creativity scores and posttest figural creativity scores of first‑grade students exposed to happy mood induction and those exposed to sad mood induction. Hypothesis 2: There is no difference between the pretest verbal creativity scores and posttest verbal creativity scores of first‑grade students exposed to happy mood induction and those exposed to sad mood induction.
Selected subtests from the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used as pretests and posttests to measure the effect of the mood‑induction treatment on the students’ creativity. The Parallel Lines subtest from the Figural Test, Form A, and the Just Suppose—Clouds subtest from the Verbal Test, Form A, served as pretreatment measures of creativity for all students. The Circles subtest from the Figural Test, Form B, and the Just Suppose—Fog subtest from the Verbal Test, Form B, served as posttreatment measures. These subtests were administered individually and scored for Fluency, Flexibility, and Originality. Total Scores were then computed.
The mood‑induction procedures used in this research were adapted from those used with young children in studies by Rosenhan, Underwood, and Moore (1974) and others (Moore, Clyburn, & Underwood, 1976; Moore, Underwood, & Rosenhan, 1973; Underwood, Moore, & Rosenhan, 1973). Children in one group were asked to generate and think about happy experiences, while children in the second group were asked to generate and think about sad experiences. Following the mood‑induction procedures, students verified their mood states by pointing to one of three faces representing sad, neutral, or happy.
No significant differences were found between the figural creativity scores of students who reported being in a happy mood and those who reported being in a sad mood. This was true for Fluency, Flexibility, Originality, and Total Score. Thus, Hypothesis 1 was accepted. Significant differences were found between the verbal creativity scores of students who reported being in a happy mood. In Flexibility and Originality, mean differences were significant at the 0.10 level, while in Fluency and Total Score, mean differences were significant at the 0.01 level. Therefore, Hypothesis 2 was rejected. Given the practical limitations of this study and the lack of prior research on mood’s specific effect on creativity, these results must be treated as tentative and inconclusive. Despite efforts to control extraneous variables, some concessions must be made. For instance, Bartlett and Santrock (1979) speculated that children in their happy group were happier than children in their sad group were sad, suggesting greater success in inducing subjective happiness than subjective sadness. Observations from the present study appeared to support this speculation. Nonetheless, the results indicate that researchers may benefit from further investigation of mood induction as a technique for enhancing creativity.
Year of Submission
1982
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
First Advisor
Gaile S. Cannella
Second Advisor
Paula Boothby
Third Advisor
Roger A. Kueter
Date Original
1982
Object Description
1 PDF file (65 leaves)
Copyright
©1982 Rita Ann Jensen
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Jensen, Rita Ann, "The Effect of Mood Induction on the Creativity of First-Grade Students" (1982). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 3055.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/3055
Comments
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