The relationship between middle school gifted students' creativity test scores and self-perceptions regarding friendship, sensitivity, and divergent thinking variables /
This research investigated whether or not relationships exist between creative thinking abilities and how sixth and seventh grade gifted students view themselves with regard to friendship, sensitivity, and divergent thinking. Gender differences were also assessed. The subjects were middle school s...
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[Place of publication not identified] :
[publisher not identified] ;
2004.
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| Online Access: | http://proxy.library.tamu.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=790243771&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=2945&RQT=309&VName=PQD |
| Summary: | This research investigated whether or not relationships exist between creative thinking abilities and how sixth and seventh grade gifted students view themselves with regard to friendship, sensitivity, and divergent thinking. Gender differences were also assessed. The subjects were middle school students enrolled in the summer Youth Adventure Program for the gifted and talented at Texas A&M University. They were administered Activities 4 and 5 of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, Verbal Form B and a Friendship, Sensitivity, and Divergent Thinking Attitude Survey developed by the researcher. The Pearson correlation technique was used to analyze the data by correlating fluency, flexibility, and originality of combined scores for Activities 4 and 5 with the attitude survey variables of friendship, sensitivity, and divergent thinking. The 0.05 level of significance was set, and a t-test was used to determine gender differences. There were significant relationships between creativity test scores and friendship attitudes that gifted middle school students expressed on a self-report survey. The research found that there were significant relationships between a student's creativity and sensitivity levels. A significant relationship was also found to exist between creativity test scores and perceptions of divergent thinking among gifted students. No overall significant gender differences of middle school gifted students were found regarding friendship, sensitivity, and divergent thinking, but significant differences between boys and girls were found on three individual statements from the attitude survey. In conclusion, these findings revealed that the gifted students who scored high on creativity responded quite differently to the attitude variables of friendship, sensitivity, and divergent thinking than those who scored low on creativity. This study was designed to provide a clearer understanding of the needs of creatively gifted children for parents, teachers, and school officials. Future research is recommended to determine why high creatively gifted adolescents have fewer friends, are more sensitive, and perceive themselves as greater divergent thinkers than the low creatively gifted. |
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| Item Description: | Vita. "Major Subject: Educational Psychology". |
| Physical Description: | ix, 75 leaves ; 28 cm. Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-64). |