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17 - Attitude Change as the Precursor to Creativity Enhancement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Jonathan A. Plucker  and
Gayle T. Dow
Edited by
Ronald A. Beghetto  and
James C. Kaufman
Jonathan A. Plucker
Affiliation:
Indiana University, USA
Gayle T. Dow
Affiliation:
Christopher Newport University, USA
Ronald A. Beghetto
Affiliation:
University of Oregon
James C. Kaufman
Affiliation:
California State University, San Bernardino
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Summary

ATTITUDE CHANGE AS THE PRECURSOR TO CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT

Schemas develop from interconnections of ideas and grow into complex, organized mental structures of information (Anderson, 1977; Piaget, 1926). The growth of schemata may occur over a series of experiences and often become engrained in our implicit cognitive processing. Although schema development may be flexible, it is very difficult to completely change them, even in light of contradictory evidence (see Palmer, 1981; Wheatley & Wegner, 2001). This causes particular concern among educational psychologists because many schemata may be inaccurate or based on partially incorrect information. The result can be a mental framework firmly rooted in misinformation.

Creativity is not immune from inaccurate schema representations. Creativity, which is defined as “the interaction among aptitude, process, and environment by which an individual or group produces a perceptible product that is both novel and useful as defined within a social context” (Plucker, Beghetto, & Dow, 2004, p. 90, emphasis in original), is plagued by implicit myths that, in our view, have led to inaccurate schemata on a mass scale.

These schemata are problematic because there appears to be no shortage of areas in which creativity can be applied constructively to improve people's lives and, perhaps more important, areas in which people can use creativity to improve their own lives. However, few educators address divergent thinking, creativity, and innovation in primary, secondary, or postsecondary education, areas that are generally considered to be ripe for helping students develop schema.

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Nurturing Creativity in the Classroom , pp. 362 - 379
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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