Creativity and Competition in Children
Summary. In this study, the researcher looked at the effect of competition on creativity. Children made collages and either competed for prizes or did not compete. Experts judged the creativity of the collages.
Video. Against All Odds: Inside Statistics (Program 1, What is Statistics?). Stop the video about 4 minutes into the segment. The results are discussed for less than a minute at the end of the video. The video can be viewed online (email me at [email protected] for the password).
Original Research. Amabile, T.M. (1982). Children's artistic creativity: Detrimental effects of competition in a field setting. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 573-578.
Design. Repeated measures, with the judges (not the children) as the cases.
Statistical Analysis. Students can perform two paired t-tests. For the creativity scores, the result is t(6) = -2.60, p = .04. For the novel use of materials scores, the result is t(6) = -4.42, p = .004.
Published Results. For creativity, Amabile reports t(6)= -2.61, p < .05. For novel use of materials she reports t(6) = -4.43, p < .01.
Published conclusions. ''In support of the proposition that extrinsic constraint can be detrimental to creativity, the results showed that those children who competed for prizes made collages that were significantly less creative than those made by children in the control group.'' (p. 576).
Comments. The experiment uses two separate groups, but for the statistical analysis Amabile treats each judge as one case (or participant). It seems it would also be appropriate to average the judges ratings for each collage, and then perform a separate groups t-test. This is a bit confusing for students, but the key is whether the children or the judges are considered the "subjects" in the study.
The Excel file for this activity contains realistic mean creativity ratings (on a 40 point scale) given to the collages by each of the 7 expert judges. The file also contains realistic mean "novel use of materials" ratings (on a 40 point scale) given to the collages by each of the 7 expert judges.
Summary. In this study, the researcher looked at the effect of competition on creativity. Children made collages and either competed for prizes or did not compete. Experts judged the creativity of the collages.
Video. Against All Odds: Inside Statistics (Program 1, What is Statistics?). Stop the video about 4 minutes into the segment. The results are discussed for less than a minute at the end of the video. The video can be viewed online (email me at [email protected] for the password).
Original Research. Amabile, T.M. (1982). Children's artistic creativity: Detrimental effects of competition in a field setting. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 8, 573-578.
Design. Repeated measures, with the judges (not the children) as the cases.
Statistical Analysis. Students can perform two paired t-tests. For the creativity scores, the result is t(6) = -2.60, p = .04. For the novel use of materials scores, the result is t(6) = -4.42, p = .004.
Published Results. For creativity, Amabile reports t(6)= -2.61, p < .05. For novel use of materials she reports t(6) = -4.43, p < .01.
Published conclusions. ''In support of the proposition that extrinsic constraint can be detrimental to creativity, the results showed that those children who competed for prizes made collages that were significantly less creative than those made by children in the control group.'' (p. 576).
Comments. The experiment uses two separate groups, but for the statistical analysis Amabile treats each judge as one case (or participant). It seems it would also be appropriate to average the judges ratings for each collage, and then perform a separate groups t-test. This is a bit confusing for students, but the key is whether the children or the judges are considered the "subjects" in the study.
The Excel file for this activity contains realistic mean creativity ratings (on a 40 point scale) given to the collages by each of the 7 expert judges. The file also contains realistic mean "novel use of materials" ratings (on a 40 point scale) given to the collages by each of the 7 expert judges.