YOUNG CHILDRENS CREATIVE SOLUTIONS TO REALISTIC AND FANCIFUL STORY PROBLEMS

This study examined the creative problem solving of young children as evidenced in their responses to realistic and fanciful stories posing similar problems (i.e., key character trapped and in need of rescue). One-hundred young children listened to two stories; one about a puppy trapped in a hole (realistic) and one about a prince caught in a tower (fanciful). The children were asked to complete the stories by thinki ng of ways to get the puppy or the prince out. The children's response s were scored for fluency (number), elaboration (detail), flexibility (conceptual shifts), originality (novelty), effectiveness, and realism . Overall, the results suggest that the children's performance improve d with age and experience, although their solutions tended to remain i neffective and unoriginal. As predicted, the children strongly preferr ed the puppy to the prince story, although preference did not generall y affect their creative performance. The practical and theoretical imp lications of the study are discussed and suggestions for future resear ch are presented.