CUMULATIVE AND PROXIMAL INFLUENCES ON THE SOCIAL-ENVIRONMENT AND CHILDRENS CREATIVE POTENTIAL

The influences of socioeconomic status (SES), maturation, school, and sex on creative potential were examined by administering the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking to 1,445 children. Comparisons of means ind icated that scores increased with SES, sixth-grade children scored sli ghtly higher than fifth-grade children, and girls in general earned hi gher scores than boys. Additionally, the school setting and in particu lar the classroom atmosphere seemed to be far more important to creati ve potential than has been previously acknowledged. Implications for t he concept of creativity and the adequacy of tests as indicators of di vergent thinking are discussed.