Victoria Stolz
Aaron Rodriguez
English 102
Due Date
A Critical Article Review on Age-Related Changes in Divergent Thinking
Palmiero, Massimiliano, et al. “Divergent Thinking and Age-Related Changes.” Creativity Research Journal, vol. 26, no. 4, 2014, pp. 456–460., Accessed 12 Sept. 2017.
When the word “divergence” is mentioned, most minds turn to the popular dystopian book trilogy by Veronica Roth. What some people do not realize is that they are instilled at birth with the ability of divergent thinking, which allows them to produce creative ideas by exploring multiple possible solutions to a problem. This thought process is vital to many career fields, including engineering, business management, teaching, and human resources. Extensive studies have been performed to explore the effects of aging on divergent thinking skills, and it seemed for a time that divergent thinking skills decrease dramatically over the first 15 years of life. In more recent studies, however, it has been shown that divergence does not deteriorate as easily previously believed. Authors Massimiliano Palmiero, Dina Di Giacomo, and Domenico Passafiume applied their expertise in cognitive functions in their article, Divergent Thinking and Age-Related Changes, to explore research projects on how divergence levels change with age. The article looks at what results have come from research on divergence, the two hypotheses formed on the declination of divergent thinking skills, and the methods and
As aging occurs within humans, not only do physical changes occur, but changes in the mind occur as well. Changes that change the way the brain thinks and influences decision making, as well as reactions to certain situations that occur. These changes are apparent as the brain and body ages and can clearly be seen when those of varying ages interact with each other. In Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, one of the main themes appears to be the accustomed act of maturing, or growing up, specifically, how comprehension is different in people of different ages. Bradbury’s novel includes characters of various ages ranging from little kids to elders whose time has almost come to an end. These characters interact with one another throughout the
Kaufman and Beghetto (2014) further suggest that creativity can be fostered in children to a certain extent by providing them with opportunities to express their own unique ideas.
Often, we think of older people as being smarter, wiser, and generally more mature, but this is not always the case. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger gives a number of examples that shatter this generalization, offering an alternative to age as the primary factor in one’s level of maturity. Ordinary Grace shows how maturity is a result of circumstance and does not necessarily correlate with age.
The American youth are becoming smarter, but are creative minds are shrinking. American children’s scoring on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking has been falling since the 90s. Having
In the context of creativity’s stated definition, we will proceed to group our arguments into three themes of factors: cognitive ability, expertise training, and environmental conditions. The human brain is highly adaptable and can continue to develop new cognitive abilities, even past adulthood (Norman, 2015). Proper cognitive expertise and training can help workers produce and operate in ingenious ways (Ginamarie, Lertiz & Mumford, 2004). Finally, the working environment can both motivate or stifle creative output. Managers can influence all three components: expertise, thinking skills, and motivation (Amabile, 1998).
Ageism influences the presence of diversity because those who are affected by ageism within their career may lose their
Weinstein et. al research A Decline in Creativity? she studies a series of young adults creative productions over 20 years. the research question: How have the style, content and form of adolescents’ art-making and creative writing changed over the last 20 years? they look at the creative production pre-internet and post internet within that 20 years.The data was gathered from publication showcasing teen talent starting in 1989. The Visual artwork was randomly selected as was the creative writing from publications. in this vast study they found that the complexity of work was became harder over the years, that with time young adults started to challenge norms in art and creativity and pushed the
The older age group may have more people looking to exercise their mental health and expressing their creativity.
IQ is defined as a measure of intelligence that shows the ratio of an individual’s mental age to their chronological age, this is then multiplied by 100 (Cattel 1972). Creativity cannot be measured by undertaking an IQ test, creativity is subjective and the simplest way of defining it is the ability to create original, useful and surprising new things. However, over the years pioneering research has inspired psychologists to devise tests to measure creativity. The most famous Divergent Thinking test is Guildfords Alternative Uses Task established in 1967. This test proposes that the individual involved should think of alternative uses for a common item such as a brick. This way of measuring Divergent Thinking is universally used in contemporary testing of creativity.
This paper will discuss the relationship between the aging process and key diseases associated with aging. Examples of aging-associated diseases include cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases (López-Otín, Blasco, Partridge, Serrano, & Kroemer, 2013, p. 1194). Of these, we will discuss in-depth recent studies that have linked aging with Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. These diseases affect a significant proportion of the population over the age of 65 and place a considerable burden on the American health care system. Therefore, a better understanding of how they are related to aging and each other can result in the adoption of innovative treatments and declined risk for older adults.
The scientific article, “Inspired by Distraction: Mind Wandering Facilitates Creative Incubation”, by Benjamin Baird, Jonathon Smallwood, Michael D. Mrazek, Julia W. Y. Kam, Michael S. Franklin, and Jonathon W. Schooler (2012) focuses on creative thoughts and mind wandering. The article uses the incubation paradigm, where performance is measured by a UUT (Unusual Uses Task) and if it can be aided by a demanding task or an undemanding task that boosts mind wandering.
Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence--whether much that is glorious--whether all that is profound--does not spring from disease of thought--from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect. Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night - Edgar Allen Poe
Our cognitive processes, such as how we think, remember, decide and perceive, change over time. There is a substantial difference between adult and adolescent thinking. Adult thinking differs in three ways from adolescent thinking: Practical, cognitive flexibility and dialectical thinking. Adults have more flexibility in their thought patterns, understanding that there are multiple opinions on issues, and that there is more than one way to approach a problem (Stassen Berger, 2014). Furthermore, the difference between adolescent and young adult reasoning is particularly obvious when it involves reasoning requiring the conjunction of emotion and logic.
Most people want to know precisely how diversity can improve an individual’s intelligence and productivity. There are various ideas and explanations when it comes to explaining how diversity affects an individual. It is significant to understand the positives of working with a diverse group. Authors state their opinions on the subject of exploring diversity and the overall effect it has on a particular individual. Although there are authors that agree with the fact that diversity increases creativity, the authors use a variety of methods to support their results. More opportunities are available to a person as he or she works with a diverse group. An individual is more willing to listen to intriguing and intelligent ideas when working with a diverse group. Three authors use distinctive approaches to support the theory that diversity increases creativity by way of enhanced ideas.
The age an individual feels is related to changes in characteristic ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving over time. As people aged, they become more mature and they approach thing differently and that in a way has effects their personality either positively or negatively. The aim of the study was to find out if age difference has anything to do with personality change.