CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 1

Correlation in Divergent Thinking and Visual Art Curriculum

Grant L Hanson

Minnesota State University, Mankato

CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 2

Introduction

Creativity as a skill and in the school setting is not the only facet when considering the

effect of visual arts curricula. Although inventing, creating, and problem solving are all

important, we must think about some other areas in which the arts are important. Visual art

classes, whether more traditional in the art history classroom, or more exploratory such as in a

studio art class, incorporate other important skills. Some of these skills include writing, reading,

critical thinking, reflection, etc..

Some schools promote what are called 21st Century Skills. Walser (2008) defines

these as those needed to make the best use of rapidly changing technologies; the so called

soft skills that computers cant provide, like creativity. Looking at the importance of creativity

and problem solving as key pieces in this skillset, we must consider the difference between

divergent and convergent thinking.

How does a student makes connections between art and history; math and a line, shape,

and form; and how this student can synthesize the information and elaborate on the problem

solving process as the roadmap to the solution(s) presented.

Convergent thinking is that in which a pre-determined answer is the

end result. For example, answering a multiple choice question on a

standardized test is an example of how a learner would use convergent

thinking. On the contrary, divergent thinking is that in which a problem is

given and the learner looks for multiple solutions to the problem.

Meyerhoff (2008) defines these in this way: Convergent thinking is

defined as the kind of thinking that focuses on coming up with the

single, well-established answer to a problem. Divergent thinking, on

the other hand, is defined as the kind of thinking that goes beyond the
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 3

single, well-established answer and generates a wide variety of

interesting, alternative answers as well.

As our schools continue to press into the idea of our students developing 21st Century

Skills, divergent thinking should be high on their list of skills. Many lists include problem

solving, critical thinking, and synthesis to name a few. Some lists get very specific and mention

creativity and artistry. School districts should consider ways to foster these ideals through the

arts and specifically through visual art, if direct correlation between the two is shown.

A learner held in high regard for the ability to recall information and make wide-ranging

connections would be highly sought after. Not only is this leaner held in esteem in the school

setting, but is found in need across a wide spectrum of careers. The possibility of success for this

student is only increased with such a skillset.

The results of this study will provide evidence to inform the student, educator, and

administration on the importance of creativity and problem solving skills. Does visual art

curriculum improve creativity and problem solving skills in students? Is this curriculum needed?

If the results of this study inform us positively of the impact of the visual art curriculum, then it

must be considered that this curriculum is not only needed but as important as the traditional

core curriculum.
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 4

Literature Review
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 5

And yet, of all the achievements of human intellect, those of greatest social importance have

been of the inventive kind. Guilford (1953) This is a great statement about the impact of

creativity not only for the learner, but for the world. If creativity lends to inventions of such

great social importance, then we must find ways to encourage and enrich the creative process in

students.

Much work has been done to understand the process of creative thinking. Guilford

(1953) is well known for his work in this area and has much to say regarding this process and its

relationship with creativity and problem solving. His definition of creative thinking is this:

Creative thinking is the production of new mental constructs that become evident in such things

as scientific theories, novels, paintings, and musical compositions. This definition also closely

resembles that of divergent thinking.

Reese, Liang-Jei Lee, Cohen, and Puck (2001) define divergent thinking in this way:

Divergent thinking is therefore useful for solving problems that do not have a single, objectively

correct solution but rather have several potentially workable solutions whose originality or other

kind of value can be assessed. The correlation between divergent thinking and creative thinking

then is about coming up with something new, original, or unique.

In contrast, they (Reese, Liang-Jei Lee, Cohen, and Puck, 2001) conclude that convergent

thinking requires only one solution to a given problem. Although Guilford (1975) may have

disagreed with the idea of these two thinking skills being in contrast to one another, a focused

study of divergent thinking is important when considering the role of creative thinking in the

visual art curriculum and how it may be strengthened.

Art classes in particular harness and foster such creativity. Students must use creativity

to come up with solutions to problems. A student that finds their clay has dried too much must
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 6

either accept it or come up with a new way to address the problem. The relationship between

fine art and divergent thinking in this regard is interesting and has been studied various ways.

For example, Sowden, Clements, Redlich, & Lewis (2015) created a study to find the impact of

improvisational dance on divergent thinking ability. A control and improvisational group were

each given a test prior to a 10-minute dancing task and one afterward. The results from the

Instances Task showed improvement in creativity.

The assumption may be made that a visual art curriculum would have a similar benefit on

the creative process. Tests used to measure the correlation between visual art coursework and

divergent thinking skills have two primary modes: visual and semantic (Guilford, 1975). A

visual test such as Make Something Out of It asks the learner to list an innumerable amount of

objects to be made from a simple figure.

There are more current tests to discover divergent thinking ability, and one must consider

the substance of the test before use. Runco (1993) notes that the way originality is scored based

on their responses is unfair. Hence a child who gives 10 ideas, 5 of which are unique, will

probably be given a fluency score of 10 and an originality score of 5. He suggests scoring

unusual ideas rather than unique ideas. Of course, there are many other varieties of divergent

tests to consider.

Although the curriculum of visual art in production and study may produce creativity

through mere process, it is also noted that students may increase in creativity and divergent

thinking skills with the focused inclusion of meta-cognitive instruction (Kamp, Admiraal, Drie,

Rijlaarsdam, 2015). It is quite possible that when students are acutely aware of the idea of

divergent thinking before engaging in art curriculum that this could have a positive effect, though
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 7

the results from a study by Kamp, Admiraal, Drie, and Rijlaarsdam (2015) were inconclusive in

regard to originality.

A visual art curriculum, where creativity (specifically divergent thinking) is frequently in

practice, may have an impact on a learners creative thinking and problem solving ability. It is

hypothesized that creativity will be statistically different between students enrolled in visual art

classes and those not enrolled in visual art classes as measured by divergent thinking test results.

Method

Participants

Fifth grade students will be the active participants in this study. This study will use the

term participant and student interchangeably. In order to necessitate a control and experimental

group, two separate school districts will be required in the selection of students. One of the

participating schools will need to be a part of a district in which there is no visual art curriculum

in the elementary or middle school setting. This classroom will be labeled as Group A. The

second school will be in a district that includes elementary visual art. This group will be labeled

as Group B. Participants will be selected from one classroom within the fifth-grade level at both

schools. The schools will be of similar demographic, location, and population factors. An

approximate number for each classroom should be between 20-30 students. Although the study

design is specific in classroom size, location, and demographics, randomness will still be

achieved through diversity found within each classroom of age, gender, religion, etc.

Materials

Students will be tested using Guilfords Alternative Uses Task (1967). Although short

in length, this test is able to measure divergent thinking in four different categories: originality,
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 8

fluency, flexibility, and elaboration are all measurable within this test. However, as this study

focuses specifically on creativity, only fluency and originality will be measured. Fluency is the

factor by which a student derives many answers. The more answers a student replies to the

prompt, the higher the fluency score will be. Originality is measured as the number of answers

that are different from those answered by all other participants. How these factors will be

specifically measured will be addressed in the procedure section.

The Alternative Uses Task (1967) is a paper and pencil test and will be used with the

reasoning that this task is not a simple visual art test. The prompt that a student must answer

does not rely on the artistic ability of the participant, but only on their cognitive creative

function. Some other tests require the student to draw. However, this study wishes to eliminate

the barrier of aesthetic in the processing of results. This task allows for a straightforward and

streamlined approach to measurement of creativity that is balanced for both sets of participants.

Accommodations will be made for students on IEPs or other plans that require modification for

testing.

Procedure

Students in both groups will be given two tests (see Appendix A and B for tests). The

first test (control) will be proctored at the beginning of the school year. This will serve as the

dependent variable for each group. Group B will need to have the task administered before any

visual art classes have been taken. Participants will not be given an explanation of the test or

reasoning for participating aside from information that the students results will be measured and

used in a scientific study to be revealed at the end of the school year. This is to eliminate the

possibility of metacognitive factors on test results (Kamp, Admiraal, Drie, Rijlaarsdam, 2015).
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 9

Since minors will be involved, a consent form will be completed before taking this test (see

Appendix C).

Students in both groups will be given identical explicit instructions. The classroom

teacher will proctor and read the following for each test: Students, you are to complete this test

to the best of your ability. Please read all directions and answer the question as completely as

possible. You will have as much time as you need to complete this test. Please let me know

when you are finished and I will collect the test. Each participant will be given a letter and/or

number. The letters will be assigned alphabetically to each student and documented for accuracy

of the second test. Classrooms with more than 26 students will assign a letter with the addition

of a number beginning with 1 and continuing as necessary until all students have been assigned a

number and/or letter. Example: A1, B2, C3.

Upon completion, the test will be collected and mailed to the research author. Within the

final two weeks of the school year, the classroom teacher will administer a second version of the

task with the same explicit instructions. The two versions of the test will not be identical. An

accurate measurement is not based on the response to the particular version, but in fact shows

evidence of creative thinking in both fluency and originality. Duplication of the test question

might inhibit originality, as some students may remember previous answers given at the

beginning of the year. The second test will also be collected and mailed to the research author.

Student responses will be scored and input as data. Results of the data will then be

compared and contrasted to determine both fluency and originality for each participant.

Originality is measured as the number of individual answers that are unique to the sum of all

answers in the participating group. Originality will be measured for each student, totaled, and
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 10

then averaged for each classroom. Comparison and contrast between averages for both groups

will drive any conclusions upon completion of the study.

In order to calculate for the problem that presents itself when measuring both fluency

and originality, a calculation will be used for a corrected version of originality. For example,

higher numbers of fluency could correlate with higher numbers of originality. The calculation

used to correct this will be (originality=originality/fluency). This will give a more accurate

representation of originality.
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 11

References

Guilford, J. P. (1953). Some recent findings on thinking abilities and their implications.

NASSP Bulletin, 37(197), 1-13. doi:10.1177/019263655303719701

Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Guilford, J. P. (1975). Varieties of Creative Giftedness, Their Measurement and

Development. Gifted Child Quarterly, 19(2), 107-121.

Kamp, M., Admiraal, W., Drie, J., & Rijlaarsdam, G. (2015). Enhancing Divergent

Thinking in Visual Arts Education: Effects of Explicit Instruction of Metacognition.

British Journal of Educational Psychology, 85(1), 47-58. doi:10.1111/bjep.12061

Meyerhoff, M. K. (2008). Convergent versus divergent thinking. (Perspectives on parenting)

Pediatrics for Parents, Inc.

Reese, H. W., Lee, L., Cohen, S. H., & Puckett, J. M. (2001). Effects of intellectual variables,

age, and gender on divergent thinking in adulthood. International Journal of Behavioral

Development, 25(6), 491-500. doi:10.1080/01650250042000483

Runco, M. A. (1993). Divergent Thinking, Creativity, and Giftedness. Gifted Child

Quarterly, 37(1), 16-22. doi:10.1177/001698629303700103

CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 12

Sowden, P. T., Clements, L., Redlich, C., & Lewis, C. (2015). Improvisation Facilitates

Divergent Thinking and Creativity: Realizing a Benefit of Primary School Arts

Education. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 9(2), 128-138.

doi:10.1037/aca0000018

Walser, N. (2008, September/October). Teaching 21st century skills: What Does it Look Like to

Practice? Harvard Education Letter, 24[5], 1-3

CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 13

Appendix A

Guilfords Alternative Uses Task (1967)

Participant Letter (and number): _______

Answer the question as completely as possible. You will have as much time as you need to
complete this test. Please let the instructor know when you are finished and they will collect the
test.

List all of the uses for a brick:

CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 14

Appendix B

Guilfords Alternative Uses Task (1967)

Participant Letter (and number): _______

Answer the question as completely as possible. You will have as much time as you need to
complete this test. Please let the instructor know when you are finished and they will collect the
test.

List all of the uses for a paperclip:

CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 15

Appendix C

Parental Permission for Child Participation in Research

Title: Visual Art Curriculum (abridged to maintain reliability) Research Study

Introduction
The purpose of this form is to provide the parent/guardian of the participant information
regarding an upcoming study in your childs classroom. You may choose to have your child
participate in this research study. If you have any questions regarding the content or
administration of this study, please contact the review board listed at the bottom of this form.

Purpose of the study

This test measures specific cognitive processes with the administration of two similar tests. One
of these tests will be administered at the beginning of the school year. The second test will be
administered at the end of the school year.

What will my child be asked to do?

Students will be taking two tests called the Alternative Uses Task (Guilford, 1967). These
tests consist of one question each and ask the participant to answer the question to the best of
their ability as comprehensively as possible.

What is this test measuring?

Please do not share with your child the content of this task. In order to maintain reliability for
this study, the participants must not be informed of the content of the task before taking the test.

What if my child does not finish the school year at this school?
Should your child switch schools during the school year, your child will not be required to
complete the second task, and the first test taken will be discarded.

Are there any risks involved in this study?

There are no foreseeable risks to participating in this study.

My child has a documented need for accommodation. Will this be addressed in this study?
Any accommodations will be met for any student with adequate documentation. The classroom
teacher will arrange for accommodation prior to the administration of the test. Accommodations
will not affect the scores of this test.

Will my childs privacy and confidentiality be protected if s/he

participates?
Yes. This study is not interested in individual data points apart from those
being measured. Participants will not be asked for gender, age, race,
religion, or any other identifying factors.
CORRELATION IN DIVERGENT THINKING AND VISUAL ART 16

Signature
The signature below indicates that you have read all of the information
above and have decided to allow your child to participate in the study. You
may withdraw permission for your child to participate later in the study at
any time. A copy of this document will be provided to you.

________________________________________
Printed Name of Child

________________________________________
_______________________
Signature of Parent(s) or Legal Guardian Date

________________________________________
_______________________
Signature of Investigator Date

References

Guilford, J. P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. New York: McGraw-Hill.