Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood
Childhood is a pinnacle of both creativity and curiosity, and although these constructs theoretically overlap, few studies have probed whether they are directly related in childhood or driven by similar cognitive and emotional processes. Across two online Zoom sessions, 36 3- to 6 year-olds complete...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Creativity |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2713374524000165 |
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| author | Julie Vaisarova Lezxandra Saguid Anne S. Kupfer Helena S. Goldbaum Kelsey Lucca |
| author_facet | Julie Vaisarova Lezxandra Saguid Anne S. Kupfer Helena S. Goldbaum Kelsey Lucca |
| author_sort | Julie Vaisarova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Childhood is a pinnacle of both creativity and curiosity, and although these constructs theoretically overlap, few studies have probed whether they are directly related in childhood or driven by similar cognitive and emotional processes. Across two online Zoom sessions, 36 3- to 6 year-olds completed six tasks measuring diverse manifestations of curiosity and creativity, as well as tasks assessing vocabulary, self-esteem, and executive function. Caregivers also completed questionnaires regarding their children's curiosity. Only two significant, positive correlations were found between indices of creativity and curiosity: between originality of ideas (creativity) and breadth of exploration (curiosity), and between creativity on a production-based task and parent-reported breadth of exploration (curiosity). Further, the two constructs were predicted by different child characteristics. Age was the main predictor of creativity; originality of children's ideas in two divergent thinking tasks decreased with age, while fluency and holistic ratings of production-based tasks increased. Self-esteem, in turn, was the strongest predictor of curiosity, correlating positively with several subtypes of parent-reported curiosity. The results of this exploratory study suggest creativity and curiosity may not be as closely linked in childhood as some have proposed, and that pinpointing their relations will require careful attention to the individual components and expressions of each construct. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1e08b229f87d4338bacb633f57b142fb |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2713-3745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Creativity |
| spelling | doaj-art-1e08b229f87d4338bacb633f57b142fb2025-08-20T02:35:56ZengElsevierJournal of Creativity2713-37452024-12-0134310009010.1016/j.yjoc.2024.100090Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhoodJulie Vaisarova0Lezxandra Saguid1Anne S. Kupfer2Helena S. Goldbaum3Kelsey Lucca4Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287, USADepartment of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287, USADepartment of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287, USADepartment of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287, USACorresponding author.; Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, 950 S. McAllister Ave, Tempe, AZ 85287, USAChildhood is a pinnacle of both creativity and curiosity, and although these constructs theoretically overlap, few studies have probed whether they are directly related in childhood or driven by similar cognitive and emotional processes. Across two online Zoom sessions, 36 3- to 6 year-olds completed six tasks measuring diverse manifestations of curiosity and creativity, as well as tasks assessing vocabulary, self-esteem, and executive function. Caregivers also completed questionnaires regarding their children's curiosity. Only two significant, positive correlations were found between indices of creativity and curiosity: between originality of ideas (creativity) and breadth of exploration (curiosity), and between creativity on a production-based task and parent-reported breadth of exploration (curiosity). Further, the two constructs were predicted by different child characteristics. Age was the main predictor of creativity; originality of children's ideas in two divergent thinking tasks decreased with age, while fluency and holistic ratings of production-based tasks increased. Self-esteem, in turn, was the strongest predictor of curiosity, correlating positively with several subtypes of parent-reported curiosity. The results of this exploratory study suggest creativity and curiosity may not be as closely linked in childhood as some have proposed, and that pinpointing their relations will require careful attention to the individual components and expressions of each construct.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2713374524000165CreativityCuriosityEarly childhoodMeasurementChild developmentCognitive development |
| spellingShingle | Julie Vaisarova Lezxandra Saguid Anne S. Kupfer Helena S. Goldbaum Kelsey Lucca Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood Journal of Creativity Creativity Curiosity Early childhood Measurement Child development Cognitive development |
| title | Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood |
| title_full | Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood |
| title_short | Exploring the creativity-curiosity link in early childhood |
| title_sort | exploring the creativity curiosity link in early childhood |
| topic | Creativity Curiosity Early childhood Measurement Child development Cognitive development |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2713374524000165 |
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