Creative thought requires planning to support the refinement and successful implementation of new ideas. In this study, 174 people were given training intended to provide more effective strategies for executing two key skills held to be involved in implementation planning-penetration (e.g., identification of key causes) and forecasting. The quality and originality of the plans obtained on a transfer task, involving implementation of a new educational curriculum, were assessed. It was found that training forecasting strategies and penetration strategies proved particularly beneficial for creative people, as defined by scores of divergent thinking tests. The implications of these findings for understanding the role of planning in creative thought are discussed.
The generation of new ideas is a complex demanding activity involving multiple processing operations. As is the case in other forms of complex cognition, biases in process execution can induce errors that limit peoples' ability to generate viable new ideas. In the present effort, the nature of these biases, and their impact on creative thought, are examined. It is noted that these biases arise from multiple sources including knowledge, limitations in processing capacity, patterns of information use, and the strategies applied in process execution. The implications of these observations for enhancing creative performance are discussed along with potential strategies for error remediation.
Although integrity tests are widely applied in screening job applicants, there is a need for research for examining the construct validity of these tests. In the present study, a theoretical model examining the causes of destructive behavior in organizational settings was used to develop background data measures of individual and situational variables that might be related to integrity test scores. Subsequently, 692 undergraduates were asked to complete these background data scales along with (a) two overt integrity tests ± the Reid Report and the Personnel Selection Inventory, and (b) two personality-based measures ± the delinquency and socialization scales of the California Psychological Inventory. When scores of these measures were correlated with and regressed on the background data scales, it was found that relevant individual variables, such as narcissism and power motives, and relevant situational variables, such as alienation and exposure to negative peer groups, were related to scores on both types of integrity tests. However, a stronger pattern of validity evidence was obtained for the personality-based measures and, in all cases, situational variables were found to be better predictors than individual variables. The implications of these findings for the validity of inferences drawn from overt and personality-based integrity tests are discussed.
Leading creative people is particularly challenging. Leaders of creative people must have the expertise and skill set required for creative endeavors to understand and communicate with this specific group of people. Yet, to lead, they must also have additional skills that often contradict the first set of skills. An integrative literature review was conducted to identify what responsibilities and skills are needed from these leaders, what types of experiential development could best develop them, and specific strategies that Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals might employ to develop leaders for sustained innovation in their organizations. HRD professionals are asked to perform a particularly challenging feat by developing these unique leaders of innovative efforts. HRD professionals, or scholars and practitioners engaged in training or leader development may find interest in this article.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.