Preschoolers’ Language Ability, Cognitive Ability, and Peer Relationships by Creative Thinking Group

Abstract

This study explored the creative thinking styles of children according to cluster analyses and examined group differences in language ability, cognitive ability, and peer relationships. Methods: The study used the data from the 2012 Panel Study of Korean Children by the Korea Institute of Child Care and Education. The participants comprised 1,681 4-year-olds. Data were analyzed via cluster analyses, χ 2 distributions, and ANOVA tests. Results and Conclusion: The results from the cluster analyses based on percentiles of the subfactors of K-FCTYC (Korean Figural Creativity Test for Young Children) indicated four clusters: "divergent creative with openness," "non-creative," "divergent creative," and "multiple creative." Additionally, the four clusters differed by gender, language ability, cognitive ability, and peer relationships.