Think about what you naturally excelled at in school, the hobbies you love now or loved when you were younger, and the things that light you up. Paek S. H., Abdulla A. M., Cramond B. government site. The other measure White used that differs from most past studies is called the FourSight Thinking Profile, developed by Gerard Puccio in 2002. Creativity research: past, present and future. The final model explained 10% of variance, with verbal IQ as the only significant, positive predictor of TTCT-Figural elaboration. Several multiple regression models were tested to conceptually replicate those of Taylor et al. Hierarchical regression models of B-DEFS and IQ as predictors of TTCT-Figural components. Stavro G. M., Ettenhofer M. L., Nigg J. T. (2007). It is clear these so called 'disorders' are in fact 'differences' that, seen in the new and clearer light of the social model, make . Silverstein M. J., Faraone S. V., Leon T. L., Biederman J., Spencer T. J., Adler L. A. , Bridging the gaps between engineering education and practice. Now that you understand what makes you unique and the importance of honoring and caring for yourself, consider ways to capitalize on your strengths on a daily basis. At age six, he had to see how fire worked and accidentally burned his fathers barn to the ground. Pers Individ Dif 2006; 40: 1121-1131. In brief, the authors suggested that a focused research agenda would improve understanding of the link between ADHD and creativity. Although the current study fills important gaps in our understanding of how ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties, divergent thinking, and academic performance relate to one another, there are several limitations that can be addressed in future research. This RSA Animate was adapted from a talk given at the RSA by Sir Ken Robinson, world-renowned education and creativity expert and recipient of the RSA's Benj. The purpose of this study was 2-fold. ADHD characteristics did not predict fluency, titles, or resistance to closure, either alone or after including IQ, and elaboration was significantly predicted by verbal IQ only. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies The dictionary defines it as 'tending to be different or develop in different directions'. Creat Res J 2016; 28: 275-282. In addition, total TTCT scores were created for each form by averaging the scores for each corresponding dimension (after z-transformation based on the sample, to account for differing rating scales). This is consistent with Taylor et al.s (2020a) finding that scores on the activation subscale of the Brown ADD Scales (Brown, 1996a), which indicates difficulties related to time management (e.g., difficulties with procrastinating, organizing and prioritizing tasks, and estimating time), positively predicted originality on the TTCT-Figural. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to better understand the relationship between ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties, divergent thinking, and academic performance by conceptually replicating and expanding on a recent study (Taylor et al., 2020b) that found that ADHD characteristics negatively predicted major grade point average (GPA) and positively predicted figural divergent thinking in engineering students. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a deviation from the norm, making it non-neurotypical. *Search queries included: 1. Bivariate correlations among the variables (Table 2) were calculated excluding data for two outliers on the B-DEFS total scale and one outlier each on verbal IQ, non-verbal IQ, B-DEFS time, B-DEFS organization, B-DEFS self-restraint, B-DEFS motivation, B-DEFS emotional regulation, and TTCT-Figural originality. A meta-analysis of the relationship between three common psychopathologiesADHD, anxiety, and depressionand indicators of little-c creativity. Not surprisingly, given the strength of the correlations between fluency, originality, and flexibility on the TTCT-Verbal, results for models predicting these scores using the same predictors were nearly identical. Journaling is a great way to encourage self-analysis and help students think through many solutions to a question. It is a controversial presentation as it puts into question the Plague of ADHD. Although it has been frequently suggested that the relationship between ADHD characteristics and divergent thinking may be strengthened by accounting for IQ (e.g., Boot et al., 2017; Taylor et al., 2020a), IQ has rarely been assessed in studies examining this relationship (though see Taylor and Zaghi, 2021). The TTCT-Verbal test contains five activities that ask participants to provide a written response, such as providing as many creative uses for a cardboard box as possible, within a given time limit (ranging from 5 to 10 min). It is often used in conjunction with its cognitive opposite, convergent. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Participants completed the study in a private office across four 30-to-60-min sessions on different days. However, an article in ADDitude Magazine 4 reveals that he also knew he was destined for greater things: I knew I had strengths that other people didnt have, and my parents reminded me of them when my teachers didnt see them, says Neeleman. However, whereas B-DEFS time was a positive predictor, and B-DEFS motivation a negative predictor, in the final model for TTCT-Figural originality scores, verbal IQ was the only significant predictor in the final model for TTCT-Elaboration scores. The results of our conceptual replication of Taylor et al. attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, executive functioning, divergent thinking, academic performance, GPA. J Child Psychiatry 2020; Epub ahead of print, Kok FM et al. The site uses cookies to provide you with a more responsive and personalised service. Although the book is not about ADHD, the traits of a divergent thinker, or Dreamers, Discoverers and Dynamos as featured in Palladinos book, are so close to that of someone with ADHD you could be forgiven for thinking they were the same. Additionally, in terms of neuroimaging studies, there was only indirect evidence of overlap between brain regions (prefrontal cortex, striatum, amygdala) and brain networks (default mode network and executive function network) involved in ADHD and creativity. Fixation effect in creative ideas generation: opposite impacts of example in children and adults. Sometimes love, patience, and acceptance are needed to soothe the other.". Are you an extrovert who spends most of the day in front of a computer? There were numerous limitations of this study, which included the scarcity of evidence pertaining to the possible link between ADHD and creativity. Second, we sought to better understand the role of IQ in the relationship between ADHD characteristics or executive functioning difficulties and divergent thinking. Kessler R. C., Adler L., Ames M., Demler O., Faraone S., Hiripi E., et al. Although convergent thinking, narrowing down ideas and solutions by discarding inappropriate or less desirable ones, also plays a role, divergent thinking ability is critical for solving novel problems (Guilford, 1987). This procedure is unorganized and yields unexpected connections. Bivariate correlations were analyzed using Pearson correlations ( = 0.05) with pair-wise deletion excluding data for univariate outliers (>3.5 SD from the mean). The boy described was Thomas Edison, the divergent, incredible mind that provided us with electricity and sound recording. A previous meta-analysis that investigated psychopathology and creativity showed a possible negative association between ADHD and creativity (Paek et al, 2016). Based on the results of Taylor et al. Milioni A. L. V., Chaim T. M., Cavallet M., de Oliveira N. M., Annes M., dos Santos B., et al. Thinking divergently, or divergent thinking is an unstructured, free-form way of problem solving in which participants produce many innovative ideas or solutions to a pressing problem. Executive functioning and olfactory identification in young adults with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. If there was a lesson involving music that is where the teacher would find him. Changing Education Paradigms 3 has inspired a plethora of educators since its inception. The aim of the current study was to understand the link between ADHD and creativity using a systematic review. Learn more White and her colleagues wanted to address exactly that in their new research: Does ADHD really have the holy grail of upsides? Although ASRS scores did not predict originality either alone or after controlling for IQ, B-DEFS scores did significantly predict originality scores both alone and after controlling for IQ. 1. All rights reserved. I define creativity as the process of having original ideas that have value. It is literally how our brains are wired. The models for TTCT-Verbal fluency, originality, and flexibility (after removing one outlying case: std. The performing arts in particular were their forte. Responses on the TTCT-Figural are rated on five dimensions: fluency (total number of responses), originality (infrequency of responses), elaboration (detail of responses), resistance to premature closure (lack of constraint of responses), and titles (abstractness of the title provided for responses). Creativity is a slippery term, of course, often falling under the category of we know it when we see it. That definition is not good enough for proper science, however, and in recent years, standardized tests that measure creativity have focused on divergent and convergent thinking. Lancet Psychiatry 2020; 7: 955-970, Anand NS et al. Creativity and academic achievement: a meta-analysis. This is done with little criticism and judgment to discover unexpected connections. One notable thing about the FourSight Thinking Profile is that it does not measure ability but preferences. White HA, Shah P. Uninhibited imaginations: creativity in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. (2020b) that addresses these limitations by: (1) including a larger sample of participants; (2) ensuring better validity of the measure of ADHD characteristics (i.e., obscuring the purpose of the study and ADHD characteristics); (3) assessing both figural and verbal divergent thinking; (4) using more widely used measures of ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties; and (5) measuring verbal (i.e., crystallized) and non-verbal (i.e., fluid) intelligence. Three aspects of creative cognition are divergent thinking, conceptual expansion and overcoming knowledge. Adults living with ADHD tackle impulsivity, forgetfulness, distractibility and time management difficulties daily which may lead to negative performance in . 1653854. CT performed the statistical analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Although a diagnostic interview is necessary for a clinical diagnosis of ADHD, self-report screening measures developed for use in the community and workplace (e.g., Kessler et al., 2005; Barkley, 2011; Ustun et al., 2017) are frequently used in psychological research to understand how ADHD characteristics vary with other constructs. Psychologist Nina Lieberman's research in the very interesting book Playfulness: Its Relationship to Imagination and Creativity has something very relevant to add to this discussion.Divergent thinking goes hand-in-hand with joy, optimism, and inner well-being. Rabin L. A., Fogel J., Nutter-Upham K. E. (2011). Thus, although the relationship between clinically diagnosed ADHD and divergent thinking remains uncertain, studies more consistently show that higher (compared to lower) self-reported ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties are associated with better performance on divergent thinking tasks in adults (see Hoogman et al., 2020). Impact of psychometrically defined deficits of executive functioning in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Creative Advantage of ADHD in the Workplace. Participants age ranged from 18 to 33 years (M = 19.89, SD = 1.86), and their grade level classification was distributed as follows: 32 sophomores, 49 juniors, and 118 seniors. Psychological and academic functioning in college students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There is evidence that, because the primary characteristics of ADHD are distributed in the population, ADHD is best conceptualized as the extreme end of a dimension (as opposed to categorical; e.g., Lubke et al., 2009; Heidbreder, 2015; Brown and Casey, 2016). Divergent thinking is process of considering several answers for problems. The Creative Process. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 118: 282289, zgen H et al. She has previously written for The New York Sun and ABC News. Brainstorming: An individual or group writes down as many ideas (no matter how crazy they seem) as possible . Results: Verbal SAT scores were the only . Students with ADHD have poorer academic outcomes in general than students without ADHD (Frazier et al., 2007; Dupaul et al., 2009; Dipeolu, 2011). . High IQ May Mask the diagnosis of ADHD by compensating for deficits in executive functions in treatment-nave adults with ADHD. These classifications, however, barely begin to capture what we mean when we talk about creativity. ADHD, she says, tends to just increase the amount of collisions between all of your ideas, so at any given time, you have more potential processes being activated and youre less likely to rule out any options. Procrastination as evidence of executive functioning impairment in college students. The new PMC design is here! . Divergent thinking is the ability to think of many ideas from a single starting point. 14 Neurodivergent Parenting Tips for ADHD Families. This is also related to divergent thinking, which is about fully exploring ideas, creating unexpected connections, and spontaneity. Systematic search of convergent thinking (a collection of related cognitive processes in the context of problem solving) provided a final selection of six studies. But slowing down is, in fact, essential for the ADHD brain. Dr. Holly White, then at the University of Memphis, and her colleague, Priti Shah of the University of Michigan, set out to find out how much truth there was to the supposed link, and discovered that their subjects with ADHD showed marked differences both in their creative abilities and their approaches to creative problem solving. This material is based upon the work supported by the Division of Engineering Education and Centers of National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. The first model, wherein all predictors were entered into the model simultaneously, was statistically significant, predicting 10% of the variability in engineering GPA. Research shows that ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties are also associated with poorer academic outcomes in the general (i.e., non-clinical) student population (Petersen et al., 2006; Norwalk et al., 2009; Knouse et al., 2014; Munro et al., 2017). It counteracts impulsivity, forces you to pause, and gives you time to process. If you have always thought of your ADHD as a deficit, then why would you ever celebrate your strengths? Kaufman JC (Ed. ADHD OR attention deficit hyperactivity disorder AND convergent thinking; 3. In contrast, participants showed a significant decline in divergent thinking across non-drug conditions. Results and coefficients for all models predicting TTCT-Figural scores are shown in Table 5. Scores for each dimension are obtained by summing the items corresponding to each. Therefore, we also examined whether relationships between components of the B-DEFS or dimensions of the ASRS and components of the verbal and figural TTCT were strengthened after controlling for IQ. The world health organization adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder self-report screening scale for DSM-5. residual = 3.30 and 3.30) were not statistically significant for ASRS components alone (step 1) but were significant after adding verbal and non-verbal IQ (step 2). This skill is about thinking outside of the prescribed requirements. The study focused on the challenge of connecting nine dots using four straight lines. 1 Department of Human Genetics, Radboud University Medical Center, P.O. Behavior is not intentional.". Taken together, these results support previous conclusions that students with ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties may struggle academically yet exhibit select enhanced divergent thinking abilities. The person that was critiquing their argument was in "convergent thinking" mode. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is characterized by a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivityimpulsivity that impacts ones daily life (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; World Health Organization, 2022). These characteristics and executive functioning difficulties correspond with poorer academic outcomes for college students, even in cases where students do not meet the diagnostic criteria for ADHD (Biederman et al., 2006; Petersen et al., 2006; Norwalk et al., 2009; Munro et al., 2017). OC372755), https://www.lexico.com/definition/divergent, https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckswoboda/2020/08/03/why-thinking-outside-the-box-is-the-wrong-way-to-approach-innovation/?sh=e1ed546461bb, https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms, https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-entrepreneur-stories-jetblue-kinkos-jupitermedia/. Understanding both the challenges and strengths of students with ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties is necessary to create a more holistic view of learners and provide insights into how we can best support students that may not fit into the standard definition of normal cognitive functioning. Following completion of the study, cumulative engineering GPA was provided by the universitys Office of the Registrar. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Although White did not find statistically significant differences here, she definitely noticed the trend. Dehili V. M., Prevatt F., Coffman T. P. (2017). Their ability to be a divergent thinker diminished with age or, as Sir Ken espouses, as they were educated. Recent studies show that individuals with ADHD have a higher likelihood of thinking much more creatively than those without. ADHD and achievement: meta-analysis of the child. 8600 Rockville Pike Compare convergent thinking. Divergent thinking and your mood. Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. A meta-analysis of the relationship between three common psychopathologiesADHD, anxiety, and depressionand indicators of little-c creativity. (2020b), scores on the TTCT-Figural positively predicted GPA along with non-verbal IQ. Findings were mixed for research with adults, with some studies showing higher divergent thinking with ADHD and other studies not finding differences between adults with and without ADHD. First, the sample size was relatively small, making the meaning of non-significant results ambiguous. Eur Addict Res 2020; 26: 223-232, Morkem R et al. An analysis of the barkley deficits in executive functioning scale in a college population: does it predict symptoms of ADHD better than a visual-search task? Chaos. She also describes the qualities of a creative mind: A child with the Edison trait makes sudden, astonishing connections. Scoring divergent thinking tests: a review and systematic framework. Divergent thinkers are often independent, curious and risk-takers. Int J Methods Psychiatr Res 2020; 29: 1-14, Hoogman M et al. These five quick and simple tips will help you move towards divergent thinking in the classroom. Rigler T., Manor I., Kalansky A., Shorer Z., Noyman I., Sadaka Y. Zabelina D. L., Condon D., Beeman M. (2014). Nine items on the scale reflect the inattentive dimension of ADHD, such as forgetting appointments and obligations, and nine items reflect the hyperactive/impulsive dimension, such as interrupting when others are speaking. Our current education system works on the premise that students should learn convergently, where the learning and activities are structured and organised, and routines are rewarded. Maybe you can incorporate more meetings or collaboration into your role. Is My Teenage Son Hyperactive or Is This Normal? Instead of calling yourself careless with details, consider how your focus on big ideas has led to creative solutions. Expanding the boundaries is a . Data for one student who did not complete the IQ test were excluded from analyses involving IQ scores. The current study was conducted to better understand the relationship between ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties, divergent thinking, and academic performance. First, adults with ADHD who have a high intelligence quotient (IQ) may not demonstrate impairments on laboratory tests of executive functioning (Biederman et al., 2008; Milioni et al., 2017). (2009). J Adol Health 2020; 67: 769-777, Kim JH et al. DIVERGENT THINKING: "Divergent thinking is a form of creative thinking." Related Psychology Terms. Psychology Today 2022 Sussex Publishers, LLC, 12 Ways Noticing Your Feelings Can Improve Your Life, 4 Questions to Ask for Better Conversations, 10 Unspoken Rules of Dysfunctional Families. Taylor et al. Many people with ADHD resign themselves to feeling inadequate, assuming they will always have to work twice as hard as those with neurotypical brains. There were no case-controlled studies of children with a formal diagnosis of ADHD using creative ability or achievement measures identified by the authors in their systematic search. Characteristics of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and executive functioning difficulties have been found to correspond with poorer academic outcomes on the one hand and enhanced divergent thinking on the other hand. She found no difference between her groups for the Implementer. AZ managed the data collection. Kamradt J. M., Nikolas M. A., Burns G. L., Garner A. Tap into that and the other traits that make you who you are. Bivariate correlations for all variables included in the analyses. (2020b) demonstrated that ADHD characteristics can predict figural divergent thinking scores in engineering students, yet negatively predict engineering GPA. Validity of pilot adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) to rate adult ADHD symptoms. The authors stated this rating was mainly due to two large population-based studies that had suboptimal creativity assessments. In the current study, responses on both modalities of the TTCT (both Form A), scored by three trained and certified raters at Scholastic Testing Services (STS), demonstrated strong inter-rater reliability, according to Cronbachs : TTCT-Verbal (fluency = 1.00, originality = 1.00, flexibility = 0.98) and TTCT-Figural (fluency = 0.99, originality = 0.99, elaboration = 0.98, resistance to premature closure = 1.00, and titles = 0.99). Descriptive statistics for all variables are shown in Table 1. We are creating a divergent thinking friendly society from the ground up to empower the world's most creative minds. Years of feeling inadequate can lead to a constant sense of urgency. Casey Schwartz is a graduate of Brown University and has a master's in psychodynamic neuroscience from University College London. Eventually, his mother had to home-school him. According to the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, 4-6% of American adults live with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) . 1. Are you naturally creative but spend your day following established protocols? Although the relevance of these results for students in other academic fields requires further study, engineering students who struggle academically due to executive functioning difficulties associated with ADHD may benefit from focusing on their strengths related to figural divergent thinking. Results align with previous research showing that executive functioning difficulties are associated with poorer engineering GPA. 1Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Universit catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States. Emily (34) is the parent of a child who has ADHD. N., Sam M.S. This is consistent with evidence that different modalities of divergent thinking draw on different abilities and skills (Clapham, 2011; Barbot, 2018). Advantages of using divergent thinking Discover short videos related to divergent thinking on TikTok. Consistent with Hypothesis 1, the model predicting GPA from executive functioning difficulties, divergent thinking, and IQ was significant, with scores on the B-DEFS negatively predicting GPA. See if there might be opportunities to problem-solve or brainstorm. Convergent thinking, on. It differs from convergent thinking, which is the process of coming up with a single best solution. A convergent and a divergent thinking task were employed, both of which were presented in two experimental conditions involving either low or high internal processing demands (2 2-within-subject design). The models for TTCT-Verbal fluency, originality, and flexibility (after removing two outlying cases: std. Knouse L. E., Feldman G., Blevins E. J. Because adults with ADHD have deficits in inhibition (e.g., Nigg, 2000, White and Marks, 2004), these individuals were expected to be more creative than non-ADHD on tasks of divergent thinking, but less creative than . However, two of the studies did show enhanced divergent thinking in children with ADHD, but these studies were investigating elaboration which is a different feature of divergent thinking. As for why exactly her subjects with ADHD showed such marked differences in their creative abilities and their approaches to creative problem solving, White zeroes in on the question of inhibition. 20. Understanding the importance of graduate admissions criteria according to prospective graduate students. However, four studies were found that included adults with ADHD (formally diagnosed or self-reported), three of the studies noted that adults with either a formal diagnosis of ADHD or self-reported ADHD symptoms had a higher rate of creative achievements compared with adults without ADHD in daily life. However, studies more consistently found divergent thinking ability to be positively associated with self-reported ADHD characteristics and executive functioning difficulties in non-clinical samples (Zabelina et al., 2014; Boot et al., 2017; Hoogman et al., 2020; Taylor et al., 2020a,b). Divergent. The models for TTCT-Figural originality (for which two outlying cases were removed: std. ADHD and Divergent Thinking, any personal experiences? Three facets of creative thinking are divergent thinking, conceptual expansion, and overcoming knowledge constraints. A common divergent thinking assessment is the alternate use task - which is where participants are asked to find novel uses for common objects [3]. The World Health Organization Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS): a short screening scale for use in the general population. Understanding this relationship may be particularly important for engineering because the structure of post-secondary engineering education differs from that of other fields in ways that may make it more demanding for those with executive functioning difficulties (Veenstra et al., 2009). (2020a) in finding that figural divergent thinking originality relates to select inattentive characteristics. The case for the development and use of ecologically valid measures of executive function in experimental and clinical neuropsychology. The subset of folks who have ADHD who are there have been able already to exceed a bunch of hurdles.. (2020a) found that components of executive functioning difficulties related to ADHD (i.e., activation, affect, attention, effort, and memory; T. E. Brown, 1996b) predicted different facets of divergent thinking in unique ways. To determine whether the discrepancy in these results is due to the use of different self-reported executive functioning scales, future studies could administer the Brown ADD scales along with the B-DEFS. The standardised tests were problematic and challenging. Emilys son is a prime example of No Box Thinking. Instead of labeling yourself shy, consider how your reserved thoughtfulness helps you develop deep and meaningful connections. A., Jarrett M. A., Luebbe A. M., et al. Any opinions, findings, and conclusion or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. But they were quickly getting shot down. J Atten Disord 2020; Epub ahead of print, Youre now being transferred toand are leaving the ADHD Institute site. Reiter-Palmon R., Forthmann B., Barbot B. Divergent and convergent thinking, and the standardized tests that measure them, are well-suited to a laboratory setting; how well they translate to the real world is another matter. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 2020; 35: 300-304, Grimmsmann T, Himmel W. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 2021; 77: 107-115, Monopoli WJ et al. Both authors contributed to manuscript revision and read and approved the submitted version.