The Association between functional-emotional development and creative thinking in preschool children

Introduction: Considering that creativity is essential to adapt to today's complex world, identification of the affecting factors on the development of this way of thinking is one of the necessities of research area. Hence, the aim of present research is to investigate the relationship between emotional-functional development as a potential effective factor and the formation of creative thinking. Methods: 80 children and their mothers were selected from preschools of Mashhad City based on cluster sampling method. The level of creativity among children was measured through Torrance Test of Critical Thinking (TTCT: visual B-form). The mothers of children in sample group answered the Greenspan Social- Emotional Growth Chart. Results: Data analysis showed a significantly positive association between functional-emotional development and aspects of fluidity, expansion and innovation in two groups of male and female preschool children as verified in creativity test. The results of simple linear regression analysis also showed that functional-emotional development can predict 0.05 percent of variance in creativity. Based on the results of t-test for independent groups, there was no significant difference in the level of functional-emotional development and creative thinking among male and female preschool students. Conclusion: The findings of present study supports the theory of Greenspan (1997) regarding the significance of functional-emotional development in integrated development of human kind and emergence of higher levels of thinking. Declaration of Interest: None.