An investigation of the Effects of Imagination Enhancement Materiials on the Creative Abilities of Fifth Grade Students

Problem: The purpose of this study was to determine if enhancement of children\u27s imaginations by activities in a school classroom could improve their creative abilities. The study was divided into two parts. Part one dealt with the effect of the imagination enhancement materials on the figural and verbal creativity of children as measured by the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Part two looked at the effect of the imaginative materials on children\u27s choice of reading materials and on the fantasy content of their creative writing. Procedure: The research population for this study was one fifth grade classroom consisting of 25 students, in the Grand Forks, North Dakota school district, during the 1975-76 school year. The classroom was selected with the aid of the Coordinator of Elementary Education of the School District. The teacher recommended was given the option of participation in the study. The teacher was given two preparatory sessions with the investigator prior to the beginning of the experimental period in order for him to become familiar with the materials to be used. Part one of the study was investigated in the following manner. The students were given the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking - figural form A and verbal form B as a pretest. They were then given experiences with the imagination enhancement materials for 8 weeks. This constituted the experimental period. The materials primarily were composed of records of radio programs such as The Shadow and Suspense and games from the book Put Your Mother On The Ceiling. Following this experimental period students were posttested on the same forms of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and a t test was run to determine significance. Part two of the study was performed heuristically. Each week the names of the books which were chosen from the school library were recorded and classified as to the fantasy or reality content in order to determine if any change in reading habit had occurred. Four times during the period the children\u27s creative writing was analyzed for certain fantasy factors to determine if more fantasy writing occurred in the later stages of the study. Results: 1. Imagination enhancement materials did not significantly affect verbal creativity scores. 2. Imagination enhancement materials did significantly affect figural creativity scores, especially fluency which was significant at the .001 level. 3. There was no generalized trend in the choice of reading materials of the students. 4. Creative writing showed no increase in fantasy factors. The stories, however, became longer and were written less in narrative style and more as dialogues