ADT Final Report: Alternatives to Detention, Douglas County

About the Report The authors of this report are Madison Schoenbeck, Joseph Mroz, Dr. Joseph Allen, Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon, and Dr. Ryan Spohn. This report includes a variety of new data sources, including interviews with service providers, a focus group with Douglas County intake officers, and a stakeholder survey distributed across Douglas County. Data for this report was collected between May 9, 2016 and November 15, 2017 unless otherwise specified. Funding for this evaluation was generously provided by Douglas County, NE and The Sherwood Foundation, in contract with UNO’s Nebraska Center for Justice Research

Effects of Training Novice Raters in Creativity

One problem that creativity researchers face while studying creativity is how to accurately measure the construct. The construct of creativity is most commonly described as products or ideas that are of both high quality and originality. There are many different levels or degrees to which ideas or products can be of high quality and originality, but the Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT), developed by Teresa Amabile, is widely accepted as the best measure of creativity. The CAT uses expert raters for creativity research because they yield high interrater reliability and are the best judges of quality and originality within their domain. One problem with the CAT method is in finding and retaining experts to conduct the ratings, which can often be time consuming and expensive. This is why many creativity researchers often rely upon novices, or non-expert raters, to analyze and rate the creativity of solutions. The purpose of this study was to determine the training conditions necessary to optimize novice creativity ratings to be more similar and consistent to the ratings of experts. Utilizing electronic methods, we trained novice raters for both quality and originality using multiple rubrics ranging in quality, while also manipulating whether or not their training included practice ratings with feedback or not. Results showed that practice ratings and detailed rubrics increased the accuracy of ratings done by participants. Interestingly, this relationship was true only for the ratings of quality, not originality

Tolerance of Ambiguity and Self-Evaluations of Creativity

In creativity research, tolerance for ambiguity has typically been evaluated in relation to divergent thinking measures, creative products, and self-evaluations of creative attitudes and behavior (Zenasni, Besancon, & Lubart, 2008). Tolerance of ambiguity refers to the way in which an individual approaches a situation which includes stimuli that is uncertain, unfamiliar, and complex. Tolerance of ambiguity has been found to positively relate to problem solving, possibly because individuals high in this trait experience ill-defined problems as exciting, desirable, and challenging, resulting in highly creative products (Furnham & Ribchester, 1995; Tegano, 1990). Creative self-efficacy and self-perceptions of creativity indicate the way individuals feel about their own creative abilities; specifically, how creative they would define themselves (Tierney & Farmer, 2002; Kaufman et al., 2010). Most studies involving tolerance of ambiguity and measures of creativity focus on linear relationships; however, one study in particular found a curvilinear relationship between tolerance of ambiguity and creativity, suggesting that we need to evaluate both linear and curvilinear relationships (Wang, Zhang, & Martocchio, 2011). The current research assesses two datasets that utilized tolerance of ambiguity and creativity measures. The first dataset consists of a sample of undergraduate students (N=215), and the second using an Mturk sample (N=221). Results from both studies show unique relationships using the quadratic term for tolerance of ambiguity. Curvilinear relationships were found between tolerance for ambiguity and two creativity measures, self-perception and self-efficacy (see Figure 1). The upward curve of this relationship shows that low levels of tolerance of ambiguity are predictive of both low creative self-perception and self-efficacy. The curvilinear relationship indicates that at low levels of tolerance for ambiguity, there is no relationship (or a small relationship) with creative self-efficacy and self-perceptions of creativity. However, once a threshold is reached (around mid-level) the relationship becomes more positive and stronger. These findings suggest that the relationship between tolerance of ambiguity and creative self-efficacy or perceptions of creativity are more complex than originally evaluated