Toivainen, T;
Madrid-Valero, JJ;
Chapman, R;
McMillan, A;
Oliver, BR;
Kovas, Y;
(2021)
Creative expressiveness in childhood writing predicts educational achievement beyond motivation and intelligence: A longitudinal, genetically informed study.
British Journal of Educational Psychology
, Article e12423. 10.1111/bjep.12423.
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Abstract
Background Creativity is linked with educationally relevant constructs such as achievement, intelligence, and motivation. However, very few studies have explored longitudinal links between the constructs or the aetiology of individual differences in childhood creativity. Aims The study addresses the gap in the literature of developmental studies on the relationship of creativity with other educationally relevant measures. Additionally, the present study is the first adequately powered genetically informative analysis of childhood creativity. Sample(s) The present study utilized data from 1,306 twins, a subsample from a longitudinal, representative twin sample in the UK. Methods Creativity was operationalised as a Creative Expressiveness score, using the Consensual Assessment Technique on stories written by 9-year-olds. Intelligence and writing motivation were assessed at age 9. Academic achievement was collected at ages 9, 12, and 16. Results Creative Expressiveness was associated with intelligence and motivation, all measured at age 9. It also predicted variance in English grades at ages 9 and 16. The associations were weak, but significant, over and above intelligence, motivation, and earlier English grades. The variance in Creative Expressiveness was explained by genetic (35%), shared environmental (21%), and non-shared environmental (45%) influences. The phenotypic correlations with other study variables were mainly mediated genetically. Conclusions The results provide information that can be used for planning educational content. First, creativity can be detected in childhood writing. Second, childhood creativity may be overlooked in early educational assessments. Third, the results from the genetic analyses are important indications on the role of environments in the development of creativity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Creative expressiveness in childhood writing predicts educational achievement beyond motivation and intelligence: A longitudinal, genetically informed study |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/bjep.12423 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12423 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Social Sciences, Psychology, Educational, Psychology, childhood, creativity, educational achievement, genes and environment, writing, CONSENSUAL ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUE, SELF-PERCEIVED ABILITY, SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGY, HERITABILITY, PERFORMANCE, TRAITS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10128634 |
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