Original Thinking in Israeli Preschool Children

Abstract

Original thinking, as measured by the Wallach and Kogan Creativity Battery, was examined in 41 Israeli preschool children. A larger proportion of original responses was generated by these preschoolers than by older children or adolescents. Original thinking was unrelated to Wechsler preschool intelligence scores. Quantity and originality of ideational output were strongly related. A more marked order effect — popular responses occurring earlier and original responses later in the response sequence — was found in high original subjects than in low. These findings duplicate those found with preschool children in the United States and indicate that the Guilford-Mednick conceptualization of original thinking has validity beyond a given Western society.