Creative cognition in gifted adolescents

Abstract

Gifted adolescents performed a creative generation task in which they imagined and drew fruit that might exist on another planet. They produced creations that tended to include central properties of Earth fruit, such as seeds and stems, but also more unusual properties, such as poisonousness. They also developed imaginary fruit that were rated as more original than those developed by a comparison sample of college students, and they did so regardless of whether they were explicitly instructed to be creative. They were also less likely than college students to base their creations on specific exemplars of Earth fruit, but among those who did so, they tended to rely on highly representative types of fruit (e.g., apples) as starting points for their novel ideas. The results are discussed in terms of how existing knowledge directs imaginative activities in individuals that exhibit different degrees of generative or creative performance.