c

A.C.D.= AMERICAN CREATIVITY IN DECLINE

by Paul Henrickson, Ph.D.c
cc

cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc c
The section below is taken from a recently published
report which deals with aspects of a field about which I
am relatively well-informed. I have lifted sections from
this report which are in black type or red type but not
boldfaced and have presented my responses in red type in
bold face.
Education |c
   cc
c  ccc 
 c
ccc cc
c
!

cc"
##

$cc %ccc c 

c
 c
c c 
c  c 

c
   c
cc
 
c
c

c 
 c&cc


cc 
c' 
c
 c 
c c
  cc
   c


 c( c 
c)
c* 
c#c cc  
cc 
c  c
  c#

 $
c 
c# 
c 
c$
c c

c 
c
 
cc c c c

c c 
c 

: nb: THE STATEMENT ³CREATIVITY CAN BE
TAUGHT´ SUGGESTS THAT 1) THE ´TEACHER´ IS AWARE OF
WHAT CAN BE TAUGHT, OR SHOULD BE TAUGHT. If it can be
taught it must be known what it is that can or will be taught. Since the
creative person is most often specifically unaware of what it is he seeks to
prove, the end result is unknown, therefore, the statement suggests that the
³teacher´ is also performing as a ³seer´ ...one who knows what the creative
answer will be...or is. I hope the reader perceives the logical inconsistency
here. Had the statement read ³the teacher cannot teach creativity but can
provide an environment where it might flourish.´ I would have no quarrel.

To reverse the decline in creat ivity in the schools it would, I believe, require
a totally open investigation into the hiring practices, retention procedures,
and some changes in the concepts of acceptable behaviour. ³The µX¶
Report´ available on Scribd.com details the characteristics w hich should
not be a part of a curriculum or class attitudes . The earlier work ³The
Perceptive and Silenced Minorities´ also available on www.scribd.com
makes clear the responses made by individuals in their accession to peer
and societal pressures. They lie in order to achieve, they deceive in order to
get a job and lying and deceiving is what they transmit to their students.

More specifically creativity might be better encouraged if school

administrators and school boards paid more attention to the implications of
hiring independent contractors to facilitate the P.R. image of the schools.
These digital minded, algorithmically-minded new-age computer types
decide who is to contact the faculty and who is not when they automatically
do not allow email messages from people not on a pre -selected list. Such a
decision is based on the assumption that the faculty need not learn anything
new...and most especially from people they¶ve never heard of. This implies,
it would appear, that there is an operating socio-political system
functioning which has determined apriori what in the future will happen
and not happen. Aside from the obvious fact that reality does not function
that way it is, in the event no one has noticed, contrary to the published
American ideal...the ideal of freedom of expression.

By the way, it is California, that, in my experience reveals this manner of

imprisoning the minds not only of the students but of the teachers as well.
The territory of Guam which usually follows California¶s lead went a step
further by inactivating the published email for teachers and school
administrators and the superintendent at the time, now dismissed, is suing
the Government for improper firing. I am uncertain as to whether there is
a relationship, but now Guam is finding it extremely difficult to find money
to pay its teachers...or to do anything else for that matter.

This has occurred before as in the late 60¶s a leading educational expert in
Iowa advocated administering drugs to over active and imaginative
students ³whom any elementary school teachers could identify as a
potential rapist or murderer´. This Iowa school department official when
confronted by me on this matter responded with the comment that art
teachers should keep up´ their good work´. That is an unintelligent and
politically dangerous ³brush off´.

It was during this same time period that I was conducting research into
creative behaviour and had been gathering material and collating it over a
two year period when one faculty raised the question with the Head of the
Department, Dr. Harry Guillaume, that I was basing my work on the
questionable accomplishments of one J.P. Guildford. I was at first
perplexed, until Guillaume mentioned that ³her´ work was not much
respected. When I commented that I had always thought Guilford to be a
man and saw the confusion on Guillaume¶s face I recognized I was dealing
with a naive and ignorant man and felt distinctly disadvantaged being
placed in a position to defend my work to someone, although my ³boss´,
who was not qualified to be. The doctorate degree is no true measure of
intelligence, as those who have one probably know and some of those
without the degree also know. It is only the naive and deluded public that
believes in this fabrication.
In the mean time the University of Northern Iowa, at least in that division
was experiencing an academic and political upheaval and Guillaume was
replaced by a non-advanced-degreed person by the name of Kenneth Lash
as Head of the Art Department and with an artist, non-degreed, as a
visiting artist, Doris Cross. The Chairman of the Division was one Dr.
Ausprich who came in all rather bushy-tailed. Lash immediately
announced that he was illuminating my research responsibilities. I was not
concerned about that since I had already evolved other plans, but the time
available to me did not allow me to properly locate a publisher of academic
research findings for my discoveries wh ich I found to be important. I found
them important enough, however, to go beyond the academic field and
accepted the offer of the publishers of ³REASON´ magazine which had its
own reasons for being interested in the material. Besides, I have most often
found myself inhibited by my early training to refrain from disagreement
and to offer no defence whatever, that is, I have been so inhibited until very
recently or sorely pressed.

'c+

c,c% c
c c
cc- c c
c
 
c
c
c
]



 
 



 



 
 

 



 



  

  

 

 !"# $
%

&



'
  
 
 
(



 
 
 

 ) )

  
 
'
 

 


 * 

  

 
''
 + 











|

  
 
   

 

 
   
 
 
   
 

  




  
  
 
      





 
  
     

 



   
    

   

      |

!
 

         
  



  

  
I do not know how old the ³age-old´ belief Dr. Runco refers to
may be, but the information his claim presents is misleading. It
suggests two things, that art does not have a special claim to
encouraging creativity when it, very clearly, has demonstrated the
opposite, but then we might remember that Dr Runco is not an

artist. The second suggestion, even as subliminal as it is,

carries the notion that only recent ideas have value. This
attitude may explain, why Dr. Runco fails to respond to
professional offers to cooperate on research regarding creativity
measures. The ³age-old´ custom of a written ³brush off´ was not
chosen over not answering at all. This sort of response, or non-
response as was the case, however, may be the style of
institutional control the Torrance Center has adopted for
whatever reason.

New ideas and xenophobic responses of all types are often seen as
threats, but it remains, that the age-old response of stating that
³we are too busy at the moment, ³ ³it is not our cup of tea´ or
some innocuous thing of that sort, would have left Runco with
some mask of politesse. When Bonnie Cramond was the Head of
the Torrance Center she gave the same sort of inappropriate
response to a fellow professor but I tended to forgive as she
evidenced other ways of behaving unprofessionally. However, it
should be noted that Torrance would never have behaved that
way.

On the other hand it may simply be one more, rather left-handed

support of the research I conducted at the University of Northern
Iowa which pointed up the fact that the most assured way of
getting an appointment is to lie about who you are.

It was there where, merely by chance, for it was not part of the
original hypothesis, it was learned that there were two rather
distinct groups of students . One group that was characterized by
having achieved a grade point average in both the high school and
the undergraduate levels at the University of under 2.2. This was
the cut off point for admission into the teacher preparation
program. These students when compared with those who were
allowed to enrol in the teacher preparation program told fewer
lies, significantly agreed with professional artists on the aesthetic
value of informally produced compositions and achieved higher
scores on their own production as judged by art faculty. The
conclusion that the proudfull university was, in fact, providing
teachers for the field who were uncreative and liars was not a
popular conclusion. To extrapolate on that finding might prove to
be extremely disheartening to those naively believing we are being
properly led in any area.

The statement by Runco quoted above is misstated. It can be

corrected , however, by replacing the word ³special´ with ³only´
.

However, these comments, as reported , suggest a reverse bias on

the part of the ³researchers´ referenced (whoever they may be).

When one considers the entire school curriculum art, along with,
perhaps, physical education, may be the ONLY curriculum
experiences that allow any degree of freedom of choice in decision
making and, with emphasis, I would add it is ONLY in decision
making that anything approaching creative behaviour can take
place. All other school tuitional involvements generally require a
firm algorithmic base...including physical education programs
which emphasize the learning to play a sport which possesses
rules of procedure. Creative activity creates rules it rarely follows
them.

It is herein where the answer to the question posed by the article,

this report, on the alleged decline in creativity, As one of your
published commentators said: there is no decline in creative
behaviour, there is as much as there ever has been. If this
observation is true and, in general, I believe it is, then the
appearance of a decline in creativity may lie in the way in which
creative effort and its product are being assessed.
A clue to the answer to that, as yet, unasked question is in the
evidence presented by The report available on www.scribd.com
under the title ´The Perceptive and Silenced Minority´
› 
    
   È

*
,-

 
./



0 

%

 

 
! 0


 
 

 


'






  






''
'  




%





 
1  
'
  ' 

   '  '  ' 
2 
 '


3

 ''    



   
 

"

"    #  $› 
% " & 
' ›     
 
   

(
     (
     )* (  
( 
  
    
 

   
( $› +

,
›
#& (



›   › - 
.  
 
      
      
 
/ 

 
     01 2
 #!
 

3 (  
    !
  
 
   
   
 




    


›         

    
 $› +
,
›
#&
  
  
   
 2/  
   
 $   
&
(
  
 
   
       


I once asked Paul whether he had ever used birth charts as a

measure of creativity in terms of any correlations with other more
established assessments. As i recall he said he hadn¶t, but that he
was open to it.cI
include this one for those who creatively curious enough to play
with the idea.c
c

Click here: HOWARD's DRUM SHOWc

I have included this video here because it dramatically illustrates
the sort of focused attention a person achieves when creatively
engaged in dealing with sensual input. What this kid might
achieve in another decade when he is 14 years old might be very
satisfying to himself as well as many other people if there any who
can perceive the significance.
 c c.
 $c  cc




cc  c c
cc
/
c.c# $ccc
/


  c  c
c
 
cc c   c


 c

cc#c
c#ccc-c
c  cc0 c! 
1c* c2
c"
#c!
/c

When I first joined Torrance¶s staff

in the fall of 1960, I believe, I invited him home for lunch
to get to know him and for him to get to know me for I
was fully aware that we were differently focused. At that
time I gave him this painting which, Bonne Cramond , the
former head of the Torrance Center tells me is no where
to be found although he had it in his home and made a
point of indicating it to me saying that it was the only one
he had brought with him from Minneapolis. At one time
he wrote that it represented for him the epitame of
creative thinking.
The reader might recall, however, that we are, indeed,
dealing with two very different manners of thought. Let
me try to illustate more precisely what I mean by this.
Some time back someone thought up the idea that they
might market something called ³paint by numbers´. I do
not know how it did economically, but my suspicion is that
it probably performed admiringly economically if we
consider the general spread of interest from among the
general population to ³become a famous artist´ even if one
had to do it by simply matching a number to a particular
tube of paint and transfering the pigment from the tube to
the correct spot on the prepared canvas or canvas
board...instantly one becomes an impressionist
painter...even if one is incapable of understanding what
the term means..
In this respect it is not unlike the traditional picture
puzzle which tells you not only what to achieve but how to
achieve it and does not allow for any deviance whatever.
The puzzels I have created, however, do not do this but
exhibit profound respect for the decisions, right or wrong,
made by the individual. Perhaps the reader would like to
try by printing this image out, separating the pieces and
attempting to gage just how the mind works when the
effort is made to find out just what the unknown original

composition was.
 This was
copy I had made by hand. I have the original, or did have
it, which Torrance passed out to members of that class.
However, anyone questioning its legitimacy can check
Torrance¶s files. I don¶t think he ever threw anything
away and I try not to, but he was a better record keeper
than I, but then, he had help and I do not.
NAME: HENRICKSON, PAUL R. Ed.Psy259.1961
MEASURE YOUR SCORE MEAN
SCORE
Personality theory
 pre-test 18 17.8
Creative motivation 28 20.1
Critical motivation 4 5.8
Intellectual autonomy 29 23.9
Certainty motivation 8 10.3
Power motivation 6 8.7
Quest for meaning 8 5.9
Quest for social relations 8 10.6
Rejection social relations 12 7.3
Complexity (omnibus scale) 52 33
Liberalism 67 55.1
Originality 67 63.1
Thinking Introversion 52 41.
What these findings indicate I do not exactly know. The
class which numbered, I think, 15 or 20 was made up of
graduate students in psychology on their way to the
doctorate. I, on the other hand had a B.F.A. from The
Rhode Island School of Design and a Masters in Education
from the University of Massahusetts and at Minnesota was
currently involved in a program which was split not
only between two disciplines, psychology and art
history, but two rival colleges.
To sum up my comments concerning this perplexing
report on the decline in scores achieved by American
students it may be due primarily to two major
factors one of which is a dramatic shift in the
emphasis in socio-political action and in the nature
of the tasks designed to assess creative behaviour.
For sure, nothing good of significance is going to be
achieved until some stop playing the power game.
 .
Addendum
The following is a brief introduction to an alternative to what
appears to have been the probable analytical approach of Kim
and Kaufman as described in the Newsweek report s
c
c

cc

'c

c 
cc3

cc+
%c
 cc

 c
cc
cc c 
  cc

 c
 
c

c



c

cc# c' 
c
c c'
c
cc
4  c

 c#c#c 

c'
c 
c'
 c
( c'
c 
c'
 c#cc
 cc
c

cc
cc
  c5/c
cc#c#

c #c c6c 
c
 
cc
 c #cc 
c'
c  c 
c 
c



c c
$
cc
c

 c

c

c
c
 c# cc
c


c
c
c
7cc 
c#
 c c# c c 

c

c c
7c

c  c
c  c
 c c
c

 c c c
c
c c 
c 
 c  
ccc c8


c# c
c


cc


ccc


cc
   ccc
c
(
c
cc c
c
%c

 c

#

cc
'
c 
c'
 c

c c 
c 

c c
cc

c

ccc 
c  c
c
cc


c 

c#c
c  c  c

 
c 
c


cc c c7cc 
c
c 
c
  c #c c

cc
c


 cc#c c

$
c c
c
(
cc  c c

cc c

c
c 1
cc


 c c c c#c
cc
cc



 %c
# 


 c7c  c c# cc

c
$
c#cc
 c

 c
  

 cc
 /cc
c
'c

 c9
 cc c #
c 
c 
:c'c
9
 cc c

c

 c

cc 

c 
c c
cc
c c#

c  
c 

c cc

 cc
$
c

 
c
cc# c
cc

c  c cc
'c9
 cc #cc 
c
cc   cc

  c c cc
$
c c

cc c

c

c 

c9

c
 c'c# $c c c
c

cccc
 c# c 
c  c


c

cc 
c
c 
c# c 
c
 ccc
#c

c c

c c  c
c
 c c c c 
c 
c c 
cobedientc 
c


c#

c

c cc cc  cc

 
c  cc c c#c9  c


  c 
c 


 c

c
c c 
c

 c
 c
 
c cc c #c   
c
/
  c
c
'c
 c
 c
c

 c;
c  c 
c

 c#c c
  1
c
 cc c  1
c cc


cc

 c
 
c c 
c


 cUNLESScc
 
cc  c  
c
 
c

   c  
cc


c7c c
cc
 
c

c
c
c

cc  c

c cc

c c c

/
 c  c#cc
8

c7c


c c c
cc

c
 cc
c
7cc

 c7c

c
c
c  c
cc 
c

c

  c


c#c
c c
#

c

c

c c
c
 
c
c#
c
c  c 
c
 
c

c

c$ c
 
c 
cc  
c
/
 ccc# c#
c 
c
c   cc
   cc c
c
§ 


  4






      §


 
'
  
*ð
ð  
 

)  

 
4 
+
'

2 *

 


356
% )  





 
'
'

 
'

 

1'
  

2  


 



1'




'' 

 

 )

273



 
]




1'



 





'
  


]


  
 
   
* * 




 

 
  



 




   










c
% 


  



'



'

&&&&'
  
* 
 55 

 
  *
'








*
 

 




*
'



 

   
28  .

 
.
 %

8

(  !
3'  

9
*
 





 






 

6
1 

  6

*
  
' 
 
 
'
'






4 +2'



3

 
8  *
 



 
 
'
 






 
 


   



'

 











 
!
 
 
 





 
 



 )



 



 '












   ' 
 '
  



' 



'


 




 
   

*'  
 

 
'
  '
'






'




 6
 


 
*



 



   
 





* 



 
'  
 
'

)



' 
 

'
) 


 '







     
   4


6
)c2
 '
7+c

c
. c

c
c
c