One-Year-Olds Think Creatively, Just Like Their Parents

Citation

Hoicka E, Mowat R, Kirkwood J, Kerr T, Carberry M & Bijvoet-van den Berg S (2016) One-Year-Olds Think Creatively, Just Like Their Parents. Child Development, 87 (4), pp. 1099-1105. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12531

Abstract
Creativity is an essential human ability, allowing adaptation and survival. Twenty-nine 1-year-olds and their parents were tested on divergent thinking (DT), a measure of creative potential counting how many ideas one can generate. Toddlers' and parents' DT was moderately to highly correlated. Toddlers showed a wide range of DT scores, which were reliable on retesting. This is the first study to show children think divergently as early as 1year. This research also suggests 1-year-olds' DT is related to parents', opening up future research into whether this relationship is due to genetics and/or social learning at its emergence. Understanding DT at its emergence could allow for interventions while neurological development is most plastic, which could improve DT across the life span.

Journal
Child Development: Volume 87, Issue 4