AuDrA: An automated drawing assessment platform for evaluating creativity.

The visual modality is central to both reception and expression of human creativity. Creativity assessment paradigms, such as structured drawing tasks Barbot (2018), seek to characterize this key modality of creative ideation. However, visual creativity assessment paradigms often rely on cohorts of expert or naïve raters to gauge the level of creativity of the outputs. This comes at the cost of substantial human investment in both time and labor. To address these issues, recent work has leveraged the power of machine learning techniques to automatically extract creativity scores in the verbal domain (e.g., SemDis; Beaty & Johnson 2021). Yet, a comparably well-vetted solution for the assessment of visual creativity is missing. Here, we introduce AuDrA - an Automated Drawing Assessment platform to extract visual creativity scores from simple drawing productions. Using a collection of line drawings and human creativity ratings, we trained AuDrA and tested its generalizability to untrained drawing sets, raters, and tasks. Across four datasets, nearly 60 raters, and over 13,000 drawings, we found AuDrA scores to be highly correlated with human creativity ratings for new drawings on the same drawing task (r = .65 to .81; mean = .76). Importantly, correlations between AuDrA scores and human raters surpassed those between drawings' elaboration (i.e., ink on the page) and human creativity raters, suggesting that AuDrA is sensitive to features of drawings beyond simple degree of complexity. We discuss future directions, limitations, and link the trained AuDrA model and a tutorial ( https://osf.io/kqn9v/ ) to enable researchers to efficiently assess new drawings.

Gender differences and variability in creative ability: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the greater male variability hypothesis in creativity.

Society is largely shaped by creativity, making it critical to understand why, despite minimal mean gender differences in creative ability, substantial differences exist in the creative achievement of men and women. Although the greater male variability hypothesis (GMVH) in creativity has been proposed to explain women's underrepresentation as eminent creators, studies examining the GMVH are sparse and limited. This systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to examine whether the GMVH in creativity can adequately explain the gender gap in creative achievement. We examined the GMVH in creativity, along with mean gender differences, in a range of indicators of creativity and across different sample characteristics and measurement approaches. Effect sizes (k = 1,003) were calculated using information retrieved from 194 studies (N = 68,525). Data were analyzed using three-level meta-analysis and metaregression and publication bias was evaluated using Egger's regression test and contour-enhanced funnel plots. Results revealed minimal gender differences overall, with a slight mean advantage for females (g = -0.10, 95% CI [-0.13, -0.06]) and a trivial variability advantage for males (lnVR = 0.02, 95% CI [0.004, 0.04]) in creative ability scores. However, the magnitude of the effect sizes was moderated by creative domain, task type, scoring type, and study region for mean differences and by country-level gender egalitarianism values for variability. Taken together, gender differences in the mean and variability of creative ability scores are minimal and inconsistent across different contexts, suggesting that the GMVH may not provide much explanatory power for the gender gap in creative achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The smartphone as a "significant other": interpersonal dependency and attachment in maladaptive smartphone and social networks use.

Smartphones are increasingly widespread throughout the world and, although smartphones provide various benefits, excessive and maladaptive use is often reported. Given the penetration of smartphones in the individual's daily life, it is relevant to identify the mechanisms sustaining their use, including the affective bond that the owner may develop with the device. The aim of the current study is to test a novel model to explain smartphone and Social Network Sites (SNS) use from an interpersonal perspective. We hypothesized that adult attachment style and interpersonal patterns (i.e., features of interpersonal dependency) generalize to the emotional bond with the mobile device, interacting with psychological correlates and background factors to predict smartphone and SNS consumption. 341 nonclinical adults (57.2% females; age M = 35.5, SD = 14.6) completed a battery consisting of the Attachment Style Questionnaire, the Relationship Profile Test, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Young Adult Attachment to Phone Scale, and the Social Network Intensity and Social Network Access via Mobile phone Applications. A multi-mediation model supported the hypothesis regarding the influence of interpersonal style in the relationship of the individual with their smartphone and use of SNS. A parallel between attachment style and the emotional bond with the smartphone emerged, with anxious attachment style and destructive overdependence being potential risk factors for maladaptive smartphone use especially in individuals involved in a romantic relationship. Findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications and intervention strategies towards smartphone dependency.

Divergent semantic integration (DSI): Extracting creativity from narratives with distributional semantic modeling.

We developed a novel conceptualization of one component of creativity in narratives by integrating creativity theory and distributional semantics theory. We termed the new construct divergent semantic integration (DSI), defined as the extent to which a narrative connects divergent ideas. Across nine studies, 27 different narrative prompts, and over 3500 short narratives, we compared six models of DSI that varied in their computational architecture. The best-performing model employed Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), which generates context-dependent numerical representations of words (i.e., embeddings). BERT DSI scores demonstrated impressive predictive power, explaining up to 72% of the variance in human creativity ratings, even approaching human inter-rater reliability for some tasks. BERT DSI scores showed equivalently high predictive power for expert and nonexpert human ratings of creativity in narratives. Critically, DSI scores generalized across ethnicity and English language proficiency, including individuals identifying as Hispanic and L2 English speakers. The integration of creativity and distributional semantics theory has substantial potential to generate novel hypotheses about creativity and novel operationalizations of its underlying processes and components. To facilitate new discoveries across diverse disciplines, we provide a tutorial with code (osf.io/ath2s) on how to compute DSI and a web app ( osf.io/ath2s ) to freely retrieve DSI scores.

Creative recovery: Narrative creativity mitigates identity distress among young adults with cancer.

Objective: Young adults with cancer are at a heightened risk for experiencing identity distress, with adverse consequence on their satisfaction with life (SwL). This study examines the contributions of two resources thought to mitigate identity distress: parental warmth and narrative creativity.Methods: 164 young adults divided into three groups: (a) control group (no history of life-threatening medical illness); (b) recovered group, and (c) cancer group (currently in treatment) completed measures of SwL, identity distress, parental warmth, and narrative creativity.Findings: The cancer group was associated with higher identity distress and there was a strong contribution of identity distress in decreased SwL across groups. Narrative creativity had a significant, direct effect on reduced identity distress, indirectly increasing SwL across groups.Implications for psychosocial providers: These findings highlight the potential of creativity to decrease identity distress and in turn, improve SwL among patients with cancer.

Italian Version of the Relationship Profile Test (RPT-I): Temporal Stability, Construct Validity, and Cross-Cultural Comparison.

This study presents the adaptation to the Italian context of the Relationship Profile Test (RPT; Bornstein & Languirand), a self-report measure of Destructive Overdependence (DO), Dysfunctional Detachment (DD), and Healthy Dependency (HD). The RPT was administered to a community sample of 661 nonclinical Italian adults together with the Attachment Style Questionnaire, the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Self-Compassion Scale, the Positive Affect-Negative Affect Scale, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. A randomly selected subset of participants (n = 67) completed the RPT again approximately 5 months after the first administration. The factor structure of the RPT obtained in the main sample was compared with that obtained in a sample of 603 adult participants from the US and was found to be similar. Internal consistency for DO, DD, and HD scores in the Italian sample fell between the acceptable to good range, and test-retest reliability coefficients were all above .70. The three scales yielded the expected pattern of correlations with theoretically related constructs, documenting good criterion validity. Findings are discussed in light of the literature on the RPT as a measure of interpersonal dependency and detachment. Suggestions for future research are offered.

The role of psychopathology in the relationship between history of maltreatment and suicide attempts among children and adolescent inpatients.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective chart review study investigates the relationship between the history of various forms of abuse and the presence of mood disorders and psychotic symptoms in predicting suicide attempts among psychiatrically hospitalized children and adolescents. METHOD: A multi-mediation analysis was conducted with an archival dataset of 101 children and adolescents hospitalized predominantly for mood disorders and bipolar disorders with and without history of psychotic symptoms. RESULTS: Results showed that history of suicide attempts was directly associated with physical abuse and indirectly associated with sexual abuse (mediated by bipolar disorders). Emotional abuse was also indirectly related to history of suicide attempts, mediated by mood disorders for boys, and by psychotic symptoms for girls. CONCLUSIONS: This study is among the first to differentiate the unique effects of different types of early maltreatment on psychopathology, particularly mood disorders and psychotic symptoms, and histories of suicide attempts in psychiatrically hospitalized children and youth. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE: Little is known about the relationships between histories of maltreatment, psychopathology, and suicide (considered simultaneously) among hospitalized children and adolescents. Different forms of abuse are associated with distinct psychopathology symptoms, and in turn, risk for suicide attempts. Only physical abuse is directly related to a history of suicide attempts, while sexual and emotional abuse are indirectly related (mediated by mood disorders and psychotic symptoms). These risk pathways are partly distinct for girls and boys. Identifying unique and cumulated risk factors can help prevent suicidality among hospitalized youth.

Manifesto for new directions in developmental science.

Although developmental science has always been evolving, these times of fast-paced and profound social and scientific changes easily lead to disorienting fragmentation rather than coherent scientific advances. What directions should developmental science pursue to meaningfully address real-world problems that impact human development throughout the lifespan? What conceptual or policy shifts are needed to steer the field in these directions? The present manifesto is proposed by a group of scholars from various disciplines and perspectives within developmental science to spark conversations and action plans in response to these questions. After highlighting four critical content domains that merit concentrated and often urgent research efforts, two issues regarding "how" we do developmental science and "what for" are outlined. This manifesto concludes with five proposals, calling for integrative, inclusive, transdisciplinary, transparent, and actionable developmental science. Specific recommendations, prospects, pitfalls, and challenges to reach this goal are discussed.

Scrutinizing the basis of originality in divergent thinking tests: On the measurement precision of response propensity estimates.

BACKGROUND: The originality of divergent thinking (DT) production is one of the most critical indicators of creative potential. It is commonly scored using the statistical infrequency of responses relative to all responses provided in a given sample. AIMS: Response frequency estimates vary in terms of measurement precision. This issue has been widely overlooked and is addressed in the current study. SAMPLE AND METHOD: Secondary data analysis of 202 participants was performed. A total of 900 uniquely identified responses were generated on three DT tasks and subjected to a 1-parameter logistic model with a response as the unit of measurement which allowed for the calculation of response-level conditional reliability (and marginal reliability as an overall summary of measurement precision). RESULTS: Marginal reliability of response propensity estimates ranged from .62 to .67 across the DT tasks. Unique responses in the sample (the basis for the classic uniqueness scoring) displayed the lowest conditional reliability (across tasks: ≈ .50). Reliability increased nonlinearly as a function of both the frequency of occurrence predicted by the model (conditional reliability) and sample size (conditional and marginal reliability). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the common practice of frequency-based originality scoring with typical sample sizes (e.g., N = 100 to N = 200) yields unacceptable levels of measurement precision (i.e., in particular for highly original responses). We further offer recommendations to mitigate the lack of measurement precision of frequency-based originality scores for DT research.

Child internalizing problems and mother-child discrepancies in maternal rejection: Evidence for bidirectional associations.

We investigated the bidirectional associations between mother-child discrepancies in their perceptions of maternal rejection and children's internalizing problems over 10 years from pre/early adolescence to early adulthood. Mothers' reports of rejection and involvement in the parent-child relationship, the children's perception of the mother's rejection, and children's self-report of internalizing problems were collected from a sample of 360 low-income ethnically diverse urban mother-child dyads at three time points (T1, T2, and T3) with 5-year intervals. Children were on average 12.6 years old at T1 (54% girls). Using a series of nested path analyses, we found that mother-child discrepancies while reporting maternal rejection at T1 were predictive of lower ratings of maternal involvement at T2 (ß = -.14), which predicted higher levels of internalizing problems at T3 (ß = -.16). The presence of mother's affective disorder was related to T1 mother-child discrepancies (ß = .14). Regarding bidirectional associations, children's internalizing problems predicted maternal involvement across all time points, whereas T2 maternal involvement predicted T3 child internalizing problems. Discrepancies showed small associations with child internalizing problems both concurrently and over time. The findings highlight the importance of early discrepancies in the perception of maternal rejection for child internalizing symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Dynamics of Creative Ideation: Introducing a New Assessment Paradigm.

Despite six decades of creative cognition research, measures of creative ideation have heavily relied on divergent thinking tasks, which still suffer from conceptual, design, and psychometric shortcomings. These shortcomings have greatly impeded the accurate study of creative ideation, its dynamics, development, and integration as part of a comprehensive psychological assessment. After a brief overview of the historical and current anchoring of creative ideation measurement, overlooked challenges in its most common operationalization (i.e., divergent thinking tasks framework) are discussed. They include (1) the reliance on a single stimulus as a starting point of the creative ideation process (stimulus-dependency), (2) the analysis of response quality based on a varying number of observations across test-takers (fluency-dependency), and (3) the production of "static" cumulative performance indicators. Inspired from an emerging line of work from the field of cognitive neuroscience of creativity, this paper introduces a new assessment framework referred to as "Multi-Trial Creative Ideation" (MTCI). This framework shifts the current measurement paradigm by (1) offering a variety of stimuli presented in a well-defined set of ideation "trials," (2) reinterprets the concept of ideational fluency using a time-analysis of idea generation, and (3) captures individual dynamics in the ideation process (e.g., modeling the effort-time required to reach a response of maximal uncommonness) while controlling for stimulus-specific sources of variation. Advantages of the MTCI framework over the classic divergent thinking paradigm are discussed in light of current directions in the field of creativity research.

Violent offending among juveniles: A 7-year longitudinal study of recidivism, desistance, and associations with mental health.

Serious and violent offending among juveniles is a consistent concern of researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, yet the development of violent offending remains poorly understood because of limited availability of relevant data, small sample sizes, and shortage of longitudinal data sets. This study analyzed developmental patterns of violent offending over 7 years in the complete population of court-referred youth in Connecticut between 2006 and 2012 (N = 58,678; mean age at first offense = 14.7 years). This unique dataset provided several key findings: First, results from a latent class growth analysis showed that violent crimes peaked at age 14-15, with high-rate adolescent offenders (3.7% of the sample) accounting for 31.9% of all violent offenses. Further, 74.2% of this group desisted from violent crimes in adulthood. Higher levels of self-reported anger/irritability slightly increased the odds of violent recidivism (odds ratio, OR = 1.09), where higher levels of depression/anxiety depressed the odds (OR = 0.89). The overrepresentation of males, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic youth among high-rate adolescence offenders were traceable through adolescence but not beyond the age of 18. Together, these finding may help to inform new delinquency interventions that target the needs of this proportionally small group of violent adolescent offenders accounting for a large amount of violent crimes. (PsycINFO Database Record

Impact of psychotic symptoms on cognitive functioning in child and adolescent psychiatric inpatients with severe mood disorders.

Despite established differences in cognitive functioning of adults with mood disorder-related psychosis and those with non-affective psychotic disorders, there is limited evidence of the impact of psychotic symptoms on the cognitive functioning of children and adolescents with mood disorders. This study investigates IQ, working memory, and processing speed scores in 80 child and adolescent inpatients discharged from an intermediate care state psychiatric hospital, using a retrospective chart review. Associations between diagnosis based on DSM-IV criteria (7 with Major Depression- MDD; 43 with Bipolar Disorders-BD, and 30 with Mood Disorders Not Otherwise Specified-NOS), presence of current psychotic features, and cognitive functioning (WISC-IV IQ, Coding, Symbol Search, and Digit Span) were investigated using Multivariate Analyses of Variance. No differences were found in cognitive functioning between patients with MDD and BD, or between those with severe Mood Disorders (MDD or BD) and those with NOS, when controlling for age, gender, and presence of psychotic features. However, patients with severe mood disorders and psychotic features showed lower IQs and greater working memory deficits than those without psychotic features or NOS. Results are discussed in terms of treatment planning for children and adolescents at risk for developing psychotic symptoms and severe mood disorders.

"Peaks, Slumps, and Bumps": Individual Differences in the Development of Creativity in Children and Adolescents.

This article reviews developmental studies of creativity in children and adolescents with a focus on "peaks" and "slumps" that have often been described in the literature. The irregularity of the development of creativity is interpreted in light of conceptual and measurement issues and with regard to the interaction between individual-level resources, task-specific demands, and environmental influences, resulting in apparent individual differences in the development of creativity. The need for longitudinal designs, multidimensional and multi-domain assessment of creative potential limiting the contribution of task-specific factors is outlined and discussed as an important direction for developmental research on creativity.