The effect of secondary reinforcement on the generalization of creative thinking

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of secondary reinforcement (praise) on the generalization of three measures of originality. Fifty-two junior college students were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups and a control group. The three treatment groups received reinforced practice on either one, two, or three creativity tasks. All students were then administered a word association test, the Unusual Uses and Asking sub-tests of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (1966). The only significant difference found between groups was on the Asking task. Due to an apparent trend toward generalization of scores by the experimental groups, conclusions concerning the possibility of reinforced practice effecting generalization of originality from one creativity task to another were discussed.