Effects of Cognitive Style and Context on Creativity

ABSTRACT The study examined the effects of cognitive style and context on students’ creativity using one hundred and twelve (112) participants drawn from Capital City Secondary School Awka, Nigeria. Participant’s responses from Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) and Divergent Thinking Task (DTT) used in measuring cognitive style and creativity respectively were subjected to 2-wayANOVA statistical test. The results of the analysis shows that a significant main effect was observed for cognitive style, F (1, 108) = 8.07, p < .05 with the field-independent (M = 13.63, SD = 3.50) performing better on creativity task than the field-dependent (M = 11.75, SD = 3.69), which confirmed hypothesis I. Also, a significant main effect was observed for context, F (1, 108) = 6.88, p < .05 with the same environmental context (M = 13.55, SD = 3.32) performing better on creativity task than the different environmental context (M = 11.82, SD = 3.89), which also confirmed hypothesis II. The implications of the findings have shown that field-independent and fielddependent students perform differently to the same and different environmental context on creativity tasks. And, suggestions were made for further study.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title Page i

Approval Page ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Table of Content vi

List of Tables viii

List of Appendices ix

Abstract x

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction 1

 Statement of the Problem 16

 Purpose of the Study 17

 Operational Definitions of Terms 18

CHAPTER TWO

Literature Review 19

 Theoretical Background 19

 Empirical Review 27

 Summary of Literature Review 44

 Hypotheses 45

CHAPTER THREE

Method 46

 Participants 46

 Materials 46

 Procedure 49

vii

 Design/ Statistics 52

CHAPTER FOUR

Results 53

 Summary of the Findings 55

CHAPTER FIVE

Discussion 56

 Implication of the Study 59

 Limitations of the Study 60

 Suggestions for Further Research 60

 Summary and Conclusion 61

REFERENCES 62