- We studied the development of cognitive abilities related to intelligence and creativity
(N = 48, 6–10 years old), using a longitudinal design (over one school year), in order
to evaluate an Enrichment Program for gifted primary school children initiated by
the government of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Entdeckertag
Rheinland Pfalz, Germany; ET; Day of Discoverers). A group of German primary school
children (N = 24), identified earlier as intellectually gifted and selected to join the
ET program was compared to a gender-, class- and IQ- matched group of control
children that did not participate in this program. All participants performed the Standard
Progressive Matrices (SPM) test, which measures intelligence in well-defined problem
space; the Creative Reasoning Task (CRT), which measures intelligence in ill-defined
problem space; and the test of creative thinking-drawing production (TCT-DP), which
measures creativity, also in ill-defined problem space. Results revealed that problem
space matters: the ET program is effective only for the improvement of intelligence
operating in well-defined problem space. An effect was found for intelligence as
measured by SPM only, but neither for intelligence operating in ill-defined problem space
(CRT) nor for creativity (TCT-DP). This suggests that, depending on the type of problem
spaces presented, different cognitive abilities are elicited in the same child. Therefore,
enrichment programs for gifted, but also for children attending traditional schools,
should provide opportunities to develop cognitive abilities related to intelligence,
operating in both well- and ill-defined problem spaces, and to creativity in a parallel,
using an interactive approach.
