Cross-Field Differences in Creative Problem-Solving Skills: A Comparison of Health, Biological, and Social Sciences

Abstract

In this study, 258 doctoral students working in the health, biological, and social sciences were asked to solve a series of field-relevant problems calling for creative thought. Proposed solutions to these problems were scored with respect to critical creative thinking skills such as problem definition, conceptual combination, and idea generation. Results indicated that health, biological, and social scientists differed with respect to their skill in executing various operations, or processes, involved in creative thought. Interestingly, no differences were observed as a function of the students' level of experience. The implications of these findings for understanding cross-field, and cross-experience level, differences in creative thought are discussed.

We would like to thank Stephen Murphy, Whitney Helton-Fauth, Ginamarie Scott, Lynn Devenport, and Ryan Brown for their contributions to this article. The data collection was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources, General Clinical Research Center Grant M01 RR-14467. Parts of this work were also sponsored by a grant, 5R01-NS049535-02, from the National Institutes of Health and the Office of Research Integrity, Michael D. Mumford, Principal Investigator.

Notes

Note. F = F-ratio; df = degrees of freedom; p = significance level; η² = eta-squared effect size.

Note. F = F-ratio; df = degrees of freedom; p = significance level; η² = eta-squared effect size.