Adapting a tool to assess visual-spatial creativity in children with autism by building on their strengths

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Title Adapting a tool to assess visual-spatial creativity in children with autism by building on their strengths
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Social & Behavioral Science
Department Family & Consumer Studies
Author Newbold, Katherine
Date 2012-12
Description Traditional creativity tests may underestimate the creativity of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) because of the tests' constrained nature, such as having a time limit, being limited to paper and pencil, or taking the test in an over- or under-stimulating environment. The goal of the present research was to adapt the William's Creativity Assessment Packet (CAP) to use SketchUp™, a three-dimensional modeling (3D) program, as a new forum for creativity testing that focuses on visualspatial creativity. The goal was to develop a more authentic measure of creativity in an environment that builds on the interests and visual-spatial talents of children with ASD. First, the CAP was revised to apply to three-dimensional SketchUp™ projects, and then the psychometric properties of the revised tool were examined. A random selection of 27 student SketchUp™ projects was assessed using the revised scale. Measurement dimensions included fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. The validity of the new tool was examined by comparing the creativity scores of the 27 projects using the new assessment tool to the creativity scores given to the same projects by a team of SketchUp™ experts. Results showed that the scores were significantly correlated for three of the four dimensions of the new assessment tool. The tool also showed high interrater reliability among coders (M = .82) using intraclass correlation (ICC). Results suggest that this adapted assessment test could be a visual-spatial creativity measure for children with ASD, as well as a creativity measure used by employers to determine real-world creativity capabilities in their future employees, particularly employees on the autism spectrum.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Assessment; Autism; Children; Creativity; Strengths; Technology
Dissertation Name Master of Science in Human Development and Social Policy
Language eng
Rights Management © Katherine Newbold
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 222,023 bytes
ARK ark:/87278/s6d79s7q
Setname ir_etd
ID 195732
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6d79s7q
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