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Article
A Comparative Test of Creative Thinking in Preschool Children and Dolphins
Psychology Faculty Publications
  • Dawn Melzer, Sacred Heart University
  • Deirdre Yeater, Sacred Heart University
  • Madison Bradley, Sacred Heart University
  • Heather M. Hill, St. Mary’s University
  • Gonzalo Guerra, St. Mary’s University
  • Kimberly Salazar, St. Mary’s University
  • Teresa Bolton, Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences, Roatán, Honduras
  • Kathleen M. Dudzinski, Dolphin Communication Project, Port Saint Lucie, FL
Document Type
Peer-Reviewed Article
Publication Date
1-1-2022
Abstract

Creativity is considered one aspect of intelligence. Including creativity allows for more room for expression (e.g., participants can respond with movement instead of written or verbal responses) than in standard intelligence assessments. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1974) are the leading method of assessing creative abilities in school-aged humans and above. To assess creativity in young humans and nonhuman animals, modifications must be made to facilitate nonverbal responses. In the current study, a cross-species comparison was conducted between preschoolers and bottlenose dolphins to examine responses to a modified creativity task in which both species were trained to demonstrate non-repeated behaviors to an “innovate” prompt. The resulting behaviors for the first test session were coded for fluency (number of non-repeated behaviors demonstrated), originality, and flexibility (low, moderate, or high activity level). Children and dolphins produced a similar number of non-repeated behaviors during individual test trials and also had similar originality scores. Related to flexibility, dolphins displayed more low energy activity levels compared to the children. Given the limited understanding of creative abilities in animals and young children, this comparison using a modified version of the TTCT offers exciting possibilities. These results could provide further evidence of similarities in cognitive processes for humans and nonhuman animals.

Comments

Funding for data collection with the dolphins was provided by the Dolphin Communication Project, St Mary’s University, Sacred Heart University, and Sacred Heart University’s University Research and Creativity Grant.

At the time the article was research and written Madison Bradley was an undergraduate student in the Psychology Department at Sacred Heart University.

DOI
10.26451/abc.09.03.07.2022
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
Citation Information

Melzer, D. K., Yeater, D., Bradley, M., Hill, H. M., Guerra, G., Salazar, K., Bolton, T., & Dudzinski, K. M. (2022). A comparative test of creative thinking in preschool children and dolphins. Animal Behavior and Cognition, 9(3), 349-362. https://doi.org/10.26451/abc.09.03.07.2022