This document discusses conceptions of giftedness that include creativity. It summarizes several models of giftedness that incorporate creativity such as Renzulli's Three Ring Conception of gifted behavior, Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, and Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent. The document also reviews research on identifying and measuring creativity in adults and discusses how creative behavior can be viewed as deviant.

1. Wasted Adult Potential
Scott R. Furtwengler
Justin Neil L. Young
Christine M. Peet
Jessi Cummings-Mengis

2. Symposium Format
• Conceptions of Giftedness that include
creativity
• Talent Development in Adults: Nurturing
Deviance?
• How to use the Medical Model
• Creativity in Deviant Populations

3. Justin Neil L. Young, M.Ed.
CONCEPTIONS OF GIFTEDNESS THAT
INCLUDE CREATIVITY

4. Giftedness and Creativity
The way in which evidence is interpreted dictates the role
creativity plays in defining giftedness, but there is a great
consensus that creativity is necessary for giftedness
• Three Ring Model (Renzulli, 1978)
• Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (Sternberg, 2000)
• Star Model (Tannenbaum, 2003)
• Dynamic Theory of Giftedness (Babaeva, 1999)
• Artistic and Musical Giftedness (Winner, 2000)
• Differentiated Model of Gifted and Talented (Gagne,
2009)

5. Three Ring Conception
Giftedness is the interaction of above averageability, task commitment, and creativity
(Renzulli, 1978)
• Academic test scores at the upper limit do not
reflect potential for productivity (Wallach,
1976)
• Productive persons far more task oriented
than general population
• Divergent thinking is a characteristic of highly
creative people, there is little predictive
validity.

6. Three Ring Conception

7. Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
Giftedness is present when an individual
demonstrates high levels of intelligence.
• Three types of intelligence (Sternberg, 2000)
– Analytic
– Creative
– Practical
• Successful intelligence based in both
personal and sociocultural standards and
context (Sternberg, 2006)

8. Star Model
• Giftedness is the ability to produce thoughts, tangibles,
artistry, or human services that are creative/proficient
(Tannenbaum, 1986)
• Addresses antecedents and concomitants of
demonstrated giftedness through five elements
–
–
–
–
–
Superior General Intellect
Distinctive Special Aptitudes
Nonintellective Requisites
Environmental Supports
Chance
• Elements have both static and dynamic aspects that
interact with each other (Tannenbaum, 2003)

9. Star Model

10. Dynamic Theory of Giftedness
Social aspects influence development of giftedness
(Babaeva, 1999)
• Based on Vygotsky‟s sociocultural theories
– Sociocultural environment presents barrier for positive
psychological development
– Stimulates compensation process to overcome
obstacle
– Successful adjustment and incorporation into
experience for future use
• Creativity increased over time for children in a
challenging classroom environment (Babaeva,
1999)

11. Artistic and Musical Giftedness
Giftedness is defined by precocity, intense
motivation, and qualitative differences in
learning and understanding information in the
domain (Winner & Martino, 2003).
• Creativity is an aspect of giftedness in within
a domain (Winner, 1997)
– Everyone has little „c‟ as children
– Few obtain big „C‟ in adulthood
• “[C]reativity is an inextricable part of
giftedness” (Winner, 2003, p. 371)

12. Differentiated Model of Giftedness
and Talent
• There is a distinction between giftedness and
talent (Gagne, 2003)
– Giftedness includes aptitude domains or natural
abilities
– Talents are fields in which aptitudes manifest
• Creativity considered as aptitude domain or
natural ability
• Intrapersonal characteristics, environmental
factors, and chance influence developmental
process between giftedness and talent

13. References
Babaeva, J. D. (1999). A dynamic approach to giftedness: Theory and practice. High Ability Studies,
10, 51-68.
Fliegler, L. A., & Bish, C. E. (1959). The gifted and talented. Review of Educational Research, 29, 408–
450.
Gagné, F. (1999). Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 22,
194–234.
Gagné, F. (2003). Transforming gifts into talents: The DMGT as a developmental theory . In N. Colangelo & G.
A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd ed., pp. 335–349). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education
Miller, A. L. (2012). Conceptualizations of Creativity: Comparing Theories and Models of Giftedness. Roeper Review,
34, 94-103. doi:10.1080/02783193.2012.660683
Renzulli, J. S. (1978). What makes giftedness? Reexamining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 180–
184.
Sternberg, R. J. (2000). Patterns of giftedness: A triarchic analysis. Roeper Review, 22, 231–235.
Sternberg, R. J. (2006). The Rainbow Project: Enhancing the SAT through assessments of analytical, practical, and
creative skills. Intelligence, 34 , 321–350
Tannenbaum, A. J. (1986). Giftedness: A psychosocial approach. In R. J. Sternberg & J. E. Davidson
(Eds.),
Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 21–52). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Tannenbaum, A. J. (2003). Nature and nurture of giftedness. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.),
Handbook
of gifted education (3rd ed., pp. 45–59). Boston, MA: Pearson Education
Winner, E. (1997). Giftedness vs. creativity in the visual arts. Poetics , 24 , 349–377.
Winner, E. (2000). The origins and ends of giftedness. American Psychologist, 55, 159–169.
Winner, E. (2003). Creativity and talent. In M. H. Bornstein, L. Davidson, C. L. M. Keyes, & K. A. Moore (Eds.), Wellbeing: Positive development across the life course (pp. 371–380). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Winner, E. & Martino, G. (2003). Artistic giftedness. In N. Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of
gifted
education (3rd ed., pp. 335–349). Boston, MA: Pearson Education

14. Scott R. Furtwengler, M.A.
TALENT DEVELOPMENT IN ADULTS:
NURTURING DEVIANCE?

15. Outline
• Adult Creativity in the context of
intelligence and giftedness
• Benefits of Creative Behavior in Adults
• Obstacles to identification
• Measures
• Future research

16. Creativity
• Sternberg: Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
– Analytical (componential)
– Practical (contextual)
– CREATIVE (experiential)
• Renzulli: Three Ring Conception of Gifted
Behavior
– Ability
– Task commitment
– CREATIVITY

17. Sternberg: Creative Facet
• Insight, synthesis, ability to react to novel
situations and stimuli
• On a continuum between novelty skills and
automatic skills

18. Renzulli: Creative-Productive
Giftedness
“Those aspects of human activity and
involvement where a premium is placed on
the development of original material and
products that are purposefully designed to
have an impact on one or more target
audiences.”

19. Subotnik: Talent Development is
the transformation…
• Of abilities into competencies
• Competencies into expertise
• Expertise into outstanding performance or
seminal ideas

20. Subotnik et al. (2011)
• Ability is necessary for giftedness
• Interest & commitment to a domain are necessary to becoming a
gifted achiever and attaining eminence
• Gifted achievement and eminence also depend on appropriate
teaching or coaching of psychosocial skills that include persistence
and exertion of effort - development of talent requires a substantial
investment of time
• The percentage of eminent adults is considerably smaller than the
percentage of children with gifted potential
• Developmental periods in which potential and eminence are
recognized differ across domains
• The transitions across stages are largely a function of developed
psychosocial skills
• The emergence of new domains creates additional opportunities for
the manifestation and development of talent and eminence

21. Identifying Adults with Gifted
Behavior
• Explore personal growth and self-efficacy
(Jacobsen, 1998)
• Correlates to an individual‟s mental health
and well-being (Caddy, Crawford, & Cage,
2012)
• Creative employees are important to an
organization‟s innovation, productivity, and
sustainability (Lukersmith & BurgessLimerick, 2013)
• Creative deficit (Mandel, 2009)

22. Measures of Creativity
• Save for the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA,
2008), predictive validity is limited
• The Candle Problem (Duncker, 1945)
• Wallace/Kogan (1965)
• Alternative Uses Test (Guilford, 1967)
• Nicholls (1972) suggests that an analysis of creative products
is preferable to the trait-based approach in making predictions
about creative potential.
• Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (1974)
• Wallach (1976) proposes that student self-reports about
creative accomplishment are sufficiently accurate to provide a
usable source of data
• Abedi Test of Creativity (ATC, 2000)

23. Creativity & Deviance
• Creative individuals are viewed as deviant
(Wells, Donnell, Thomas, Mills, & Miller,
2006)
• In group decision-making, group members
dislike deviant members and rate morale
lower despite increased innovation and
creativity (Rijnbout & McKimmie, 2012)
• Workers perceive employers as disingenuous
when calling for increased innovation
(Lencioni, 2010)

24. Nurturing Deviance
• Creative deviance (Mainemelis, 2010):
neither inherently destructive or constructive
• Positive deviance (Spreitzer & Sonenshein,
2004; Wexler, 2011): intentional behaviors
that depart from the norms of a referent
group in honorable ways.
• Innovative deviance (Acharya & Taylor, 2012)

25. Acharya & Taylor (2012)
Positive Deviance & Innovation
• It is intentional, voluntary, purposeful and
discretionary, rather than forced or
coerced
• It involves departure from the norms of a
referent group and it therefore unexpected
• It is honorable in nature
• It is beneficial to employees and
organizations

26. Creative Behavior
• Viewed as deviant (abnormal, aberrant)
behavior
• Not predictable (possible cause for the
difficulty in supporting scales with
predictive validity)
• Not controllable
• Scientific method: to predict and control

27. Future research
• Stereotype threat
• Social desirability
• New model for identification

28. References
Avey, J., Lynn Richmond, F., & Nixon, D. (2012). Leader Positivity and Follower Creativity: An Experimental Analysis. Journal Of Creative Behavior, 46(2), 99-118.
doi:10.1002/jocb.8
Binnewies, C., & Gromer, M. (2012). Creativity and innovation at work: the role of work characteristics and personal initiative. Psicothema, 24(1), 100-105.
Bloom, B. (1985). Developing talent in young People. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Caddy, L., Crawford, F., & Page, A. (2012). 'Painting a path to wellness': correlations between participating in a creative activity group and improved measured mental health
outcome. Journal Of Psychiatric And Mental Health Nursing, 19(4), 327-333. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01785.x
Chell, E., & Athayde, R. (2011). Planning for uncertainty: soft skills, hard skills and innovation. Reflective Practice, 12(5), 615-628. doi:10.1080/14623943.2011.601561
Commons, M., Ross, S., & Bresette, L. (2011). The connection between postformal thought, stage transition, persistence, and ambition and major scientific innovations. In C.
Hoare (Ed.) , The Oxford Handbook of Reciprocal Adult Development And Learning (2nd Ed) (pp. 287-301). New York, NY US: Oxford University Press.
Coxon, S. (2012). Innovative Allies. Gifted Child Today, 35(4), 277-284. doi:10.1177/1076217512455480
Hicks, J., Pedersen, S., Friedman, R., & McCarthy, D. (2011). Expecting innovation: psychoactive drug primes and the generation of creative solutions. Experimental And Clinical
Psychopharmacology, 19(4), 314-320. doi:10.1037/a0022954
Jones, E. (2012). Giving Ourselves Permission to Take Risks. Exchange (19460406), (206), 46-50.
Kerr, R. & McKay, R. (2013). Searching for tomorrow‟s innovators: Profiling creative adolescents. Creativity Research Journal, 25(1), 21-32. doi:10.1080/10400419.2013.752180
Knox, A. (2011). Creativity and Learning. Journal Of Adult And Continuing Education, 17(2), 96-111.
Lencioni, P. (2010). Why Companies Need Less Innovation. Businessweek.Com, 3.
Lukersmith, S., & Burgess-Limerick, R. (2013). The perceived importance and the presence of creative potential in the health professional's work environment. Ergonomics, 56(6),
922-934. doi:10.1080/00140139.2013.779033
Mainemelis, C. (2010). Stealing fire: Creative deviance in the evolution of new ideas. Academy of Management Review, 35, 558-578.
Mandel, M. (2009). INNOVATION INTERRUPTED. (cover story). Businessweek, (4135), 34-40.
Meyer, P. (2012). Embodied learning at work: Making the mind-set shift from workplace to playspace. New Directions For Adult & Continuing Education, 2012(134), 25-32.
doi:10.1002/ace.20013
Ness, R. (2011). Commentary: Teaching creativity and innovative thinking in medicine and the health sciences. Academic Medicine: Journal Of The Association Of American
Medical Colleges, 86(10), 1201-1203. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31822bbb9f
Renzulli, J.(1998) in Baum, S. M., Reis, S. M., & Maxfield, L. R. (Eds.). Nurturing the gifts and talents of primary grade students. Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.

29. References
Rietzschel, E., Nijstad, B., & Stroebe, W. (2010). The selection of creative ideas after individual idea generation: choosing between creativity and impact. British Journal Of
Psychology (London, England: 1953), 101(Pt 1), 47-68. doi:10.1348/000712609X414204
Rijnbout, J. S., & McKimmie, B. M. (2012). Deviance in group decision making: Group-member centrality alleviates negative consequences for the group. European Journal Of
Social Psychology, 42(7), 915-923. doi:10.1002/ejsp.1917
Saunders, L. (2012). Silences and silence in „creativity‟. London Review Of Education, 10(2), 215-225. doi:10.1080/14748460.2012.691285
Shavinina, L. (2013). How to Develop Innovators? Innovation Education for the Gifted. Gifted Education International, 29(1), 54-68.
Shavinina, L. (2012). The Phenomenon of the "Abortion" of New Ideas and the Impact of "Saved" Ideas and thus Implemented Innovations on the Economy in the Case of Gifted
Innovators. Talent Development & Excellence, 4(2), 171-179.
Smith, A., Courvisanos, J., Tuck, J., McEachern, S., & National Centre for Vocational Education, R. (2012). Building the Capacity to Innovate: The Role of Human Capital-Support Document. National Centre For Vocational Education Research (NCVER),
Spreitzer, G., & Sonenshein, S. (2004). Toward the construct definition of positive deviance. American Behavioral Scientist, 47, 828-487. DOI: 10.1177/0002764203260212
Subotnik, R. (2009). Developmental transistions in giftedness and talent: Adolescence into adulthood. The Development of Giftedness Across the Life Span. Horowitz, F.,
Subotnik, R., & Matthews, D. (Eds.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Subotnik, R. F., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., & Worrell, F. C. (2011). Rethinking Giftedness and Gifted Education: A Proposed Direction Forward Based on Psychological Science.
Psychological Science In The Public Interest (Sage Publications Inc.), 12(1), 3-54. doi:10.1177/1529100611418056
Walberg, N. (2012). The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Beating the Devil's Advocate & Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization. Colorado Libraries,
36(4), 1.
Wexler, M. (2011). POSITIVE DEVIANCE AND PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT IN PUBLIC AGENCIES. Optimum Online, 41(4), 2.

30. Christine Peet, M.Ed.
HOW TO USE THE MEDICAL
MODEL

31. WHAT IS THE MEDICAL MODEL?
• Set of assumptions
• Looks at behavioral abnormalities
using the same framework as physical
disease

32. How is creativity currently
identified?
• Social identity analysis (Hirst, Van Dick, &
Van Knippenberg, 2009).
• Problem identification and instruction
based on personality (Reiter-Palmon &
Robinson, 2009).
• Measuring post-formal thinking (Blouin &
McKelvie, 2012).

33. Problems with Current Identification
•
•
•
•
•
Lacks universal definition
Creativity is often overlooked
Lacks predictive validity
Potential wasted
Productivity not maximized

34. Foundation of “medical model”
• Psychoanalytic Theory assumes person
is:
– Sick
– Symptoms
– Cause
– Treatment
• Based on a “problem”

35. Foundation of “medical model”
• Theory of proposed creativity
identification process assumes:
– Data
– Universal definition
– Indicators
– Patient is involved
• Not trying to treat a “problem”

36. Why medical model?
Generally succinct
Tangible
Easily understandable
Relies primarily on objective and
measurable observation
• Universal definitions and standards
•
•
•
•

37. 2 Types of diagnoses in medical
model
• Substantial diagnosis
• Nominal diagnosis

38. Questions to ask
• As diagnosticians, or identifiers of
creativity, are we seeking and using
substantial or nominal diagnosis?
• How are both approaches useful in
practice?

39. What the medical model misses
• Phenomena that are not measurable
and quantifiable
• Psychological components
• Stress or emotional conflict

40. Why are psychological measures
important
• Can affect results of creativity measure
• Difficult to measure

41. What to do Regarding medical
model issues
• Ignore components that do not fit into
the medical model
• Implement alternative methods

42. Problems with medical model
• Psychological vs. physical components
• Difficulty identifying creativity

43. I‟m creative, but the medical model
did not diagnosis me properly.
• Person may be in the gray area
• Identifiers need to examine the gray
area

44. Limitations of universal medical
model
• Creativity looks differently throughout
cultures worldwide
• Individual components to consider:
– Environment
– Culture
– Vocation
– Ethnicity

45. Future research for identifying
creativity
• Improve proposed medical model
• Use a holistic approach

46. References
Albee, G. W. (1998). Fifty years of clinical psychology: Selling our soul to the devil. Applied & Preventive
Psychology, 7(1), 189-194.
Blouin, P. S., & McKelvie, S. J. (2012). Postformal thinking as a predictor of creativity and of the identification
and appreciation of irony and metaphor. North American Journal Of Psychology, 14(1), 39-50.
Chodoff, P. (2002). The Medicalization of the Human Condition. Psychiatric Services; doi: 10.1176.
Engel, G. L. (1977). The need for a new medical model: A challenge for biomedicine. British Journal of
Psychiatry, 196 (4286), 129-136.
Furnham, A. & Bower, P. (1992). A comparison of academic and lay theories of schizophrenia. British Journal
of Psychiatry, 161(1), 201-210.
Hirst, G., van Dick, R., & van Knippenberg, D. (2009). A social identity perspective on leadership and
employee creativity. Journal Of Organizational Behavior, 30(7), 963-982. doi:10.1002/job.60.
Laing, R.D. (1971). The Politics of the Family and Other Essays. London: Tavistock Publications.
Pilgrim, D. (2002). The biopsychosocial model in Anglo-American psychiatry: Past, prent and future? Journal
of Mental Health, 11(6), 585-594.
Reiter-Palmon, R., & Robinson, E. J. (2009). Problem identification and construction: What do we know, what
is the future?. Psychology Of Aesthetics, Creativity, And The Arts, 3(1), 43-47.
doi:10.1037/a0014629.
Shah, P. & Mountain, D. (2007). The medical model is deal – long live the medical model. The British Journal of
Psychiatry, 191, 375-377. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.037242.
Webb, J. T., Amend, E. R., Webb, N. E., Goerss, J., Beljan, P., & Olenchak, F. R., (2004). Misdiagnosis and Dual
Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, depression, and other
disorders. Scottsdale: Great Potential Press.

47. Question for the Audience
Based on your own personal knowledge,
how would you describe an adult who is
highly creative?

48. Jessi Cummings-Mengis, M.A.T., M.Ed
CREATIVITY IN DEVIANT
POPULATIONS

49. How is Creativity Used?
•
•
•
•
Use talents in an illegal fashion
Drop out of high school
Choose not to pursue abilities
Waste potential
• (Borzyskowski, 2009; Cratty, 2012; Grantham,
2011; Kim, 2008; Kampylis & Valtanen, 2010;
Rawe, 2007; Whiting, 2009; Zablowski, 2012)

50. Incarceration
• 7.1 million incarcerated in 2010
• (Glaze, 2011)
• Costs $26,074 per inmate, per year
• (James, 2013)
• After parole, 32.4% come back after three
year
• (Jones, 2010)

51. What About Adults?
• Research is focused on children and
adolescents
• Rareness in adult studies
• Unknown about what happens to
unidentified individuals
• Unknown about creativity/gifted and illegal
use

52. What About Adults?
• Relationship between ADHD and a person
in prison
– Overall rate 10.5%
– Male 9.8%
– Female 15.1%
– General population (2-5%)
• (Cahill, 2012)
• Relationship between ADHD and a person
who is gifted

53. Future Research
• Identify if high levels of creativity exist
within incarcerated populations
• Examine the relationship
• Work backwards
– Programs to decrease recidivism
– Identify youth
– Use creativity in legal ways

54. Thank you
You can contact Scott Furtwengler at
sfurtwengler@gmail.com