Guided Imagery and Its Role in Creativity and Expression in the Art Work of Adolescents
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 1-1-1982 Guided imagery and its role in creativity and expression in the art work of adolescents. Roberta Ellen Leff University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1 Recommended Citation Leff, Roberta Ellen, "Guided imagery and its role in creativity and expression in the art work of adolescents." (1982). Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014. 3792. https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_1/3792 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GUIDED IMAGERY AND ITS ROLE IN CREATIVITY AND EXPRESSION IN THE ART WORK OF ADOLESCENTS A Dissertation Presented By ROBERTA ELLEN LEFF Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF EDUCATION February 1982 Education GUIDED IMAGERY AND ITS ROLE IN CREATIVITY AND EXPRESSION IN THE ART WORK OF ADOLESCENTS A Dissertation Presented By ROBERTA ELLEN LEFF Approved as to style and content by; NesbiJ^' Outside Consultant Mario Fantini/, Dean School of Education Roberta Ellen Leff All Rights Reserved To my husband Jerry, whose treasured presence and constant support as best friend, physician, editor-in-chief, and head of the cheering squad really made all this possible. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The people involved in my work on this dissertation came from varied backgrounds which reflected the diversity of the study itself. Each individual brought with them a special expertise and contributed, most appropriately, their own creative input into research on creativity. --I thank Judy Speidel whose question one day in class "what is creativity?" initiated my quest for an answer and whose continued personal support and warmth, along with her in- valuable contribution of knowledge of art, literature and "proper writing style" helped me provide a possible answer. —Thanks to Paul Berube whose own aesthetic sensitivity and artistic accomplishments helped provide a proper perspective to this work and who enriched my aesthetic and artistic ex- periences and growth. --Thanks, also, to Liane Brandon for helping me to focus on the creative process with the same creative eye that charac- terizes her films. --To Marion Nesbit, a special thank you to a friend who helped me incorporate into my work a touch of the dedication to statistical, empirical research in education and psychology that characterizes her ov;n writings. charm and calming I also cannot forget Sue Parker for her gracious i v effect as she typed away, nor Sally Powell who plays with computers, inputs programs and translates printouts as if they were first grade readers. Thanks is not saying enough to either for their special and essential contributions. I must also include my gratitude to Nicky Wernick and Anna-Marie Wieser whose cherished friendships supported me throughout. And to you all, thanks for putting up with all the aches and pains and delays and for all being there and coming through for me. I shall not forget. V ABSTRACT Guided Imagery and Its Role in Creativity and Expression in the Art Work of Adolescents (February 1982) Roberta Ellen Leff, B.A., University of Massachusetts M.A.T., University of Massachusetts Ed.D., University of Massachusetts Directed by: Professor Judithe Speidel The normal course of development in art usually reaches a plateau in adolescence beyond which further expansion of creative expression rarely takes place. The essential causes of this plateau are generally considered to be related to increasing self-consciousness in adoles- cents caused by growing awareness of societal and/or peer influences and expectations regarding their visual expressions, and increasing reli- ance upon logical modes for thinking and verbal means for communicating. Thus, earlier productions characterized by creative schemas synthesizing color, line and shape are replaced by unimaginative, stilted and stereo- typical reproductions. This study is an approach to altering the adolescent plateau in art development via a device which attempts to alter accepted modes of per- ceiving, knowing, and depicting, and to stimulate latent, creative im- aging. The vehicle used is Guided Imagery Technique (GIT), a process by which suggestions, offered by one individual, alter and/or direct the images fantasized, processed and produced by another. GIT is character- ized by general relaxation of participants, and reduction of external and internal stimuli considered to impede creative processing. A stratified sample based on reading scores involved 10 "high" and VI I 10 "low" 7th grade students in drawing a garden during three treatments presented via taped instructions over four-week intervals. Passive ex- posure to instructions of "Draw a Garden" (Stage 1) was followed by in- formal goal directed instructional "Draw a Make-Believe Garden" (Stage 2) and then GIT for Stage 3 drawings. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to analyze results, including self-questionnaires, blind judging of drawings for creativity, direct observations, and personal interviews. Findings indicate that drawings from Stage 3 (GIT) showed a signi- ficant gain in creativity in both groups compared to other stages. The "high" group experienced a larger gain than the "low." A group differ- ence in progression through stages was also noted. Students reported involvement with GIT enhanced their imagination, vivified imaging, freed them from conventional restraints, thus facilitating creative drawing, and served as an experience they wished to repeat. Marked changes oc- curred in degree and type of student involvement during Stage 3 (GIT) over other stages. VI 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of Purpose 1 Definition of Terms 2 Theoretical Framework 3 Delimitations 4 Organization of the Study 5 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 7 Development in Art: Two Unique Facets of the Process 7 Children and Their Art: An Historical Perspective 8 Developmental Difference: The Growing Child's Stages of Art 10 The Adolescent as Artist: The Move from Producer to Spectator 19 The Right Hemisphere, Sources of Incubation and Imagery and New Directions Towards Creativity 24 The Creativity Question: Process, Product and Person in Creativity in Art 26 Guided Imagery: The Potential for Enhanced Creativity in Art 31 III. THE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 38 Population 38 Selection of Sample 40 Major Hypothesis 41 Minor Hypothesis 41 The Research Design 42 IV. INSTRUMENTATION 44 Introduction 44 Quantitative Measures 44 Qualitative Measures 43 V. PROCEDURES 50 50 Stages of Study . Quantitative Measures 56 Qualitative Measures. 60 vi i i VI. ANALYSIS OF QUANTITATIVE DATA 64 Introduction 64 Analysis of Descriptive Scale for Creative Drawing 64 Analysis of the Adjective Self-Description Questionnaire and the Descriptive Scale for Creative Drawing 76 VII. ANALYSIS OF QUALITATIVE DATA 79 Analysis of Observation Reports 79 Analysis of Personal Interviews 83 VIII. INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS 98 Introduction 98 Interpretation of Findings 98 IX. IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN THE EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY 113 APPENDIX A 117 APPENDIX B 126 APPENDIX 163 IX LIST OF TABLES 1. Inter-rater Reliability Using Pearson "r" on DSCD. ...... 66 2. Analysis of Mean Scores on DSCD Across Groups and Stages 67 3. Analysis of Creativity Means Across Groups and Stages 68 4. Analysis of Variance of Subjects, Groups, and Stages 69 5. Comparison of Means Across Stages on Item "Originality" from DSCD 72 6. Comparison of Means Across Stages on Item "Representation" (From Realism to Abstraction) from DSCD 72 7. Comparison of Means Across Stages on Item "Fluency" from DSCD 72 8. Correlation of ASD 1 ("Efficiency") with DSCD "Handling" 76 9. Correlation of ASD 4 ("Creativity") with Creativity in Stages 77 10. Pearson Correlation Coefficients for All Variables in the Study 78 11. Observational Accounts of "High" and "Low" Groups During Stage 1, "Draw A Garden" 118 12. Observational Accounts of "High" and "Low" Groups During Stage 2 "Draw a Make-Believe Garden" 120 13. Observational Accounts of "High" and "Low" Groups During Stage 3, GIT, "Draw A Magical Garden" 122 X LIST OF FIGURES la. The Stages of Development in Art as Portrayed in the Work of Rhoda Kellogg 15 lb. The Stages of Development in Art as Portrayed in the Work of Rhoda Kellogg 16 2. Visual Examples of Thirteen Levels of Children's Treatment of Space in Drawing 18 3. Typical Solutions by Children to the Problem of Representing a Cube 20 4. Effect of Interaction of Group and Stage 71 5. Drawing of "A Garden" from Stage 1 by "Karen" (12" x 18") 128 6. Drawing of "A Make-Believe Garden" from Stage 2 by "Karen" (12" x 18") 130 7. Drawing of "The Magical Garden" from Stage 3 by by "Karen" (12" x 18") 132 8. Drawing of "A Garden" from Stage 1 by "Liz" (12" X 18") 134 9. Drawing of "A Make-Believe Garden" from Stage 2 by "Liz" (12" x 18") 136 10. Drawing of "The Magical Garden" from Stage 3 by "Liz" (12" X 18") 138 11. Drawing of "A Garden" from Stage 1 by "Mike" (9" x 12") 140 12. Drawing of "A Make-Believe Garden" from Stage 2 by "Mike" (9" x 12") 142 13. Drawing of "The Magical Garden" from Stage 3 by "Mike" (12" x 18") 144 14. Drawing of "A Garden" from Stage 1 by "Barb" (9" x 12") 146 15. Drawing of "A Make-Believe Garden" from Stage 2 by "Barb" (9" x 12") 148 16. Drawing of "The Magical Garden" from Stage 3 by "Barb" (9" x 12") 150 17. Drawing of "A Garden" from Stage 1 by 152 "Tom" (12" X 18") 18. Drawing of "A Make-Believe Garden" from Stage 2 154 by "Tom" (12" x 18") 19.