Bakhiet SFA, Dutton E, Ali HAW, Madison G, Almoghyrah HAS, Al-Mutairy SHS, Essa YAS, Alruwaitea AAS, Aljbr ASR. Decreases in divergent thinking across age groups from 2005 to 2018 amongst school children in Sudan.
Acta Psychol (Amst) 2022;
231:103797. [PMID:
36427364 DOI:
10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103797]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 10/27/2022] [Accepted: 11/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Performances on tests of creativity have been found to be in decline in the USA. Here, we explore scores on divergent thinking tests in private schools in Khartoum State in Sudan by comparing a 2005 and a 2018 administration of the Torrance Standardized Circles test to 8- to 12-year-olds of both sexes. We find a decline across the period in all three dimensions of the test (Fluency, Flexibility and Originality), as well as in the overall index of divergent thinking. In line with much previous research, females consistently outperform males. Examining previous studies that report Negative Flynn Effects on IQ in Arab countries, we conclude that our results most likely reflect highly localized and exclusively environmental causes, and caution against assuming that the same processes that underlie Negative Flynn Effects in the West, whether on IQ or any trait correlated with it, also underlie it in the Arab World.
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