The psychology of professional and student actors: Creativity, personality, and motivation

The Language of Creativity: Evidence from Humans and Large Language Models

Recent developments in computerized scoring via semantic distance have provided automated assessments of verbal creativity. Here, we extend past work, applying computational linguistic approaches to characterize salient features of creative text. We hypothesize that, in addition to semantic diversity, the degree to which a story includes perceptual details, thus transporting the reader to another time and place, would be predictive of creativity. Additionally, we explore the use of generative language models to supplement human data collection and examine the extent to which machine-generated stories can mimic human creativity. We collect 600 short stories from human participants and GPT-3, subsequently randomized and assessed on their creative quality. Results indicate that the presence of perceptual details, in conjunction with semantic diversity, is highly predictive of creativity. These results were replicated in an independent sample of stories (n = 120) generated by GPT-4. We do not observe a significant difference between human and AI-generated stories in terms of creativity ratings, and we also observe positive correlations between human and AI assessments of creativity. Implications and future directions are discussed.

How to apply variable selection machine learning algorithms with multiply imputed data: A missing discussion

Psychological researchers often use standard linear regression to identify relevant predictors of an outcome of interest, but challenges emerge with incomplete data and growing numbers of candidate predictors. Regularization methods like the LASSO can reduce the risk of overfitting, increase model interpretability, and improve prediction in future samples; however, handling missing data when using regularization-based variable selection methods is complicated. Using listwise deletion or an ad hoc imputation strategy to deal with missing data when using regularization methods can lead to loss of precision, substantial bias, and a reduction in predictive ability. In this tutorial, we describe three approaches for fitting a LASSO when using multiple imputation to handle missing data and illustrate how to implement these approaches in practice with an applied example. We discuss implications of each approach and describe additional research that would help solidify recommendations for best practices. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring flexibility: A text-mining approach

In creativity research, ideational flexibility, the ability to generate ideas by shifting between concepts, has long been the focus of investigation. However, psychometric work to develop measurement procedures for flexibility has generally lagged behind other creativity-relevant constructs such as fluency and originality. Here, we build from extant research to theoretically posit, and then empirically validate, a text-mining based method for measuring flexibility in verbal divergent thinking (DT) responses. The empirical validation of this method is accomplished in two studies. In the first study, we use the verbal form of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) to demonstrate that our novel flexibility scoring method strongly and positively correlates with traditionally used TTCT flexibility scores. In the second study, we conduct a confirmatory factor analysis using the Alternate Uses Task to show reliability and construct validity of our text-mining based flexibility scoring. In addition, we also examine the relationship between personality facets and flexibility of ideas to provide criterion validity of our scoring methodology. Given the psychometric evidence presented here and the practicality of automated scores, we recommend adopting this new method which provides a less labor-intensive and less costly objective measurement of flexibility.

Actor Training: Competencies or Aptitude

<p>This paper examines the concepts of "competence" and "aptitude" in the federal state educational standards. The study substantiates the need for returning to the theoretical notions of aptitude, as developed in domestic psychology, when training specialists for creative professions. The authors analyse the content dynamics of the higher education standards in the acting profession across 2002, 2010, 2017 and 2021. The notion of aptitude is considered from the standpoint of S. L. Rubinstein's and A. N. Leontiev's activity theory and B. M. Teplov's concept of individual differences. Content analysis of the concepts of "competence" and "aptitude" demonstrates that the competence-based approach helps sustain the graduate's universal characteristics, which does not align with the educational process in the acting profession, focused on the individual approach and talent development. The authors note that the content of competencies does not account for the subject's unique characteristics, and is reduced to knowledge, skills, and abilities. The study thus emphasises the relevance of establishing a psycho-pedagogical service in higher education for creative professions</p>

The Language of Creativity: Validating Linguistic Analysis to Assess Creative Scientists and Artists

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to be among the first attempts to validate linguistic analysis as a method of creativity assessment and second, to differentiate between individuals in varying scientific and artistic creativity levels using personality language patterns. Creativity is most commonly assessed through methods such as questionnaires and specific tasks, the validity of which can be weakened by scorer or experimenter error, subjective and response biases, and self-knowledge constraints. Linguistic analysis may provide researchers with an automatic, objective method of assessing creativity, and free from human error and bias. The current study used 419 creativity text samples from a wide range of creative individuals mostly in science (and some in the arts and humanities) to investigate whether linguistic analysis can, in fact, distinguish between creativity levels and creativity domains using creativity dictionaries and personality dimension language patterns, from the linguistic inquiry and word count (LIWC) text analysis program. Creative individuals tended to use more words on the creativity keyword dictionaries as well as more introversion and openness to experience language pattern words than less creative individuals. Regarding creativity domains, eminent scientists used fewer introversion, and openness to experience language pattern words than eminent artists. Text analysis through LIWC was able to partially distinguish between the three creativity levels, in some cases, and the two creativity domains (science and art). These findings lend support to the use of linguistic analysis as a partially valid assessment of scientific and artistic creative achievement.

Understanding ideational fluency as a survival process

BACKGROUND

When students generate ideas, important inter-individual variance exists both in the quantity and the quality of ideas they are able to produce (e.g., perfectionists who have few highly creative ideas or mass producers who produce a lot of uncreative ideas). In educational psychology research on creativity, the relation between the quantity and quality of ideas has not been well understood, limiting progress in this area.

AIMS

We conceptualized Ideational Fluency as a phenomenon that requires participants to 'survive' to produce more ideas, and where dropping out of the ideational process was analogous to 'dying'. Using this novel paradigm, we aimed to test the relations among Fluency (as a dependent variable); and creative Expertise, Originality and self-reported Personality attributes (as independent variables).

SAMPLE AND METHOD

Participants were drawn from three groups: those with demonstrated expertise in stage or screen acting (n = 104); undergraduates being trained in the same domain (n = 100), and adults with no acting training or experience (n = 92). Participants responded to the Alternate Uses Task; Non-parametric and semi-parametric survival models were fit to their Ideational Fluency; and average and maximum Originality scores, as well as self-reported Personality attributes, were used as covariates.

RESULTS

Across all participants, the Ideational Fluency survival function showed an S-shape, but the Expertise grouping interacted with that pattern. The survival rate of professional actors decreased more rapidly during the first few ideas, but after the 5th idea, professional actors displayed a clear advantage in survival rate. Participants who were less original on average but who showed a high maximum Originality, as well as those participants who reported more Assertiveness and less Industriousness, also survived further into the Ideational process.

CONCLUSIONS

Contrary to our hypothesis, professional actors' advantage in Fluency did not manifest in the survival model until after the 5th idea generated. A quantity-quality trade-off was observed with average Originality being associated with shorter survival, but that trade-off was not observed with maximum Originality, which was associated with longer survival.

Rating the Acting Moment: Exploring Characteristics for Realistic Portrayals of Characters

Good actors appear to become their characters, making them come alive, as if they were real. Is this because they have succeeded in merging themselves with their character? Are there any positive or negative psychological effects of this experience? We examined the role of three characteristics that may make this kind of merging possible: dissociation, flow, and empathy. We also examined the relation of these characteristics to acting quality. Acting students (n = 44) and non-acting students (n = 43) completed a dissociation measure, and then performed a monologue that was recorded and rated on the dimensions of acting. Participants were then reassessed on dissociation to determine whether it increased as a function of performance. They were also then assessed on flow and empathy. Actors did not differ from non-actors on dissociation, but did score significantly higher than non-actors on some flow and empathy subscales, indicating a positive psychological experience and outcome. While non-actors’ dissociation marginally increased post-performance, actors’ dissociation rose significantly, which could indicate a negative psychological experience. Surprisingly, acting ratings were unrelated to the levels of dissociation, flow, or empathy. We concluded that, while these are tools used by actors to immerse themselves fully in their characters, they may not be necessary to create the illusion of an imaginary character come to life on stage.