Evaluation of Components of the Purdue Creative Thinking Program: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study investigated whether effects of the Purdue Creative Thinking Program (PCTP) were persistent over time. Students were pretested and then instructed for 14 wk. with one of the three PCTP components or a combination. Seven months later, divergent thinking measures were administered to 456 fourth, fifth and sixth grade pupils. For most treatments, no group was significantly better than controls across the outcome variables on the longitudinal tests. However, in the fourth grade, two instructional components were still effective. Thus short-term training (14 wk.) may not produce long-term changes in divergent thinking abilities.