Question

Research Summary:

Use this description of a study to answer the following sets of questions.

A study published in the Journal of Personality and Individual Differences found that adults with ADHD displayed more creative achievement than those who didn't have the disorder. "For the same reason that ADHD might create problems, like distraction, it can also allow an openness to new ideas," says Holly White, assistant professor of cognitive psychology. "Not being completely focused on a task lets the mind make associations that might not have happened otherwise."

White and Priti Shah at the University of Michigan gave 60 college students – half of them with ADHD – a series of tests measuring creativity across 10 domains. The ADHD group scored higher across the board. The ADHD group showed more of a preference for brainstorming and generating ideas than the non-ADHD group, which preferred refining and clarifying ideas.

The ADHD status of the participants was established by asking whether the individual had ever been clinically diagnosed with ADHD/ADD. The tests of creativity were pencil-and-paper tasks administered in a laboratory setting. Each of the ten scales was comprised of multiple questions, the scores on which were summed (e.g., writing creativity: "how many words can you make from the letters in the word 'psychology'?"; invention creativity: "write down as many uses for a paper clip that you can think of.") This procedure does allow for a participant to be scored as showing no creativity under these conditions.

a)    State the research question in plain language (I wonder if _____ is related to ______) (1 point)

b)    State the Null Hypothesis (1 point)

c)    State the Research Hypothesis (1 point)

d)    Is the Research Hypothesis directional or non-directional (1 point)

e) Name the Predictor / Independent Variable

f) Give the operational definition of the Predictor / Independent Variable

g) Evaluate the Construct validity of the Predictor / Independent Variable. (face, procedure, method-match)

Answer 1

a) State the research question in plain language (I wonder if creativity is related to ADHD.)

b)  State the Null Hypothesis.

Answer. A null hypothesis is a no difference hypothesis. The null hypothesis for this study is:

" There is no difference in creativity between adults with ADHD and those who do not have ADHD".

c) State the Research Hypothesis.

Answer. Research Hypothesis which is also called an alternative hypothesis are acceptable statements that gives the researcher a focus in making a research experiment. The research hypothesis for this study is:

" The adults having ADHD are more creative than those who don't have ADHD".

d)    Is the Research Hypothesis directional or non-directional.

Answer. As the Research Hypothesis is stating that one group would have more creativity than the other group, it is a directional Research Hypothesis.

e) Name the Predictor / Independent Variable

Answer. The Predictor / Independent Variable for this study is Creativity.

f) Give the operational definition of the Predictor / Independent Variable

Answer. " The scores on the 10 scale multiple choice question paper-pencil test exhibited creativity in individuals with/without ADHD. The ADHD/ADD status of the participants were established by asking questions whether they have been ever clinically diagnosed with this condition".

g) Evaluate the Construct validity of the Predictor / Independent Variable.

Answer. Ten scale paper-pencil test for creativity is a common method for measuring creativity, therefore it had good face validity. The questions of the tests were constructed to explore the creativity as for example the writing creativity and invention creativity, therefore, it specifically measured the creativity, thus it had good method-match validity. Also, the test was able to measure the difference of creativity in individuals with ADHD and without ADHD, thus, it had good procedural validity.