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Home » Creativity in psychology & cognitive science » J.P. Guilford

J.P. Guilford

Joy Paul Guilford or J.P. Guilford, born on the 7th of March in 1897 at Nebraska, was a renowned American psychologist, noted for the psychometric study that he carried out in the field of intelligence in man. J.P. Guilford did his graduation from the famous University of Nebraska before he opted for carrying out his studies at the Cornell University under the expert guidance of Edward Titchener, a professor at the Cornell University. Before J.P. Guilford became the Director of Psychological Research at the Santa Ana Army Air Base in the year 1941, he worked at various places in Nebraska and also at the famous University of Southern California for a short time period.

J.P. Guilford drew a clear line of distinction between divergent and convergent production and expanding L.L. Thurstone’s views, he discarded the view of Charles Spearman who stated that intelligence could be described in only one parameter of numbers and suggested that for describing something accurately, three dimensions were essential:
  • Content
  • Operation
  • Productions
  • The dimension of Content – This dimension is comprised of extensive areas of information where the application of the operations is done. The dimension of content can be classified broadly into four sections –
    • Figural - Embraces the non-verbal or pictorial
    • Symbolic – Comprises verbal communication and thinking
    • Semantic – Includes info arranged as signs and symbols like letters and numbers that are meaningless
    • Behavioral - Covers all acts of a person that are behavioral and psychological
  • The dimension of Operation – This dimension is comprised of five types of basic intellectual processes or operations –
    • Cognition – The capabilities to recognize, realize, explore and be alert
    • Memory - The skill to recollect information
    • Divergent Production - The way of yielding more than one solution to any problem
    • Convergent Production – The method of obtaining only one solution to any problem
    • Evaluation – The way of estimating the accuracy, consistency or validity of any answer
  • The dimension of Productions – This dimension includes the results of the application of specific operations to particular contents. Altogether six types of products are there –
    • A Unit - Corresponds to only one piece of information
    • A Class – A system of things that possess some qualities
    • A Relation – Corresponds to a link between the items
    • A System – This is an arrangement of networks or items with interacting components
    • A Transformation – Alters the attributes of any item like turning the order of the letters in any word
    • An Implication – It is a prediction or anticipation
Thus in accordance with J.P. Guilford’s structure of intellect includes 5X4X6 = 120 factors or abilities of intellect, each of these being the representation of a specific operation in a particular area of content offering a particular product. J.P. Guilford adapted his structure of intellect and substituted the category of the figural within the dimension of the content with Visual and Auditory categories of the dimension of Content. This modification resulted in the number categories of the Content to be changed to 5 and the total number of the abilities of intellect to be 5X5X6 = 150 categories.

J.P. Guilford died at the age of 90 on the 26th of November in 1987 at Los Angeles.

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