Creativity is typically measured using divergent thinking tasks where participants are asked to generate multiple responses following a prompt. However, being able to generate responses captures only a partial picture of creativity. Convergent thinking, in which a single solution is chosen, is an equally important part of creativity that is often left out of divergent thinking assessments. Moreover, as the field of creativity evolves, exploration is starting to be recognized as an understudied component of how children generate and apply creative solutions. The current study moved beyond typical divergent thinking tasks and examined a measure of creativity that also captured 4- to 6-year-old children’s convergent thinking and exploration behaviors. A total of 130 children participated in a creative problem-solving task where they were asked to remove a ball from a jar using everyday objects. Children’s actions were coded as divergent thinking, convergent thinking, or exploration behaviors. Results demonstrated that divergent and convergent thinking performance was not associated with success on the task, indicating that simply generating and selecting more responses is not always enough to achieve a creative outcome. Children’s exploration behaviors were positively associated with success on the task. Exploration behaviors were more likely to lead to success if they were purposeful and iterative. These findings provide some of the first evidence that children’s exploration is a vital component of creativity.

创造力通常使用发散思维任务来衡量，参与者被要求在提示后产生多个响应。然而，能够产生反应只能捕捉到创造力的一部分。选择单一解决方案的趋同思维是创造力的一个同等重要的组成部分，通常被排除在发散思维评估之外。此外，随着创造力领域的发展，探索开始被认为是儿童如何产生和应用创造性解决方案的一个未被充分研究的组成部分。目前的研究超越了典型的发散思维任务，并检查了一项创造力的衡量标准，该衡量标准还捕捉了 4 至 6 岁儿童的集中思考和探索行为。共有 130 名儿童参与了一项创造性的问题解决任务，他们被要求使用日常用品从罐子中取出一个球。儿童的行为被编码为发散思维、收敛思维或探索行为。结果表明，发散和收敛的思维表现与任务的成功无关，这表明简单地产生和选择更多的反应并不总是足以实现创造性的结果。儿童的探索行为与任务的成功呈正相关。如果探索行为是有目的的和迭代的，则更有可能导致成功。这些发现提供了一些初步证据，证明儿童的探索是创造力的重要组成部分。儿童的行为被编码为发散思维、收敛思维或探索行为。结果表明，发散和收敛的思维表现与任务的成功无关，这表明简单地产生和选择更多的反应并不总是足以实现创造性的结果。儿童的探索行为与任务的成功呈正相关。如果探索行为是有目的的和迭代的，则更有可能导致成功。这些发现提供了一些初步证据，证明儿童的探索是创造力的重要组成部分。儿童的行为被编码为发散思维、收敛思维或探索行为。结果表明，发散和收敛的思维表现与任务的成功无关，这表明简单地产生和选择更多的反应并不总是足以实现创造性的结果。儿童的探索行为与任务的成功呈正相关。如果探索行为是有目的的和迭代的，则更有可能导致成功。这些发现提供了一些初步证据，证明儿童的探索是创造力的重要组成部分。表明仅仅产生和选择更多的响应并不总是足以实现创造性的结果。儿童的探索行为与任务的成功呈正相关。如果探索行为是有目的的和迭代的，则更有可能导致成功。这些发现提供了一些初步证据，证明儿童的探索是创造力的重要组成部分。表明仅仅产生和选择更多的响应并不总是足以实现创造性的结果。儿童的探索行为与任务的成功呈正相关。如果探索行为是有目的的和迭代的，则更有可能导致成功。这些发现提供了一些初步证据，证明儿童的探索是创造力的重要组成部分。