PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVE ABILITIES IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

The article presents a solution to an important psychological and pedagogical task concerning the development of creative abilities in high school students. It is determined that the creative potential of young individuals ensures their personal adaptability, success, and psychological balance in today’s rapidly changing world. The psychological essence of the phenomenon of “creativity” is analyzed as a mental process that allows generating new ideas or products that go beyond existing boundaries. It is established that creative abilities enable individuals to effectively solve problems in both life and professional activities. The study identifies the key psychological characteristics of creative high school students, which include spontaneity, harmony, creativity, creative thinking, high cognitive activity, developed imagination, flexible thinking, and a resourceful emotional state. It is concluded that teachers and school psychologists should comprehensively support the development of students’ creative abilities by applying innovative teaching technologies, encouraging the generation of original ideas in lessons, modeling real-life situations, using role-playing games, creativity development training, brainstorming techniques, and exercises aimed at developing imagination and creativity. A hypothesis is formulated that the development of creative abilities in high school students contributes to an increase in their cognitive activity and an improvement in their emotional state. To verify this, an empirical study was conducted using a modified version of S. Mednick’s test «Your Creative Potential», the Wessman-Ricks self-assessment method for emotional state, and B. Pashnev’s “Study of Students’ Cognitive Activity Level” test. A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the results is provided. Using correlation analysis, statistically significant direct correlations were found between creative potential and cognitive activity, as well as between creative potential and students’ emotional state, confirming our hypothesis. Finally, a training program for developing creative abilities in high school students is proposed, which can be used by school psychologists.