TOPIC 1 - Determinants of Individual Differences?

Heredity: Heredity is a biological process that transmits physical and social traits from parents to off-
springs. Heredity is the most important factor or determinants of individual differences. It has significant
role in-generating individual differences in the born-child which can be explained as follows-

1) Heredity determine the sex of the child: We know that there are 23 pairs of chromosomes
transmitted at the time of conception from parents to off-springs. Out of these the first 22 pairs
of chromosomes are called autosomes which are responsible for deciding the growth and
development of most of the characteristics and structural position of our body. The staying 23rd
pair is the sex chromosome. Whether the baby will be a boy or a girl, is decided by sex
chromosomes.

Determination of sex-boy or Girl?

At the time of conception mother can contribute only one type of sex chromosome that is X
chromosome. On the other hand father can contributed either X or Y chromosome. If X chromosome is
transmitted from father, the child will be female and if Y chromosome is transmitted from the father,
the child will be a male.

2) Heredity contributes significantly towards physical contribution: Most of the qualities related to
make-up of our body, its structure and function are specified and guided by heredity. For
Example-1) Some children have blue eyes, others have black. 2) Same is the case with the
colour and texture of the skin and hair, height, facial outlook and appearances, blood group,
finger prints etc. 3) Besides such differences in the physical contribution, structure and body
make-up, hereditary factor are also said to be the sole cause for the diseases like tuberculosis,
cancer, haemophilia, schizophrenia and other abnormalities.

3) Contribution of heredity towards the birth of twins and related individual differences:
Sometimes there are births of twins. There are two distinct types of twins, identical twins and
fraternal twins.

Identical twins:

Usually fertilisation of one ovum produces one off-spring. Sometime however, when the ovum splits as a
result of fertilisation, the two parts fail to united together. As a result, each part develops into a
complete individual. Thus the twins are formed which are called Identical twins because they carry
exactly the same genes. They posses almost the same characteristics and they are definitely of the same
sex. However they may also posses their individual differences and variations.

Fraternal twins:
Usually during a woman's menstrual cycle, only one egg matures. But sometimes it may happen that
two or more ovum is matured and get fertilised simultaneously by two different sperm. The result is that
two different zygotes are produced. Thus the twins are produced which are called Fraternal twins or
Non-identical twins. Fraternal twins are differing in many traits. They are not in same sex each time.

Environment: Environment is also a very important factor or determinant of Individual Differences.

There are many numbers of environmental factors determine the Individual differences. These are
classified as internal and external.

1) Internal Environment: Before birth, the mother's womb is the place where a foetus gets its
nourishment from the blood stream of its mother. The environment available to her during
pregnancy is very important for the baby. Mother's eating or drinking has an impact on the
growth and development of the child. If the mother remains tense, worried, anxious and
emotionally upset or mentally disturbed then it may eventually have an adverse effect on the
growth and development of the baby. Individual differences in the children are thus certainly
caused by the variations and differences existed in the physical and mental health of their
mothers during pregnancy. At the time of delivery, the environment available to the mother and
the child also affects the well being, growth and development of the child. Here the individual
differences may be caused by situation like premature or mature delivery, normal delivery or a
caesarean delivery, hygienic or unhygienic condition and the general atmosphere at the time of
delivery. In every society has a cultural heritage which is coming from generation to generation.
Social and religious institution in a society transferred the beliefs, values, attitudes and customs
of the society to every individual in different ways. Thus, above mentioned Socio-Cultural
environment act as determinant of individual differences on individuals in the same society and
culture.

2) External Environment: After birth all things related to the external environment (physical, socio-
cultural, economy and psychology) influence and effect on individual differences.

A) Physical Environment: Physical environment include climate and natural resources. People in
various parts of the world live under diverse climatic conditions. People living in extreme cold
and hot regions, deserts, hilly areas and plains have remarkable differences in their height, body
built, skin colour, habits and style of living.

B) Socio-Cultural Environment: The socio-cultural factors include family, neighbourhood, school

and other social groups, social customs, socio-cultural values, attitudes, language etc. They play
very important role in shaping the personality of an individual. As outcome children develop
personal like and dislikes, aspirations, stereotypes, emotional reactions, moral standards, values
and so on. The school has a significant role on the development of personality of a child. The
 school environment provides opportunities and scope for the child to develop into a scholar, an
artist, a group leader, a musician or a social worker.

Every society has a cultural heritage which is coming from generation to generation. Social and religious
institution in a society transferred the beliefs, values, attitudes and customs of the society to every
individual in Different ways. Thus, above mentioned Socio-Cultural environment act as determinant of
individual differences on individuals in the same society and culture.

C) Economic Environment: Economic factors also develop distinctive characteristics in persons and
thus contributed to the phenomena of individual differences. Within the society we find that
children from economically strong families are different in many ways from the children from
the economically weak families.

D) D) Psychological Factor: Psychological factors includes intelligence, memory, thinking, imagine,

learning, speaking, feeling, interest, attention, attitude etc. The differences in these
psychological factors are important in determining individual differences.

E) E) Nutrition: Nutrition is one of the most important determinants of individual differences.

Maternal nutrition is one of the major factors that has been found to influence individuals
during pregnancy of mother. If the mother does not take balance diet, malnutrition would occur
and this can make a lot of differences in the individual's make up. For example - An environment
where enough nutrients are available, the brain of a child might develop normally during
pregnancy period of mother. On the other hand, the brain of the child might not develop
properly. After birth of child nutrition has also great impact on growth and development.
Children who suffer from food, health drinks are different in many ways from the children who
have no problem of getting food and health drinks.

TOPIC 2 – Concept, Nature and Characteristics of Creativity

A) Concept of Creativity - Various meanings have been attached by thinkers and writers to such
terms as creativity, creative in the creative process. However, by and large, these terms connote
the same meaning and significance. According to Drevdahl, "Creativity is the capacity of a
person to produce composition, products or ideas Which are essentially new or novel and
previously unknown to the producer"

In the words of C.E Skinner, "Creative thinking means that the predictions and or inferences for the
individual are new, original, ingenious, and unusual. The creative thinker is one who explores new areas
and makes new observations, new predictions, new inferences. R.Stanger and T.F Karwoski state,
"Creativity implies the production of a totally or partially novel identity" R.C Wilson, J.P Guilford, and P.R
Christine define creativity in these works" The creativity process is any process by which something new
is produced an idea or an object including a new form of arrangement of old elements. Creativity to the
artist is the ability to evoke an emotional mood. To the architect, creative is the ability to evolve new
approaches, form, and new materials.

Nature of Creativity

1. Creativity is the capacity to accept challenges.

2. Creativity is the freedom to exercise choice

3. Creativity is the readiness to change self and the environment

4. Creativity knew no special medium, place person, or time.

5. Creativity is a process as well as a product

6. Creativity is a complex, dynamic and serious process.

7. Creativity is the result of some interaction

8. Creativity is the ability to synthesise ideas or objects.

9. Creativity is the ability to create new ideas theories or objects.

10. Creativity is the ability to develop something original

11. Creativity has several dimensions. Characteristics of Creative

Personality Torrance has compiled a list of eighty- four characteristics describing the creative personality
some of these are:

• Adventurous
• Courageous
• Curious
• Determined
• Explore
• Flexible in thinking, feeling, and doing
• Intuitive
• Non-conforming
• Sincere
• Self-disciplined
• Visionary
• Willing to take risks