title: Mechanical inventiveness: a three-phase study.
abstract: This paper focuses on mechanical inventiveness, the conception and development of new devices which require use of mechanical principles. In Phase 1 of the three-phase investigation, we studied 34 inventors who received between three and 82 agricultural and industrial patents. These inventors formed the original criterion group of mechanical inventors. Phase 2 of the investigation was the development of an inventiveness measure. From the criterion group of adult mechanical inventors, the Iowa Inventiveness Inventory (III) was developed to measure attitudes and characteristics of inventors. Subjects for Phase 3 of the study were 90 young inventors (40 males, 50 females), students (grades five to eight) who won local and regional invention contests and reached the state convention of Invent Iowa. In Phase 3, Invent Iowa state finalists in grades five to eight (n = 90) were administered the III and the Mechanical Reasoning test of the Differential Aptitude Tests. Characteristics of the young inventors, as delineated by these assessments, are provided.
authors.affiliation: Connie Belin National Center for Gifted Education, University of Iowa, College of Education, Iowa City 52242-1529.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Colangelo
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Assouline
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kerr
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Huesman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001076:Aptitude; D002648:Child; D002672:Child, Gifted / Q000523:psychology*; D003405:Creativity; D004738:Engineering; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010330:Patents as Topic; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support