China's Young Inventors

The focus of the current study is the individual and environmental
attributes of inventiveness among children and adolescents.
Research was conducted on the young inventors who were part of a
nation-wide inventive ideation contest for children and adolescents
in P. R. China. A total of 621 (303 boys, 318 girls, Mage = 13.9,
SD = 2.5) 4th to 12th grade students from 112 schools all over
China participated in the study. Among them, 38 (20 boys, 18 girls,
Mage = 14.9, SD = 3.3) reported holding one or more patents.
Independent t-test showed, compared to their lower-level
counterparts, higher-level young inventors were more intrinsically
motivated for inventive endeavours and were more open to new
experiences. They also reported more encouragement and resources
for invention from their schools. Logistic regression showed that
school encouragement made the major contribution in discriminating
these two groups. 2×3 MANONA revealed a significant main effect of
gender and age group but no significant interaction between the two
factors. Results of the univariate tests challenged the stereotyped
view against the inventive ability of girls. Girls scored higher in
Openness and lower in executive thinking style. The aesthetic
appeal of their inventive products was also rated higher by
experts. Albeit this superiority, girls, however, reported less
encouragement from their parents to make inventions. Results of the
cross-sectional study of the different age groups did not support a
hypothesized growth of inventiveness from the lower to the higher
grades. Instead, an uneven developmental pattern in inventiveness
and the relevant domains were revealed, which was on the large part
attributed to the influence of the educational environment. Taken
together, the results of the current study highlight the important
role the environmental factors play in fostering or hindering the
development of inventiveness among children and adolescents.