Patters of creative thinking in preadolescents with dyslexia: School level differences in the figural creative advantage

Although research on creativity and dyslexia produced contrasting results, accumulated evidence suggests that the characteristics associated with dyslexia may underlie the creative advantage often reported in the literature. Rather than a general creative advantage in individuals with dyslexia, empirical findings pointed at strengths in specific sub-processes of creative thinking. While previous studies have attempted to identify the cognitive mechanisms that explain the dyslexic creative benefit, the role of age has been scarcely investigated, especially during school transitions. To explore the age-related patterns of creative abilities in typical and atypical conditions, 64 children and preadolescents (age: 8–14) with and without dyslexia completed the Figure Completion test of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1990), together with a battery of reading tests. Results revealed a significant interaction effect between group (typical vs. dyslexia) and school level (primary vs. junior high school). Whereas primary school children with dyslexia showed comparable levels of flexibility and originality to their typical peers, junior high school students with dyslexia obtained significantly higher flexibility scores in the creative task. Furthermore, unlike typical peers – whose originality declined with age – children with dyslexia showed a tendency to increased originality. These findings reveal a distinct development of creativity in dyslexia, suggesting that creative skills may rise gradually across school years and counteract the age-related creative decline typically observed in adolescent peers.