The focus of the work is fundamental research on theoretically appropriate psychometric models of divergent thinking tests, the development of new objective scoring indices and comparison of these indices with subjective scoring of originality. A secondary focus is the relations of divergent thinking to cultural variables. Divergent thinking (DT) is a crucial component of creative thinking and potential. Thus, the measurement of DT one of the core issues of assessment of creative potential. Typically, DT tests can be scored in three different ways, resulting in fluency, flexibility or originality scores. Fluency is simply the counted number of ideas a person generated during task fulfillment, flexibility is the number of different categories, whereas originality refers to the uniqueness in an inventive sense. For all of these indices for DT test performance, several research questions will be examined. With respect to fluency scores, a psychometric model will be applied that takes into account that fluency scores are naturally count data: the Rasch-Poisson counts model (RPCM). Moreover this model has all the properties that Rasch models typically possess. This model has not yet been applied to fluency scores from DT tests and methodological issues regarding this model will be examined as well. The RPCM will be applicable to flexibility scores as well. Furthermore, with respect to flexibility we will examine if it matters how the category system for assigning the ideas is derived. Typically, such category systems are derived by trained raters and then ideas are assigned according to it. Another possibility is to ask participants to build up their own categories, an approach that has never yet been compared to expert derived categories. In addition, we will examine issues regarding originality. Originality scores suffer from the following methodological problems: 1) confounding of fluency and originality; 2) ambiguity of statistical rarity; and 3) dependence on sample size. None of the proposed objective indices take all of these problems into account. Moreover, problems occurring with subjective originality scoring, such as confounding of the ratings due to, for example, personality variables of the raters, will be examined too, whereby a comparison of different subjective and objective scoring methods will be included. For all three different DT scores (fluency, flexibility and originality) we will examine their relationships with cultural variables, in particular exposure to multiple cultures, which is a dimension that is expected to be positively related to performance in DT tests. To summarize, various assessment issues will be examined with the additional focus on multiculturalism. The complementary skills of the French and German teams are crucial for the success of the project. Planned tasks for each year of the project are described.

Our research program is intended to address the needs of a growing population of people with disabilities during the critical period of the transition to adulthood and to better understand the impact of the physical, social and attitudinal environment on participation in society and quality of life in young adults with cerebral palsy. Young people with disabilities represent an emerging group of citizens enjoying better health care, new communication technologies and societal attitudes allowing inclusion in all areas of living. They have both the right and the wish to fully participate in society. However, they continue to be disadvantaged in many domains and face numerous barriers such as fragmented health care beyond the age of adolescence, lack of integration of health, social, educational, and work related services, poor accessibility in their own homes and in the community, stigmatizing attitudes harmful not only to the individual but also to their supporting network. All result in isolation, increased vulnerability, and restricted involvement in life situations as compared to able-bodied peers. With lower employment rate and education level, the poverty rate for the disabled is 70% higher than the average. Our overall objective is to explore the determinants of a successful transition to adulthood in young people with cerebral palsy living in very different European regions in France and Germany. Cerebral palsy is studied as an exemplar of the disabled condition. We aim to identify enabling factors and barriers in the transition process in several life areas, focusing on environmental determinants and health care services amenable to interventions. Comparison with the general population will identify in what domains difficulties are the most prevalent. We will characterize the trajectories from childhood to young adulthood and determine the predictors of a successful young adulthood in the health, educational, professional and social fields in a longitudinal sample for which we have data from two previous data collections of young people with cerebral palsy. The main outcome is participation as defined by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the WHO (2001). It will be measured both as the quantity of participation as well as its subjective appraisal. The secondary outcome will be health status and quality of life, a multidimensional concept which includes subjective evaluations of both positive and negative aspects of life. Predictors will be the environmental factors (physical and social), social determinants and attitudes, health services, social services, and access to employment taking into account regional variation across sites.