Scientific innovation potential

Abstract

This article reports and interprets the results of focus groups investigating early indicators of scientific‐innovation potential among junior‐high‐school‐age science‐oriented students. A blend of qualitative and quantitative data is presented which suggest that (a) creative thinking and intrinsic motivation distinguish these students from their peers better than other creativity‐related variables; (b) the earliest indicators of these abilities are persistent inquisitiveness combined with a long attention span often demonstrated by early reading or verbal ability; (c) these indicators are apparent by preschool or early‐elementary‐school age; and (d) these abilities are accompanied by a range of social supports which include a rich reading environment, an encouraging extended family, special teachers, and early identification. Both students and their parents portray their schools as generally unsupportive or hostile to creativity; students indicated that a comparable scientific ability among their age peers frequently goes unnourished. We use these data and existing research to propose that convergent capabilities necessarily precede divergent capabilities in the early development of scientific‐innovation potential.