The effects of an extended art experience on selected personality factors

This experimental study tested the effects of an extended art experience on selected personality and cognitive style factors. The treatment was a class in art appreciation on the college level and extending for one semester, and its purpose was to enable students to experience an approach to the organization of art phenomena which was directly related to the cognitive style and personality factors described by Irvin L. Child in his research in aesthetic sensitivity. The pre- and post test was a randomized compilation of the items from the seven measures used by Child, namely, (1) tolerance of ambiguity, ambivalence, and unrealistic experience, (2) scanning, (3) regression in the service of the ego, (4) independence of judgment, (5) anxiety, (6) tolerance of complexity and (7) extroversion v. introversion; and five measures from the California Psychological Inventory, (1) To, tolerance, (2) Ai, achievement via independence, (3) Sa, self-acceptance, (4) Fx, flexibility, and (5) Ps, psychological-mindedness. Four intact groups were used, two treatment groups, one with 14 students and the second with 24 students, and two control groups, an art class with 15 students and a mathematics class with 21 students.Analysis of covariance was used to test a null hypothesis for each of the 12 variables contained in the data gathering instrument. The F ratio for four of the measures reached the .05 level of significance. They were Scanning and Regression in the Service of the Ego for Treatment Group 2 and To and Fx for Treatment Group 1. No measure reached significance for both treatment-groups.Correlation coefficients were obtained to establish the presence of relationships between the two sets of measures. Regression in the Service of the Ego correlated negatively with To and Ai at the .05 level of significance. The correlation of Independence of Judgment with Fx was significant at the .001 level and with Ps at the .05 level. Anxiety correlated negatively with To, Ai and Ps and all were significant at the .001 level. Tolerance of Complexity correlated with Fx and Ps, both significant at the .05 level. Extroversion v. Introversion correlated with Sa at the .001 level of significance.Correlations were obtained for the post test variables for both the control groups and the treatment groups to determine if the magnitude of the correlations were greater for the treatment group than for the control group. The t test for difference between independent correlations was used to test for significance. The correlation between Tolerance of Complexity and Sa was the only one in which a significant difference was found in favor of the treatment group. The other post test correlation that was significant was that of Scanning with To, which favored the control group.The data was subjected to factor analysis and seven factors emerged, (1) resourcefulness and self assurance, (2) inhibition and compliance, (3) social extroversion and self-confidence, (4) narrow focusing of attention, (5) explicitness and single-mindedness, (6) intolerance and submission, and (7) independence and tolerance. It was concluded that the teaching method for art appreciation used in this study does not substantially increase the general capacity for responding aesthetically as measured by the selected personality factors.Thesis (D. Ed.