{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T02:45:23Z","timestamp":1785725123041,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":63,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785542400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100011941","name":"Principality of Asturias through the Call for Research Groups of Public R&D&I Organizations","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["IDE\/2024\/000713"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IDE\/2024\/000713"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100011941","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Severo Ochoa Program","award":["BP24-051"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["BP24-051"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Intell."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Divergent thinking is a key educational skill associated with cognitive and pre-literacy abilities. However, the limited research conducted with preschool populations makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions and to inform curriculum changes at early ages. This study aimed to (1) examine sex and school grade differences in divergent thinking at this stage, and (2) analyze the explanatory power of creative variables for preliteracy skills in second-cycle preschool students. A total of 80 children aged 3 to 5 years (M = 4.44; SD = 0.57) participated in this study. They completed an ad hoc figurative drawing test based on widely used instruments created for older age groups. More specifically, this test assessed fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration (Cronbach\u2019s alpha = 0.89). Additionally, the AEI-R battery was administered to evaluate cognitive and pre-literacy skills. Multivariate analyses revealed only limited sex-related differences in divergent thinking variables, while no statistically significant differences emerged by grade level. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analysis indicated that creative elaboration offered incremental explanatory power, contributing uniquely and significantly to the variance in pre-literacy skills. Overall, these findings suggest associations between specific dimensions of divergent thinking and cognitive and pre-literacy variables in early childhood.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jintelligence14080163","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T01:43:27Z","timestamp":1785721407000},"page":"163","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Divergent Thinking in Early Childhood: Dimensions That Support Pre-Literacy Skills"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4670-8444","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claudia","family":"Flores","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9262-0623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"D\u00e9bora","family":"Areces","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4137-4503","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Celestino","family":"Rodr\u00edguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"In\u00e9s","family":"L\u00f3pez-Manrique","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Educational Sciences, University of Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsc.2015.11.003","article-title":"Creativity development trajectories in elementary education: Differences in divergent and evaluative skills","volume":"19","year":"2016","journal-title":"Thinking Skills and Creativity"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Artola, T., Barraca, J., Mart\u00edn, C., Mosteiro, P., Ancillo, I., and Poveda, B. 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