This article investigates whether self-reports about playfulness are related to self-reports about creativity and the alternate uses of objects. An on-line survey was conducted of how people think about themselves. One thousand, five hundred and thirty-six people completed the survey. They were asked whether a variety of statements were very characteristic of themselves through to whether they were very uncharacteristic. Respondents were then asked to offer alternative uses for 2 different objects. Those people who characterized themselves as being playful clearly thought of themselves as being creative. The self-reports of their playfulness, creativity, and innovation were positively correlated with each other and were validated with their suggested uses for 2 different objects. Personality measures were derived from the respondents' self-assessments. On the openness scale, the measure was positively correlated with the respondents' assessments of their own playfulness and with the number of alternative uses for two objects.

This brief relates to the second seminar in a series of three around the theme of ‘The Educated Brain’. Each research seminar includes talks from leading
researchers and roundtable discussions about the links between research and policy and practice. Presentations at the second seminar built on
discussions from seminar 1 by focusing on school years from age 8. Academic presentations covered: inequalities in educational outcomes, researching
the adolescent brain, the role of rhythm in cognitive development, transition to secondary school and bilingualism. The keynote lecture delivered by
Professor Charles Nelson reported on a body of work investigating the impact of early neglect on children and institutional care.