The Power of Positive Thinking in 1955. Meyer writes that "The Power of Positive Thinking" provides partial awareness to the limitations of the readers but does not supply the necessary self-confidence to overcome those limitations. He proceeds to compare Peale to a con man saying that the problem with Peale lies in the “paltriness of the confidence he preached. He did not really try to fool you into thinking you could do much, or be much, or live much. He did not make you aware of greater heights any more than of greater abysses.” Psychologist Martin Seligman, former APA president and founder of positive psychology,
Convergent thinking divergent thinking. A series of standard intelligence tests were used to measure both the convergent and divergent thinking abilities of adolescents. Results indicate that subjects who classified as high on divergent thinking had significantly higher word fluency and reading scores than subjects who classified as low on divergent thinking. Furthermore, those who were high in divergent thinking also demonstrated higher anxiety and penetration scores. Thus, those subjects who are high in divergent thinking can be characterized as having their perceptual processes mature and become adequately controlled in an unconventional way. Conversely, subjects in the high convergent thinking group illustrated higher