The Validity of Two Brief Measures of Creative Ability

Abstract

Two brief, 15-minute measures of creative ability have become available quite recently. The Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults (ATTA) objectively measures creative ability in terms of the creativity of answers over 3 tasks. The Abedi Test of Creativity (ATC) subjectively measures creative ability by means of a self-rating questionnaire. Our first study examined the predictive validity of both methods by correlating prospective marketing employees' ATTA and ATC scores with the expert-judged creativity of a marketing campaign that they were asked to design. The objective ATTA test scores correlated substantially with creative performance, unlike the subjective ATC self-rating method that was much less predictively valid. A second study with current employees of a marketing agency demonstrated discriminant validity for the ATTA by revealing that ATTA scores and supervisor ratings of creative ability correlated highly for longer-term employees, but poorly for new recruits. Based on the results of these 2 studies, we propose an even shorter-scored version of the ATTA for use in business settings.