Divergent Thinking Tests Research Articles

Short Term Intervention Model for Enhancing Divergent Thinking among School Aged Children

Creative ability can be developed and improved through intervention and training. This study presents a unique and innovative intervention program for enhancing creative thinking among children, focusing on divergent thinking skills. The program was designed as a short-term (10 weeks) training and conducted with 150 school students ranging in age from 9 to 13 years. The training included in a series of assignments, inspired by theoretical and practical concepts of mindfulness, theory of mind, and perspective taking. Divergent thinking was measured by fluency and uniqueness scores according to Tel Aviv Creativity Test (TACT). Results showed that children who participated in the program scored significantly higher on the divergent thinking tests after the intervention took place and that they showed higher creative achievements compared to children in the control groups.

Which Test of Divergent Thinking Is Best?

Abstract Divergent thinking (DT) tests are probably the most commonly used measures of creative potential. Several extensive batteries are available but most research relies on one or two specific tests rather than a complete battery. This may limit generalizations because tests of DT are not equivalent. They are not always highly inter-correlated. Additionally, some DT tests appear to be better than others at eliciting originality. This is critical because originality is vital for creativity. The primary purpose of the present study was to determine which test of DT elicits the most originality. Seven measures of DTwere administered on a sample of 611 participants in eight Arabic countries. The tests were Figural, Titles, Realistic Presented Problems, Realistic Problem Generation, Instances, Uses, and Similarities. The Quick Test of Convergent Thinking, Runco’s Ideational Behavior Scale, and a demographic questionnaire were also administered. A linear mixed model analysis confirmed that the originality scores in the DT tests differed by test. Post-hoc tests indicated that the Titles and Realistic Problem Generation tests produced the highest mean originality scores, whereas the Realistic Presented Problems test produced the lowest mean originality scores. These differences confirm that research using only one DT test will not provide generalizable results.

Scoring Divergent Thinking Tests by Computer With a Semantics-Based Algorithm.

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are useful for the assessment of creative potentials. This article reports the semantics-based algorithmic (SBA) method for assessing DT. This algorithm is fully automated: Examinees receive DT questions on a computer or mobile device and their ideas are immediately compared with norms and semantic networks. This investigation compared the scores generated by the SBA method with the traditional methods of scoring DT (i.e., fluency, originality, and flexibility). Data were collected from 250 examinees using the “Many Uses Test” of DT. The most important finding involved the flexibility scores from both scoring methods. This was critical because semantic networks are based on conceptual structures, and thus a high SBA score should be highly correlated with the traditional flexibility score from DT tests. Results confirmed this correlation (r = .74). This supports the use of algorithmic scoring of DT. The nearly-immediate computation time required by SBA method may make it the method of choice, especially when it comes to moderate- and large-scale DT assessment investigations. Correlations between SBA scores and GPA were insignificant, providing evidence of the discriminant and construct validity of SBA scores. Limitations of the present study and directions for future research are offered.

El test de creatividad infantil (TCI): evaluando la creatividad mediante una tarea de encontrar problemas

Divergent thinking tests do not generally address the complex nature of creativity but rather focus on the final product or solution of a problem, overlooking the previous stages of the creative process such as the discovery and formulation of a problem. The present study adopts the lrsquo;problem finding’ model and presents a new measure of creativity in children in primary education (6-12 years old). This paper presents the theoretical foundations as well as the process of designing, developing, and validating the test through different studies. The Child Creativity Test (TCI in Spanish) evaluates the creative process through a task structured in two stages: formulation and solution of a problem. The test considers not only the final output (a drawing), but also the previous phases that lead to it. Results show satisfactory validity and reliability of the test scores. It is concluded that the TCI has robust psychometric properties and can be a useful tool to predict creative behavior in primary school children.

Flexible or leaky attention in creative people? Distinct patterns of attention for different types of creative thinking.

Creativity has been putatively linked to distinct forms of attention, but which aspects of creativity and which components of attention remains unclear. Two experiments examined how divergent thinking and creative achievement relate to visual attention. In both experiments, participants identified target letters (S or H) within hierarchical stimuli (global letters made of local letters), after being cued to either the local or global level. In Experiment 1, participants identified the targets more quickly following valid cues (80% of trials) than following invalid cues. However, this smaller validity effect was associated with higher divergent thinking, suggesting that divergent thinking was related to quicker overcoming of invalid cues, and thus to flexible attention. Creative achievement was unrelated to the validity effect. Experiment 2 examined whether divergent thinking (or creative achievement) is related to "leaky attention," so that when cued to one level of a stimulus, some information is still processed, or leaks in, from the non-cued level. In this case, the cued stimulus level always contained a target, and the non-cued level was congruent, neutral, or incongruent with the target. Divergent thinking did not relate to stimulus congruency. In contrast, high creative achievement was related to quicker responses to the congruent than to the incongruent stimuli, suggesting that real-world creative achievement is indeed associated with leaky attention, whereas standard laboratory tests of divergent thinking are not. Together, these results elucidate distinct patterns of attention for different measures of creativity. Specifically, creative achievers may have leaky attention, as suggested by previous literature, whereas divergent thinkers have selective yet flexible attention.

Verbal divergent thinking facilitated by a pleasurable incubation interval.

Previous studies have uncovered various influencing factors of the incubation effect in creative problem solving. Often, tests of divergent thinking (DT) are used as estimates of the potential for creative problem solving. The impact of emotional state during the incubation interval on subsequent creative performance has not yet been investigated. A within-subject design was used in this study. Participants (N 44) were asked to solve the instances problems (i.e., a verbal DT task) in four conditions (positive, neutral, negative incubation conditions, and a continuous working condition). During the incubation intervals, participants watched a series of emotion-appropriate videos to induce corresponding emotions. The results showed that participants’ originality scores were higher after an incubation interval (regardless of the emotions induced) than when continuously working. Originality scores were the highest when positive emotion was induced during the incubation interval. These findings demonstrated that emotional state during the incubation interval influences the incubation effect. The findings are interpreted in the context of the unconscious work theory of incubation. Limitations and future directions are explored.

Begin at the Beginning: Reflections on the Career of Arthur Cropley

Arthur Cropley's academic career began in the early 1960s and, more than 50 years later, shows few signs of abating. Over this lengthy period, he has made important contributions not only to creativity research, but to a range of related areas of psychology. Arthur Cropley has also been an influential figure in the careers of several generations of graduate students and academics, and I recount his influence on my own journey through postgraduate study. His long and productive career should serve as an inspiration to all academics, both in the field of creativity and in the discipline of psychology more broadly. The results of a previously unpublished study of the predictive validity of a battery of divergent and convergent thinking tests derived from a follow up of a grade school cohort (n = 151) initially studied by Arthur were reported. Using multiple regression analysis the relative efficiency of the two sets of predictors were examined in relation to both academic and non academic criteria obtained 6 years later. The general finding was that while both the divergent and convergent measures accounted for significant variance of these criteria, it depended on the ordering of which set was considered first, with the second set usually not accounting for variance of these criteria already accounted for by the first.

Has Creativity Research Become a Trivial Pursuit?

Abstract Based on Glăveanu’s target article, issues raised about the psychometric approach to creativity research are examined. Criticisms of divergent thinking tests, such as the unusual uses of an object test, are examined. Arguments supporting the theoretical and practical utility of divergent thinking tests are presented. It is furthermore suggested that tests are best conceived and used in contextualized ways. The example of measures of divergent thinking which were designed for managers is presented. Finally, the psychometric approach encompasses many aspects of creativity beyond divergent thinking, as illustrated by recent work on the evaluation of creative potential (the EPoC battery). In the EPoC assessment, both divergent-exploratory thinking and convergent-integrative thinking are measured in a range of contextual domains, such as the visual-graphic, verballiterary, social problem solving ones. This work contrasts with the simplistic, and restrictive view of the unusual uses of an object test as the epitome of the psychometric approach to creativity.

Using analogies to explain versus inspire concepts

AbstractWe aim to examine the potential of using analogies in design education and to compare the roles of analogies in explaining versus inspiring in engineering design. We review existing research in analogical thinking, with a focus on scientific discourse and education. Then we explore the role of analogies in design education in making concepts more relatable by asking six participants in a graduate-level design course to generate analogies for course topics. We describe criteria developed to evaluate the analogies and present these evaluations. We then asked participants to perform divergent thinking tests, but we found no significant correlation between these and analogy scores. The participants were also asked to reflect on what constitutes an effective analog, describe their process of identifying analogies, and provide their definitions of analogies. We describe possible links between these comments and the ratings of their analogies. We then draw on results in using analogies in pedagogy to inform and reflect on obstacles we encountered in the use of analogies to inspire. Specifically, we related them to our experience with biomimetic or biologically inspired design, where we used a natural-language search approach to identify relevant analogies. Three aspects discussed are familiarity of source analogies, boundaries of parallels between source analogies and target concepts, and concreteness of source analogies. Finally, we discuss possible pedagogical benefits of eliciting analogies on course topics from students, namely, using the elicited analogies as tools for improved student engagement as well as more prompt instructor feedback.

Creativity and sensory gating indexed by the P50: Selective versus leaky sensory gating in divergent thinkers and creative achievers

Creativity has previously been linked with atypical attention, but it is not clear what aspects of attention, or what types of creativity are associated. Here we investigated specific neural markers of a very early form of attention, namely sensory gating, indexed by the P50 ERP, and how it relates to two measures of creativity: divergent thinking and real-world creative achievement. Data from 84 participants revealed that divergent thinking (assessed with the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking) was associated with selective sensory gating, whereas real-world creative achievement was associated with “leaky” sensory gating, both in zero-order correlations and when controlling for academic test scores in a regression. Thus both creativity measures related to sensory gating, but in opposite directions. Additionally, divergent thinking and real-world creative achievement did not interact in predicting P50 sensory gating, suggesting that these two creativity measures orthogonally relate to P50 sensory gating. Finally, the ERP effect was specific to the P50 – neither divergent thinking nor creative achievement were related to later components, such as the N100 and P200. Overall results suggest that leaky sensory gating may help people integrate ideas that are outside of focus of attention, leading to creativity in the real world; whereas divergent thinking, measured by divergent thinking tests which emphasize numerous responses within a limited time, may require selective sensory processing more than previously thought.

A Study on Anxiety based on symptoms of ADHD, Creativity and Nicotine Consumption in Smokers

This research aims at studying the predictive power of symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Creativity and Nicotine Consumption in relation to Trait anxiety in individuals who have been smoking for twelve months or more with an increase in the number of cigarettes over time. The State and Trait Anxiety (STAS) scale was used for the same. Symptoms of ADHD were measured by the Adults ADHD Self Report Scale. Divergent Thinking Test was used to measure Creativity of the individuals. Data was collected using the method of convenience sampling via the internet. The study comprised of eighty three participants ranging from nineteen to thirty five years of age. The results were analysed using a Multiple Linear Regression model after checking for the linearity of the variables using a Matrix Scatter Plot. Pearson’s correlation was computed to determine the relationship between the variables. A positive and significant relationship was found between trait Anxiety and ADHD. A Linear Regression Model applied to study the variance between the two variables indicated that 13.9% of the variance in trait Anxiety can be explained by the presence of symptoms of ADHD. Results indicated that ADHD is a significant predictor of Trait Anxiety. The study provides future implication to therapists working with clients with ADHD and Anxiety.

The Bright and Dark Side Correlates of Creativity: Demographic, Ability, Personality Traits and Personality Disorders Associated with Divergent Thinking

This research examined the personality trait and personality disorder correlates of creative potential, as assessed by a divergent thinking (DT) test. Over 4,000 adult managers attending an assessment center completed a battery of tests including a bright side, normal personality trait measures (NEO Personality Inventory—Revised, or NEO-PI-R); a dark side/disorders measure (Hogan Development Survey, or HDS), an ability test (Graduate Management Assessment Test, or GMA), and the Consequences Test of DT scored twice. Personality disorder variables (dark side) accounted for incremental variance over the Big Five (bright side) and intelligence, which were also positively related to test scores. Disorder variables accounted for around 4–9% of the variance. Imaginative (schizotypal) and colorful (histrionic) scores were best positive predictors and diligent (obsessive compulsive) and sceptical (paranoid) most negative predictors of the DT measures. Implications for the selection and management of creative people are considered.

Creativity, intelligence and anxiety of students with different academic achievements

The research presented in this paper was aimed at establishing whether there is significant difference in the levels of creativity, intelligence and anxiety among the students with excellent, very good and good academic achievements. The sample included 132 elementary - school students of the seventh and eighth grades among which 26 (19.7%) students had good academic scores, 40 (30.3%) very good, while 66 (50%) students were excellent. For measuring the main research variables the following instruments were used: the Different Needs Test (Gilhooly et al., 2007; Đorđević, 2005), as a prototype test of divergent thinking, the Preconscious Activity Scale (Holland & Baird, 1968) as a measure of the disposition to originality, COG 3 Intelligence Test Battery (Wolf i sar., 1992), and Spielberger's (Spielberger et al., 1983) Inventory of Anxiety as a state and a trait, i.e. instantaneous and general anxiety (STAI-S and STAI- T). The results show that excellent students are more creative and have higher levels of not only general intellectual capabilities but also perceptive, verbal and spatial abilities, compared to very good and good students and, at the same time, a lower level of anxiety. There was no difference between the students with different achievements regarding the levels of disposition to originality and general anxiety. The findings are analyzed from the angle of their pedagogic implications.

Creativity and the default network: A functional connectivity analysis of the creative brain at rest

The present research used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether the ability to generate creative ideas corresponds to differences in the intrinsic organization of functional networks in the brain. We examined the functional connectivity between regions commonly implicated in neuroimaging studies of divergent thinking, including the inferior prefrontal cortex and the core hubs of the default network. Participants were prescreened on a battery of divergent thinking tests and assigned to high- and low-creative groups based on task performance. Seed-based functional connectivity analysis revealed greater connectivity between the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the entire default mode network in the high-creative group. The right IFG also showed greater functional connectivity with bilateral inferior parietal cortex and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the high-creative group. The results suggest that the ability to generate creative ideas is characterized by increased functional connectivity between the inferior prefrontal cortex and the default network, pointing to a greater cooperation between brain regions associated with cognitive control and low-level imaginative processes.

Divergent Thinking in Children with Down Syndrome

The present study was focused on comparing the factors of divergent thinking between children with Down syndrome and children with typical development. The sample was composed by 63 children, divided in 30 typically developed and 33 disabled children. We used the Test of Divergent Thinking (Williams, 1994) to analyze creative performances and Logical Operations Tasks (Vianello & Marin, 1991) to measure the cognitive level of children. We matched the two groups in relation to cognitive levels. Results showed that, at the pre-operational and intermediate cognitive level, children with Down syndrome scored equally on fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration than children with typical development. At the concrete operational cognitive level, significant differences between the two groups emerged only for creative verbal production: children with Down syndrome scored lower than typically developed ones. These findings could be used for educational programs focused on creativity in the school-context and useful both for disabled and typically developed children.

Sex differences in the relationship between white matter connectivity and creativity

Creative cognition emerges from a complex network of interacting brain regions. This study investigated the relationship between the structural organization of the human brain and aspects of creative cognition tapped by divergent thinking tasks. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was used to obtain fiber tracts from 83 segmented cortical regions. This information was represented as a network and metrics of connectivity organization, including connectivity strength, clustering and communication efficiency were computed, and their relationship to individual levels of creativity was examined. Permutation testing identified significant sex differences in the relationship between global connectivity and creativity as measured by divergent thinking tests. Females demonstrated significant inverse relationships between global connectivity and creative cognition, whereas there were no significant relationships observed in males. Node specific analyses revealed inverse relationships across measures of connectivity, efficiency, clustering and creative cognition in widespread regions in females. Our findings suggest that females involve more regions of the brain in processing to produce novel ideas to solutions, perhaps at the expense of efficiency (greater path lengths). Males, in contrast, exhibited few, relatively weak positive relationships across these measures. Extending recent observations of sex differences in connectome structure, our findings of sexually dimorphic relationships suggest a unique topological organization of connectivity underlying the generation of novel ideas in males and females.

Mapping Creativity: Creativity Measurements Network Analysis

This article borrowed network analysis tools to discover how the construct formed by the set of all measures of creativity configures itself. To this end, using a variant of the meta-analytical method, a database was compiled simulating 42,381 responses to 974 variables centered on 64 creativity measures. Results, although preliminary, indicate the existence of a core dimension filled with variables that indicate novelty, which is surrounded by the paired dimensions of negative affect and social leadership, and high cognitive performance and positive affect. As for the measurement instruments, it was found that, although tests of divergent thinking, self-reported biographies, and composite scores are the most appropriate tools to gauge creativity itself, both attitude and personality inventories are best for diagnosing the different kinds of creators.

Association of COMT and COMT-DRD2 interaction with creative potential.

Several lines of evidence suggest that genes involved in dopamine (DA) transmission may contribute to creativity. Among these genes, the catechol-O-methyltransferase gene (COMT) and the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) are the most promising candidates. Our previous study has revealed evidence for the involvement of DRD2 in creative potential. The present study extended our previous study by systematically exploring the association of COMT with creative potential as well as the interaction between COMT and DRD2. Twelve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering COMT were genotyped in 543 healthy Chinese college students whose creative potentials were assessed by divergent thinking tests. Single SNP analysis showed that rs174697 was nominally associated with verbal originality, two SNPs (rs737865 and rs5993883) were nominally associated with figural fluency, and two SNPs (rs737865 and rs4680) were nominally associated with figural originality. Haplotype analysis showed that, the TCT and CCT haplotype (rs737865-rs174675-rs5993882) were nominally associated with figural originality, and the TATGCAG and CGCGGGA haplotype (rs4646312-rs6269-rs4633-rs6267-rs4818-rs4680-rs769224) were nominally associated with figural originality and verbal flexibility, respectively. However, none of these nominal findings survived correction for multiple testing. Gene–gene interaction analysis identified one significant four-way interaction of rs174675 (COMT), rs174697 (COMT), rs1076560 (DRD2), and rs4436578 (DRD2) on verbal fluency, one significant four-way interaction of rs174675 (COMT), rs4818 (COMT), rs1076560 (DRD2), and rs4648317 (DRD2) on verbal flexibility, and one significant three-way interaction of rs5993883 (COMT), rs4648319 (DRD2), and rs4648317 (DRD2) on figural flexibility. In conclusion, the present study provides nominal evidence for the involvement of COMT in creative potential and suggests that DA related genes may act in coordination to contribute to creativity.

The personality and cognitive correlates of creative achievement

The personality traits and creative achievement of 96 individuals were assessed using self­-report questionnaires. Creative potential was assessed with Divergent Thinking tests and a short version of the Remote Associates Test. Four factors of personality were extracted with Principal Component Analysis. One factor (“Ideational Fluency”) emerged from the 6 divergent thinking tests. Relationships between personality factors and scores on the Creative Achievement Questionnaire (CAQ), with its subsections CAQ Science and CAQ Art, “Ideational Fluency”, Insight Problems were explored with multiple regression, showing personality differences associated with artistic and scientific creativity. The relationship between creative potential and creative achievement was explored, showing cognitive differences between artistic and scientific achievers. A brief discussion of the relationship between sex and scientific achievement is presented. It is suggested that cognitive traits, rather than personality, mediate this relationship. Finally, it is argued that similar cognitive traits account for creative production at all levels of achievement.

Assessing Associative Distance Among Ideas Elicited by Tests of Divergent Thinking

Tests of divergent thinking represent the most commonly used assessment of creative potential. Typically they are scored for total ideational output (fluency), ideational originality, and, sometimes, ideational flexibility. That scoring system provides little information about the underlying process and about the associations among ideas. It also does not really capture the key principle of divergent thinking, namely that ideas may be found when cognition explores new (divergent) directions. The investigation reported here used 3 independent semantic networks, each computerized and previously validated, to quantify the distance between responses (ideas) to several tests of divergent thinking. These sources were WordNet (WN), Word Associations Network (WAN), and IdeaFisher (IF). Statistical analyses indicated that remote and close associations can be reliably measured when different sources of associative strength are used. Inter-item reliability (alpha coefficients) of what these networks had identified as remote associations were higher than those from close associations. Inter-item reliability values were higher in the WAN and IF, which provided shorter lists than the WN. Therefore, longer associative lists did not necessarily produce better indices of remote and close associations. Also, scores from a measure of creative attitudes and values were significantly correlated with remote, but not with close, associations across all 3 networks. This finding is very important because it shows that people with a higher tendency of creative attitudes and values, as measured by divergent thinking tests, are more likely to make remote associations rather than close associations. Limitations and future directions are discussed.