According to Guilford, a person’s creative behavior is captured by the following basic psychological characteristics and presupposes these psychological characteristics as essential components of creative people:
1. Problem sensitivity (recognizing that and where there is a problem)
2. Fluid (generate many ideas in a short period of time)
3. Flexibility (leave familiar ways of thinking, develop new perspectives)
4. Re-definition (reusing known objects, improvising)
5. Elaboration (adapt ideas to reality, add details)
6. Originality (creating unusual novel ideas)
The quantitative measurement of people’s creativity (like all personality tests) is controversial in science, since a lot of subjective aspects of the test persons and the design of the questionnaire are included. Creativity tests have not yet been established in practice because research has not progressed far enough. For example, one difficulty is that tests show that someone may have all the skills required for creativity, but experience has shown that this potential alone is far from sufficient for precisely this person to produce a creative product.
However, relative comparisons, not absolute values, of the creativity potential of different people under specially defined laboratory conditions lead to scientifically meaningful results if they are supervised by competent personnel.
J. P. Guilford and his research group attempted to design psychometric models and experimental designs that use the above findings as quality criteria for assessing creative potential. Verbal and figurative questions were presented to the test persons and the results were evaluated by the test supervisor in terms of creativity.
Psychometrics uses specific mathematical and statistical models and methods to summarize and describe empirical data obtained from experiments and to draw conclusions from them.
The factor analysis, the scaling of the measured values, aspects of psychological measurement and the type of test psychology play a special role. Many of the current experimental designs in cognitive science are based on psychometric models.
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking
Building on Guilford’s work, Ellis Paul Torrance then developed the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Simple tests of divergent reasoning and other problem-solving skills were tested and assessed using Guilford’s found creativity criteria of fluency, flexibility, elaboration, and originality (scaled).
Torrance and others suggested that, considering the multidimensional nature of the creativity concept, assessments should be based on several tests, rather than relying on a single score. A minimum of two measures to assess children’s potential for creative behavior was recommended by Johnson and Fishkin. I also recommend using at least two measures; that is, the TTCT and another indicator (e.g., products, performance, rating scales, or recommendations).
The TTCT provided a physical measure and groundwork for the idea that creative levels can be scaled and then increased through practice — a premise that was previously only conceptual. The TTCT can provide useful insights into creativity as long as the tests are used with sensitivity and good judgment by qualified professionals.
Dowload 3 simple examples
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking TTCT (3 examples)
Can We Trust Creativity Tests ?
A Review of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) by Kyung Hee Kim, 2006:
“In conclusion, the TTCT appears to be a good measure, not only for identifying and educating the gifted but also for discovering and encouraging everyday life creativity in the general population. When used appropriately, the TTCT is an important part of Torrance’s legacy and dream: to nurture and enhance creativity among students.
Torrance’s research into creativity as a measure of intelligence shattered the theory that IQ tests alone can measure real intelligence.”
Downloads:
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking TTCT (3 examples)
Prof. Dr. Jörg Mehlhorn: “Joy Paul Guilford – Creative Problem Solving”
Kyung Hee Kim: Can We Trust Creativity Tests
A very popular and practical way to easily measure creativity
For the creativity test, the subjects are given 1-3 words from very simple everyday objects, for example the words or the word: brick, coat hanger or toothpick.
The task for test persons is then to write down as many other words as possible for new unusual or unusual uses for the given everyday objects on a piece of paper in two minutes.
The number of words noted in this way (= new forms of use) then corresponds to a measure of the relative creativity of the test person.
This method is a very simple and at the same time scientifically often used method for measuring the relative creativity of people.
Literature:
Ben Baird, B. Smallwood, J., Mrazek, M.D., Kam, J., Franklin, M.S. & Schooler:
“Mind-wandering facilitates creative incubation”, Psychological Science 2012.
Explore the PISA 2012 Problem Solving (Creativity) Test Questions
The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) evaluates education systems worldwide by testing 15-year-olds in key subjects. The focus of PISA 2012 was mathematics. Some countries chose to assess problem-solving too. To understand more about the PISA 2012 mathematics and problem-solving tests, click below to answer sample questions, explore the concepts and skills being tested and learn what 15-year-olds students at different proficiency levels can do.
PISA Problem solving test levels
Level 6
At Level 6, students can develop complete, coherent mental models of diverse problem scenarios, enabling them to solve complex problems efficiently. They can explore a scenario in a highly strategic manner to understand all information pertaining to the problem. The information may be presented in different formats, requiring interpretation and integration of related parts. When confronted with very complex devices, such as home appliances that work in an unusual or unexpected manner, they quickly learn how to control the devices to achieve a goal in an optimal way. Level 6 problem-solvers can set up general hypotheses about a system and thoroughly test them. They can follow a premise through to a logical conclusion or recognise when there is not enough information available to reach one. In order to reach a solution, these highly proficient problem-solvers can create complex, flexible, multi-step plans that they continually monitor during execution. Where necessary, they modify their strategies, taking all constraints into account, both explicit and implicit.
Level 5
At Level 5, students can systematically explore a complex problem scenario to gain an understanding of how relevant information is structured. When faced with unfamiliar, moderately complex devices, such as vending machines or home appliances, they respond quickly to feedback in order to control the device. In order to reach a solution, Level 5 problem-solvers think ahead to find the best strategy that addresses all the given constraints. They can immediately adjust their plans or backtrack when they detect unexpected difficulties or when they make mistakes that take them off course.
Level 4
At Level 4, students can explore a moderately complex problem scenario in a focused way. They grasp the links among the components of the scenario that are required to solve the problem. They can control moderately complex digital devices, such as unfamiliar vending machines or home appliances, but they don’t always do so efficiently. These students can plan a few steps ahead and monitor the progress of their plans. They are usually able to adjust these plans or reformulate a goal in light of feedback. They can systematically try out different possibilities and check whether multiple conditions have been satisfied. They can form an hypothesis about why a system is malfunctioning, and describe how to test it.
Level 3
At Level 3, students can handle information presented in several different formats. They can explore a problem scenario and infer simple relationships among its components. They can control simple digital devices, but have trouble with more complex devices. Problem-solvers at Level 3 can fully deal with one condition, for example, by generating several solutions and checking to see whether these satisfy the condition. When there are multiple conditions or inter-related features, they can hold one variable constant to see the effect of change on the other variables. They can devise and execute tests to confirm or refute a given hypothesis. They understand the need to plan ahead and monitor progress, and are able to try a different option if necessary.
Level 2
At Level 2, students can explore an unfamiliar problem scenario and understand a small part of it. They try, but only partially succeed, to understand and control digital devices with unfamiliar controls, such as home appliances and vending machines. Level 2 problem-solvers can test a simple hypothesis that is given to them and can solve a problem that has a single, specific constraint. They can plan and carry out one step at a time to achieve a sub-goal, and have some capacity to monitor overall progress towards a solution.
Level 1
At Level 1, students can explore a problem scenario only in a limited way, but tend to do so only when they have encountered very similar situations before. Based on their observations of familiar scenarios, these students are able only to partially describe the behaviour of a simple, everyday device. In general, students at Level 1 can solve straightforward problems provided there is only a simple condition to be satisfied and there are only one or two steps to be performed to reach the goal. Level 1 students tend not to be able to plan ahead or set sub-goals.
Source:
http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/pisa-test-questions.htm
© 2023 Innovator’s Guide / E.W. July 16, 2023