Have you ever wondered how creative you really are? There are some fascinating tests designed to measure creativity, and today, we’re diving into three of them. Let’s explore these tests and see what they reveal about our creative thinking.
The Remote Associations Test (RAT) is a fun way to measure your ability to see connections between seemingly unrelated things. Here’s how it works: you’re given three words, and your task is to find a fourth word that links them all together. For example, if you hear “widow, bite, monkey,” the connecting word is “spider.” It’s a test of convergent thinking, where you find a single best answer that ties everything together.
Interestingly, while this test is called a creativity test, it focuses on convergent thinking rather than divergent thinking. Convergent thinking involves finding the best solution to a problem, whereas divergent thinking is about generating multiple solutions. So, even if everyone comes up with the same answer, it’s still a creative process!
Unlike the RAT, the Wallach-Kogan Creativity Test emphasizes divergent thinking. This means there are no right or wrong answers. Instead, you’re encouraged to think outside the box and come up with as many ideas as possible. For instance, if asked to name things with wheels, you might say cars, bikes, and even large wheels of cheese!
This test measures creativity by looking at how many different categories your answers fall into. If you can think of items beyond the obvious, like food or machines, you’re demonstrating flexibility in your thinking.
The Torrance Tests are among the most widely used creativity assessments. They include various subtests that challenge you to think creatively. For example, you might be shown an abstract shape and asked to imagine what it could be. Your answers could range from a star to a quasar, or even a butterfly.
These tests evaluate creativity through four key elements: flexibility (the variety of categories your answers cover), fluency (the number of ideas you generate), originality (how unique your ideas are compared to others), and elaboration (the level of detail in your responses).
Creativity isn’t just about tests—it’s a part of everyday life. Whether you’re brainstorming new ways to make an object more fun or thinking about how to learn without traditional schooling, creativity plays a crucial role. For instance, if schools were abolished, you might turn to online resources like YouTube or libraries, or learn through trial and error.
In the 1950s, psychologist Guilford pioneered the study of creative thinking, introducing the elements we still use to measure creativity today. While no single test can capture all aspects of creativity, these assessments provide valuable insights into how we think and solve problems.
So, next time you’re faced with a challenge, remember that creativity comes in many forms. Whether you’re finding connections between words or imagining new possibilities, you’re tapping into the power of creative thinking.
Engage in a Remote Associations Challenge with your peers. Form small groups and take turns creating sets of three unrelated words. Challenge each other to find the connecting word. This activity will help you practice convergent thinking and improve your ability to see connections between seemingly unrelated concepts.
Conduct a brainstorming session based on the Wallach-Kogan Creativity Test. Choose a common object, like a paperclip, and list as many uses for it as possible. Focus on generating a wide variety of ideas, no matter how unconventional. This will enhance your divergent thinking skills and encourage you to think outside the box.
Simulate a Torrance Test by drawing abstract shapes and exchanging them with classmates. Challenge each other to come up with creative interpretations of the shapes. Discuss the flexibility, fluency, originality, and elaboration of your ideas to gain insights into different aspects of creative thinking.
Participate in a workshop focused on solving real-world problems creatively. Choose a current issue, such as environmental sustainability, and work in teams to brainstorm innovative solutions. Present your ideas to the class, emphasizing the creative process and the diverse perspectives involved.
Reflect on how creativity manifests in your daily life. Keep a journal for a week, noting moments when you used creative thinking to solve problems or enhance experiences. Share your observations with classmates and discuss how these everyday instances of creativity contribute to personal and academic growth.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided YouTube transcript:
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Widow, bite, monkey. Spider. Spider. Yep. So this is the remote associations test. It measures your ability to see relationships between things that are only remotely associated. This is Michael from “Vsauce 1,” and this is Jake from “Vsauce 3.” Hello. Basically, I say three words, and then you reply with a fourth word that links everything together.
So for example—OK, good. Mouse, blue, sharp. Danger. You almost said it. I did? Yeah. Cheese. Is there a right or wrong answer? Oh, gosh, danger works. I mean, I was looking for cheese. So your response is semantically related to those three stimulus words.
Bald, screech, emblem. Saved by the bell. Eagle. Yes. Chamber, staff, box. Maid. Uh, maid. Music? Oh, it’s music, like chamber music. I was thinking chamber maid.
So the way that your brain works when you work these out is that you think of the first word, and you kind of cycle through all of the options for that. And then you go to the second, and then you go to the third. And then you kind of line up which ones are consistent. So there is a right answer. This is like a Rorschach, where you’re like, what does it say that you think danger is associated with mice?
So this is a creativity test. It’s called a creativity test, but it measures convergent thinking and not divergent thinking. Oh, interesting. So you need to find—what makes it creative if it’s convergent? If everyone has the same answer, you’re all being creative. It’s a good point, in that you need to find something that best fits all of these things.
So I mean, the answer to the first one was cheese. But you said danger, still works. Sore, shoulder, sweat. I was going to say blade. But with that sweat curveball—And not sore as in a tool that you cut something with. Saw like in I saw. No, no. Sore as in S-O-R-E. Sore. Sore. Wow, this changes everything. Cold. It is cold.
Well, the Wallach-Kogan Creativity Test is a divergent thinking test, so out-of-the-box thinking. There are no set answers for anything. OK. And it was created because Wallach and Kogan thought that standardized testing wasn’t conducive to creative thinking. And you need to come up with as many items as possible that fit a specific component. Name all the things with wheels that you can think of. Cars, bikes, tricycles. Wheelbarrow, Heelys, electric skateboard, normal skateboard, carriages. Skateboards, roller skates, roller blades. Cheese, large wheels of cheese.
So that’s great, because you’ve gone into a different category. So the way that these tests are scored, they take into account, like, transportation is one category, right? And then you’re more creative if you go into, say, food, which is a different category. I think like a machine might have wheels. Yes, that is so good that you said that. Because you’ve moved into a new category.
You were all transportation. When you do walk the dog with a yo-yo, it’s like a wheel. I would be an answer to that because I’m wheel-y smart. Name all the ways that a cat and a mouse are similar. They’re both mammals. They have fur. They’re animals. They can die. They’re furry, for the most part. Warm-blooded, they give birth to live babies. They have white and red blood cells. They have tails. They breathe oxygen. They are things that I’m not particularly fond of.
Do they give milk? Do mice help their kids? I’m sure. They’re mammals. Yeah, mouse milk is a thing. Meh, yeah, no, neither would survive being shot out of a cannon. Would either survive a fall? Actually, a mouse probably would. A cat would be like, meh. They also have less than 10 letters in their name. They also are smaller than planets. Oh, they both like lasagna, cheese.
So the Torrance tests of creative thinking is a group of tests that is the most widely used in testing creative potential. All right. So these are a few subtests. It’s used in 75% of creativity tests with kids and about 40% of those with adults. All right. What could this be? It could be a star. It could be a clock with way too many hands. Or it could be a quasar. It looks kind of like the quasar map that’s on the Pioneer spaceship golden plate. It does. It could be a little butterfly, with its wings there, sticking out on top.
Some kind of geometric solid as viewed from the top, but like you didn’t finish those lines. An unfinished shape. Sure, yeah. I just have a feeling that this is going to make me feel like I’m not creative. Like, how do you know? What’s the judge? So what is—It’s like, oh, you’re creative.
So the most interesting thing for me about all of these tests is that they were all developed in the ’60s or even the ’50s. And there’s so many of them since then, we still use them. Like, the Torrance test is still the most widely used. We haven’t found one that is like the grand test of creativity. And also, you still need to use multiple tests, because there’s not one type of creativity. You can measure creativity in a lot of different ways. And you can’t really say that one is a lot more reliable than all the others.
How could you make this object more fun? All right, well, I mean, one obvious answer is that it could make noise. If it talked? I think its eyes could be bigger. Remember, OK, do you remember the movie, “Toy Story,” there’s the doll head that also has like the weird connect legs moving? If that had that. It could also be more fun if its colors were less neutral. It could have more glitter. So glitter on the eyes, glitter on its body.
If it had glitter, sparkles. You could put the video game inside of it. [LAUGHTER] The camera person just said something like, oh, what if it flew? And I’m like, no. Because then it’s like a mechanical thing. It breaks, you’ve got to get batteries. You know, if it actually flew and could carry me off—Like a dragon—away from this video.
If schools were abolished, what would you do to try and get an education? YouTube.com/vsauce1, 2, or 3. Or BrainCraft. Libraries, definitely. And talking to older people. Yeah, I mean I think the internet would be the way to do it. Or just go out in the world and actually do what we used to do, which was trial and error. Like, oh, these mushrooms look delicious. Aw, now I’m dead. Now the next person knows not to eat those mushrooms.
Sure. They’ve already lived and done so many things. And back before we had even written language, it was the older people that would tell you, oh my gosh, I saw the ocean do that once. There’s a tsunami coming. And you’re like, I’m so glad you exist. I can’t wait for Wikipedia though.
So the way the divergent thinking tests are measured is kind of similar. So there was this psychologist in the ’50s whose name was Guilford. And he was kind of a pioneer in creative thinking tests. And he introduced four elements to kind of measure them. One was flexibility, which I mentioned, which is the number of different categories that you can come up with answers to, like transportation or food or thinking or whatever else, if you’re talking about a wheel.
Another one is fluency, which is just the number of answers that you have. So I would go and total up your answers and then total up Michael’s and, like, everyone else. And I could hypothetically give you a score. Another one is originality, so each response compared to the total responses from all the numbers of people. So if you gave one response and like 90% of the other people gave it, it’s not very original.
And the last one is elaboration, which is the amount of detail that you give. So you gave a good one when you said, yo-yo, walking the dog with a yo-yo. So that’s elaborating a lot. Oh, that’s good. Yeah, thank you so much. My pleasure. This was really fun. Thank you? Are we going to shake on it? Let’s shake hands. Thank you very much, Vsauce 3. Thank you, thanks for having me.
If you don’t already, if you want to subscribe to Vsauce 1 or Vsauce 3, the links are down in the description or there’s some little boxes here. You can click on some things. And subscribe to BrainCraft for more brainy videos every Thursday.
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This version removes any inappropriate or unclear references while maintaining the essence of the conversation.
Creativity – The ability to generate novel and valuable ideas or solutions through imaginative skill and innovation. – In psychology, creativity is often linked to the ability to think outside the box and develop unique solutions to complex problems.
Thinking – The process of using one’s mind to consider or reason about something, often involving problem-solving and decision-making. – Critical thinking involves analyzing and evaluating information to make reasoned judgments and decisions.
Psychology – The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, particularly those affecting behavior in a given context. – Understanding the principles of psychology can enhance one’s ability to engage in effective critical thinking by recognizing cognitive biases.
Divergent – Relating to a thought process or method that explores multiple possible solutions and approaches to a problem. – Divergent thinking is essential in brainstorming sessions, where generating a wide range of ideas is encouraged.
Convergent – Relating to a thought process that focuses on finding a single, well-established solution to a problem. – Convergent thinking is often used in standardized testing, where there is typically one correct answer to each question.
Flexibility – The cognitive ability to adapt one’s thinking and behavior to new, changing, or unexpected events and conditions. – Flexibility in thinking allows individuals to adjust their strategies when faced with new information or challenges.
Fluency – The ability to generate a large number of ideas or solutions in a given time frame. – In creative problem-solving, fluency is important as it increases the likelihood of finding an effective solution among many possibilities.
Originality – The quality of being novel or unusual, often applied to ideas or solutions that are unique and not derived from something else. – Originality is a key component of creativity, as it involves producing ideas that are both new and valuable.
Elaboration – The process of adding details, depth, and complexity to an idea or concept to enhance its understanding or effectiveness. – Elaboration in critical thinking involves expanding on initial ideas to develop more comprehensive solutions.
Insights – Deep understanding or awareness of a complex situation or problem, often leading to a novel perspective or solution. – Gaining insights into human behavior can significantly enhance one’s ability to analyze psychological phenomena critically.
