Finding Creative Potential on Intelligence Tests via Divergent Production

Assessing creative potential using a comprehensive battery of standardized tests requires a focus on "how" and "why" an individual responds in addition to "how well" they respond. Using the "intelligent testing" philosophy of focusing on the person being tested rather than the measure itself helps psychologists form a more complete picture of an examinee, which may include information about his or her creative potential. Although most aspects of creativity are not present in current individually based IQ and achievement tests, one exception is divergent production. Although still poorly represented, some subtests show great potential for tapping into divergent production, and hence provide some insight into creativity. The research on the relationship between measures of intelligence and creativity is discussed in this article. The authors also propose a way to use individually administered cognitive and achievement batteries to extract information about an individual's divergent production and general creative potential. (Contains 2 tables and 2 notes.)