Conceptualizing Creativity: General and Cultural Biases in Gough's Creative Personality Scale

This study analyzes the validity of Gough's Creative Personality Scale (CPS) for the Adjective Check List (ACL) by using 1773 Swiss, South Korean, and Mainland Chinese students as a sample. Four sources of potential bias were identified in Gough's CPS, two of which are general and two cultural in nature. The two general biases were investigated by conducting correlation analyses and evaluating alternative scoring methods for the CPS. As a result of the first bias, checking a large number of adjectives was found to be more important for achieving a high score than checking the relevant ones. Due to the second bias, the CPS score mostly depends on the number of positive adjectives checked while negative items have little impact. The two cultural biases were analyzed using an implicit version of the CPS (iCPS) and factor analysis. The latter revealed three different clusters of creativity type: exploratory‐type, socially responsible‐type, and intellectual‐type creativity. Based on cultural background, they are all weighted differently, causing a potential experiential bias in the CPS. Findings indicate that in South Korea and Mainland China socially responsible‐type creativity dominates whereas in Switzerland exploratory‐type creativity prevails. Findings from the iCPS suggest the second cultural bias, the socially desirable responding bias arising from differences in responding styles among the three cultures.     

Individual differences in creativity: personality,story writing,and hobbies

This study investigated the relationship between creativity and personality among college students from a variety of major fields of study. Indicators of creativity were ratings of written stories, lists of personal hobbies, and scores on the Creative Personality Scale (CPS; Gough, 1979 ). Personality was assessed broadly using the NEO‐Five Factor Inventory (Costa and McCrae, 1985 ) as well as measures of depersonalization, intolerance of ambiguity, faith in intuition, and problem‐solving styles. The results showed a positive relationship between openness to experience and all creativity measures. Moreover, high scores on intuition and extraversion were the best predictors for creativity as measured by the CPS. Story creativity was predicted by low scores on conscientiousness. Depersonalization was not significantly related to creativity. The results of this investigation confirm and extend previous research in demonstrating a close association between creativity and specific personality traits. Future research should clarify the nature of the creative personality across individuals of differing levels and domains of expertise. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The relationship between measures of creativity and schizotypy

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which a measure of multidimensional schizotypy and intelligence predicted measures of creativity, as assessed by self-rated creativity, a measure of the creative personality (CPS: Gough, 1979) and an inventory of creative behaviours. Additionally an aggregation of the three different measures; total creativity was examined. 140 participants completed the creativity measures, a general intelligence test (Wonderlic Personnel Test: Wonderlic, 1992) in addition to a multidimensional schizotypy inventory (O-LIFE: Mason, Claridge, & Jackson, 1995). The Unusual Experiences and Impulsive Nonconformity dimensions of the O-LIFE were positively and significantly related to creativity. The Cognitive Disorganisation dimension was found to be negatively and significantly related to creativity. The implications of the findings were discussed.     

A multitrait–multimethod study of assessment instruments for complex problem solving

Recently published studies on Complex Problem Solving (CPS) suggest that assessments of CPS using multiple complex systems are only moderately related to tests of classical cognitive abilities. Further, CPS assessments show incremental validity beyond tests of other cognitive abilities when predicting relevant outcomes. However, these empirical accounts have relied on single CPS assessment instruments. We do not know whether these findings will generalize to the construct level across different CPS assessment instruments. To answer this question, we tested a sample of N = 339 German university students who completed three CPS assessment instruments based on multiple complex systems (MicroDYN, the Genetics Lab, and MicroFIN) and the matrices subtest of the Intelligence Structure Test as measure of reasoning. Students further reported their school grades. Analyses including latent multitrait–multimethod models provided support for the conceptualization of CPS as a complex cognitive ability. Results indicated that different CPS assessment instruments showed sufficient convergent validity (with a consistency mostly between .50 and .60). In addition, we found evidence for the divergent validity of CPS from reasoning (reasoning predicted two CPS facets, knowledge and control, β_KNOW = .49 and β_CON = .53, respectively). In the prediction of academic achievement, CPS explained variance in natural science grades after we controlled for reasoning (β_CPS = .22), whereas social science grades were not predicted. Our findings suggest that the validity of CPS generalizes across different measurement instruments.     

Evaluating Creativity Through the Degrees of Solidity of Its Assessment: A Relational Approach

In this paper, we introduce a new approach to creativity assessment. Arguably, one of the main obstacles to creativity assessment is that creativity criteria are likely to change depending on what is assessed and who is making the assessment. We argue that we might be able to solve this problem by adopting a relational ontology, i.e., an ontology according to which beings of the world acquire their properties by relating to other beings. First, we present the main consequences of this ontological approach for creativity assessment: (a) Accounting for the creativity of a given object involves retracing the beings (including criteria) that relate it to its alleged creativity; (b) One can assess the creativity of this object by looking at the number of beings that substantiate this relation, i.e., by looking at what we call the “degree of solidity” of the relation; (c) One can thus account for the specificity of various forms of creativity and, at the same time, compare them in terms of solidity. Building on these ontological assumptions, we then present a new assessment technique, the Objection Counting Technique, before putting it to the test using an excerpt taken from a naturally occurring brainstorming session.     

The Creativity of Lying: Divergent Thinking and Ideational Correlates of the Resolution of Social Dilemmas

The goal of this study was to develop a measure of creativity that builds on the strengths of youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The assessment of creativity focused on the visual-spatial abilities of these youth using 3D modeling software. One of the objectives of the research was to develop a measure of creativity in an authentic learning environment that built on the interests and creative talents of youth with ASD. Traditional creativity tests may underestimate the creativity of youth with ASD because of the tests’ constrained nature, such as having a time limit, being limited to paper and pencil, testing in an over- or understimulating environment, and overlooking visual-spatial ability. A random selection of 27 student 3D design projects (out of approximately 100 projects) was assessed using dimensions of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. The validity of this assessment was examined by comparing the creativity scores of the 27 projects to the creativity scores given by a team of Google experts (3D designers and software engineers). Results indicated that the scores were significantly correlated for three of the four dimensions of the creativity assessment. There was high inter-rater reliability among coders (M = .82) using intra-class correlation (ICC). Results suggest that this assessment process could be used as a visual-spatial creativity measure for youth with ASD, as well as a creativity measure used by employers to determine real-world creative potential in their employees, particularly those with neurodiversity.     

Creative Problem Solving in Small Groups: The Effects of Creativity Training on Idea Generation,Solution Creativity,and Leadership Effectiveness

This investigation evaluated the degree to which creativity training, idea generation instruction, and creative process impacted idea production, creativeness of solutions, and leadership effectiveness. Three sets of hypotheses were tested with a 114 groups of adults. First, groups whose members had some (i.e., one CPS course) or advanced training (i.e., graduate-level study in creativity or creativity professionals) were significantly more effective at idea generation than groups without training. Furthermore, leaders with some and advanced training were perceived to be significantly more effective than those with no creativity training. With respect to creativeness of solutions, the advanced training groups outperformed all others. The second set of hypotheses focused on the effectiveness of idea generation instruction (i.e., instructions without brainstorming, brainstorming, and brainstorming with criticism). Analysis revealed no significant difference for idea generation instruction relative to idea production or creativeness of solutions. The final set of hypotheses examined the use of a simple process structure for groups without prior creativity training (i.e., distinct phases for idea generation and solution development). Analysis revealed that those meetings that followed a simple process structure out performed groups that did not follow a process for both idea generation and creativeness of solutions. Further results are presented and implications discussed.     

Personality structure of Mexican Americans using the Comrey Personality Scales

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were used to examine the personality structure of 176 Mexican American college students. A majority of the eight factors maintained substantial loadings and corresponded closely with Comrey's normative sample as well as with Brazilian and New Zealand samples. Two factors, Conformity and Orderliness, showed the weakest fit across all four groups. Overall, the CPS shows adequate measurement properties for "normal" personality assessment among Mexican Americans and is preferable to instruments such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). However, the external validity of the CPS with clinical populations must first be determined prior to its use to assess psychopathology among Mexican Americans.     

Complex problem solving: a case for complex cognition?

Complex problem solving (CPS) emerged in the last 30 years in Europe as a new part of the psychology of thinking and problem solving. This paper introduces into the field and provides a personal view. Also, related concepts like macrocognition or operative intelligence will be explained in this context. Two examples for the assessment of CPS, Tailorshop and MicroDYN, are presented to illustrate the concept by means of their measurement devices. Also, the relation of complex cognition and emotion in the CPS context is discussed. The question if CPS requires complex cognition is answered with a tentative “yes.”     

Reactions to Creative Problem Solving Training: Does Cognitive Style Make a Difference?

Creative Problem Solving (CPS), a well‐documented methodology for developing creative‐thinking skills, has often been the focus of studies that have examined the impact of creativity training. The purpose of the present study was to extend this line of research in two ways. The first objective was to evaluate participants' reactions to specific elements of a CPS course. Here participants were asked to rate the CPS components, stages, principles, and tools for enjoyment and future value. The second objective was to examine whether participants' reactions to the CPS training varied in accordance to their cognitive style preferences. The inventory used to measure cognitive style is called FourSight. FourSight identifies respondents' preferences in terms of four key elements of the creative process: problem identification (i.e., Clarifier), idea generation (i.e., Ideator), solution development (i.e., Developer), and implementation (i.e., Implementer). Eighty‐four participants were enrolled in various graduate and undergraduate courses in CPS. Participants completed FourSight at the beginning of their respective course and at the conclusion they responded to a survey in which they evaluated various aspects of CPS for enjoyment and value. Overall evaluation of the CPS courses indicated that participants associated the greatest enjoyment and future value with tools, principles, and stages that were primarily orientated towards divergent thinking. Analysis of participants' reactions in light of their FourSight preferences revealed two distinct types of reactions to the course content. One form of response was labeled true‐to‐type, for example, individuals who expressed high Clarifier preferences found learning the Gather Data stage of CPS to be more enjoyable than those with low Clarifier preferences. The second type of reaction was referred to as a complementary relationship. This type of relationship between the course and the participant's style seemed to indicate a desire to develop a skill that is perhaps outside of one's style preference. For example, participants with strong Ideator preferences were more likely to associate higher levels of future value with the Prepare for Action component of the CPS process. The implications of these and other findings are discussed.     

Child Protection Services caseworkers' assessment of child maltreatment severity

The goals of this research were to explore accuracy and consistency in the assessment of child maltreatment severity in Spanish Child Protection Services (CPS) and the influence of caseworker's service, gender, professional discipline, degree of dedication to CPS, and years of experience on the accuracy of the assessment of maltreatment severity. Two studies were conducted with 515 and 168 caseworkers from two Spanish CPSs. Case vignettes were used. Caseworkers of both groups were asked to rate severity of the assigned case vignettes, applying the criteria used in their daily work. Caseworkers in both studies obtained low levels of accurate ratings. None of the total vignettes obtained a percentage higher than 80% of inter-rater agreement. No significant relationships were found between accuracy of ratings and caseworkers' service, gender, professional discipline, degree of dedication to CPS, and years of experience.     

The Door That Leads Into Madness: Eastern European Poets and Mental Illness

Applying the idea of "intelligent testing" (Kaufman, 1979, 1994) to creativity assessment could broaden our understanding of creativity assessment and would be in accord with the vision of E. Paul Torrance. Such intelligent creativity testing would not seek a single creativity score. Testers would consider patterns of scores in different domains and interpret them for comparative strengths and weaknesses in various areas of creative activity. Specific suggestions on how this might be done are offered.     

Problem Finding,Creativity Style and the Musical Compositions of High School Students

This study sought to understand the effect of problem finding and creativity style on the creative musical product. Participants (N = 32) were categorized by creativity style (adaptor or innovator) using the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory. The participants completed two musical composition problems involving two different degrees of problem finding behaviors: an open (ill defined) and a closed (more defined) problem. The resulting products were scored for creativity by three judges using a modified version of Amabile's “consensual assessment technique.” A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the data. The independent variables were composition problem type and creativity style, and the dependent variable was the creativity score on the open and closed problems. No significant differences due to problem type, creativity style, or the interaction of the two factors was found. This research supports the assertion of Kirton that adaption-innovation theory is a measure of creativity style rather than creativity level, but calls into question its use in individual creativity style.     

Assessing complex problem-solving skills with multiple complex systems

In this paper we propose the multiple complex systems (MCS) approach for assessing domain-general complex problem-solving (CPS) skills and its processes knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. After defining the construct and the formal frameworks for describing complex problems, we emphasise some of the measurement issues inherent in assessing CPS skills with single tasks (i.e., fixed item difficulty, low or unknown reliability, and a large impact of random errors). With examples of the MicroDYN test and the MicroFIN test (two instances of the MCS approach), we show how to adequately score problem-solving skills by using multiple tasks. We discuss implications for problem-solving research and the assessment of CPS skills in general.     

Culture and Thought (Book)

The Comrey Personality Scales (CPS) were used to examine the personality structure of 176 Mexican American college students. A majority of the eight factors maintained substantial loadings and corresponded closely with Comrey's normative sample as well as with Brazilian and New Zealand samples. Two factors, Conformity and Orderliness, showed the weakest fit across all four groups. Overall, the CPS shows adequate measurement properties for "normal" personality assessment among Mexican Americans and is preferable to instruments such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). However, the external validity of the CPS with clinical populations must first be determined prior to its use to assess psychopathology among Mexican Americans.     

Generalization of Creativity Across Domains: Examination of the Method Effect Hypothesis

The question of whether creativity is content general or content specific is one of the most controversial issues in contemporary creativity research. Recent studies provide support for both positions, but the results of these investigations may be influenced by several factors, including the presence of a method effect (i.e., psychometric vs. alternative assessment). This study investigates the method effect by analyzing quantity (psychometric) and quality (alternative assessment) of creative achievement simultaneously using structural equation modeling. Results provide evidence for the method effect hypothesis.     

Revisiting Individual Creativity Assessment: Triangulation in Subjective and Objective Assessment Methods

Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study analyzed 1,500 individuals to investigate whether the methods for assessing individual creativity affect the measurement outcomes of individual creativity. Findings indicated that subjective assessments have a smaller variance a higher mean and a moderate but significant correlation with objective assessment methods. Such differences can be motivated by social desirability, consistency motif, illusory superiority, and leniency biases. Based on these findings, this study highlighted the need to acknowledge how subjective and objective assessment methods may affect individual creativity assessment outcomes.     

Spoken Narrative Assessment: A Supplementary Measure of Children’s Creativity

This study developed a spoken narrative (i.e., storytelling) assessment as a supplementary measure of children’s creativity. Both spoken and gestural contents of children’s spoken narratives were coded to assess their verbal and nonverbal creativity. The psychometric properties of the coding system for the spoken narrative assessment were investigated with 30 Cantonese-speaking children aged six to nine. The internal consistency and the intercoder agreement were good. In addition, children’s scores on the 3 coded variables were moderately correlated with their creativity-relevant skills as measured by Alternate Uses Task (Guilford, 1967) and subjective ratings of creativity provided by judges. Children with higher verbal skills, as measured by Similarities (The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – 4th Edition (Hong Kong); WISC-IV HK), also scored higher in the speech composite of the coding system. The findings showed that the coding system of the spoken narrative assessment is reliable and valid for measuring children’s creativity objectively. An age-related norm will be established in future.     

Dealing with the Criterion Problem by Measuring the Quality and Quantity of Creative Activity and Accomplishment

The criterion problem was one of the focal points of early studies of creativity, but several useful criteria have been developed in the last few decades. The investigation reported here represents additional progress. This report (a) describes a new quality of creative achievement index for each domain of the Creative Activity and Accomplishment Checklist (CAAC); (b) compares quality and quantity of creative activity and accomplishment using CAAC data from 202 students; and (c) introduces 2 new scales for the CAAC, one representing everyday creativity and the other technological creativity. The advantages of the modified CAAC include the assessment of both quality (i.e., socially recognized) and quantity of creative achievement, as well as additional breadth in the domains that can be reliably assessed. Analyses of CAAC data confirmed that (a) all domains, including everyday and technological creativity, were reliable in the sample of students and (b) the quality of creative activity did indeed differ from its quantity. There were few sex differences, but boys outperformed girls in technological creativity and girls outperformed boys in the arts. Limitations and future research are noted.     

Creativity and Impulsivity in the Lab: A Microgenetic Approach

In the Creative Functioning Test, a participant is exposed to a series of briefly presented pictures leading to veridical perception (the straight series). This series is then reversed, allowing the participant to relinquish veridical perception and to reconsider his or her interpretation of the input. While this reversed series enables an assessment of creativity, the straight series enables an assessment of impulsivity. The goal of this article was to present the potential of using such a microgenetic technique to investigate both creativity and impulsivity.