LA FONCTION PSYCHOMÉTRIQUE DES ÉNIGMES TRADITIONELLES AFRICAINES

Within the context of the problems raised by the use of tests in Africa, this study attempts to demonstrate how traditional practices can improve the situation, by proposing that enigmas be used as a psychometric instrument. In fact, this well known and widely used game in Africa is one of the major components of the oral tradition and as such, performs various important functions, as, for instance, the acquisition and evaluation of basic knowledge and vocabulary, while favoring the acquisition of a sense of competition in children. Presenting a new outlook on the practice of this traditional game in the African milieu, this paper describes the process by which the author, through many experimental studies carried out in Zaïre, is attempting to build a test measuring creativity.