One could say every human being possesses the potential to be creative in some way. How promising are your prospects? If you want to see whether you’re a creative person, boy (gal?), do we have a question for you. Truth be told, we have a few! Are you up for the thrilling creative challenge ahead?
How can you judge creativity? It seems like one thing no one should be able to put into neat little boxes. Yet, researchers developed methods to evaluate a person’s creative interests, personality, and motivations.
But why are they even interested in assessing creativity? Creativity is a highly crucial skill for humans and a tool of evolution. We wouldn’t be able to progress as a society without creative thinking to help us.
The experts ask about mental processes involving creative endeavors, traits linked to ingenuity, and external powers affecting creativity. They also pose perhaps the most important question: how to define creativity.
Researchers Kaufman and Beghetto proposed the four-C model of creativity to capture the ever-elusive concept of inventiveness and problem-solving.
“Mini-C” is a concept of personal creativity inherently linked to the learning process. It’s when we develop individual insights while learning something new or solving a dilemma. These ideas may not be completely original, and we might lack the expertise or knowledge to express them. Still, they feel fresh and innovative to us.
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The “Little-C” approach focuses more on everyday activities and is a step further from “mini-C.” It’s how you react to common problems and adapt to changing environments. Your creative output may be beneficial to others. They could find it practical, enjoyable, or aesthetically pleasing.
Now, what about the “pro-C” creativity? It’s regarding professional expertise. This category is for those skilled in their respective fields with years of practice and experience. Their achievements did not earn them the highest status, however.
The greatest of the creative minds belong to the “big-C” category. This type of creativity might require some time to evolve. People of big-C level are often revolutionaries who change the world with medical innovations, technological progress, and artistic triumphs.
Divergent thinking refers to forging creative ideas by searching for many potential solutions. Evaluating innovation and original thinking often involves using DT tests. Those questionnaires require you to do some searching and come up with more than one answer. There’s no sole valid conclusion.
Conversely, convergent thinking means arriving at the point when you only have one “correct” resolution. When taking a concurrent thinking test, there is only one viable answer. What do you say: which method is more effective for assessing creativity?
Some researchers believe the best way to administer these tests is in a gamified environment, ideally with no time restrictions. Wallach and Kogan’s approach, for example, focused on measuring creativity in children through the Instances Test. Here are some questions they would ask:
List as many things as possible that have wheels.
Name things that make noise.
You can easily guess these queries can have many possible answers. Here’s how we link back to the concept of divergent thinking!
Other questions could be:
Think of as many different ways to use a chair as you can.
What are the ways an apple and an orange are alike? (for example, both are round, are fruits, have seeds, etc.)
By testing the divergent thinking abilities of children, educators can identify students with creative capabilities and provide them with the guidance and resources they need in their schooling.
Are you eager to know if you can claim the “InGenious” title?
A creative person:
Creative person do wonders with their imagination and skills. Do you belong to the visionary squad? How does your creativity manifest? The quiz is here. Find your answers!
