A well-know writer once said: “Thinking is the enemy of creativity.” Such a quote may cause one to assume that creativity is in a league of its own — not conducive to laws of reason or clear thinking. Yet, researchers have managed to measure levels of creativity in people and assess it as a science. So … do you think you are creative? Find out!
So you always thought you were the creative type. “I always have the cleverest mishloach manos themes!” you think. “And I write creative stories for a living! And when it’s five minutes ’til the school bus comes and there are no clean socks in the house you should see the inventive footwear solutions I come up with!”
Well for those of you who always prided yourselves on your high levels of creativity you may be interested to know that there are ways to measure creativity scientifically.
Unlike intelligence testing which has been popular since the early days of the twentieth century the notion of testing for creativity as a distinct trait wasn’t proposed until the second half of the century. Research (primarily by J.P. Guilford at the University of Southern California) revealed that highly creative people were not necessarily scoring proportionately on IQ tests. The skills being measured were simply different.
A quick search today will reveal various types of creativity tests. (The Center for Creative Learning in Sarasota Florida lists and rates seventy-two published tests.) There are also many additional quick self-tests but — and here’s a warning — while their reliability may not be proven they can be quite addictive. (As at least one person knows!)
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