Where to Find Information About Creativity Tests
Last week a reader asked “Where could one find information about reliable and updated creativity tests?” What a great question! Not an easy one to answer, but an important one.
The question brings up the basic issue of validity and reliability in testing, a topic about which many books have been written. Both are important issues in creativity testing, as well as any other kind of testing. In creativity testing, they are especially slippery.
First, the definitions of creativity seem to be as numerous as there are writers on the subject. If researchers cannot agree on what creativity is, then when using a test of creativity, test users will have a problem being sure that what they find or don’t find is actually creativity, or creative ability. Maybe the test maker’s definition of creativity is different from the user’s definition.
This is the issue of validity. Does the test measure what it purports to measure? It may measure some elements of the characteristic or behavior, or ability, but does it “work” (by identifying creativity) for all types of people (those of different ages, races, or genders)?
The validity of any measure is never perfectly resolved. It is a goal toward which test developers work. When they start to test a psychometric measure, they can make claims of validity only to the degree that the test has been used and found satisfactory with a particular group of users. As the testing continues, they may expand the claim of validity as the test makers use different groups, different situations, and still find that the measure is identifying the desired quality.
Another problem with tests of creative ability is that they do not measure other correlates of successful creative performance. These include motivation, perseverance, attention to detail, and risk-taking. It is sometimes possible to “psych out” or figure out what the test is looking for and fake the test by selecting “far out” answers, or by simply generating a large number of answers.
If you share my point of view that “the proof is in the pudding,” you’ll look not for creative ability (because every human being has the ability to be creative), but look instead at the products that the person has created, and assess these.
Reliability, how certain you are that if a person takes the test today, his score will be similar to his score in the future; or that if a group of raters look at a particular creative response they will have substantial agreement about the degree of creativity shown. Reliability is more easily tested for and assured. Usually reliability is stated statistically, and assumed to be reliable within certain range of tolerance.
There are some resources that you can consult to find reviews of educational tests, including those for creativity. Buros Mental Measurements Yearbook compiles published reviews of many tests, and their online database offers these reviews for a fee. The ETS website offers some actual tests, not reviews. Even when using Buros, one must remember that the reviewers may have their own biases. You’ll still have to decide for yourself.