04/08/2020
Intelligence and Creativity
Many famous people are called βcreative geniuses.β Creative personalities that exhibit a specific talent are thought of as gifted. Creativity is associated with originality, passion, independent and non-conformist thinking. The concept of creativity continues to be researched extensively, and the cognitions that underpin the creative process are continually analysed and delineated in academic literature. Creativity and creative thinking are defined by the uses and appropriateness that original ideas have in any situation. Thus, creative ideas need to be practical and applicable to real situations and problems. Furthermore, evidence suggests that creative achievements can stem from existing ideas and can involve long and hard work. Creative peopleβs achievements are sourced from a depth of experience and training in a specific area.
In the 1950s, Guilford observed that traditional IQ tests do not test creativity. He concluded that equating creative talent with high IQ leads to misconceptions about creativity and its underlying cognitive processes. Guilford distinguishes between convergent and divergent thinking β the latter being linked to creative thought processes. While convergent thinking involves the attempt to narrow down a list of alternatives to arrive at a single correct or appropriate answer (such as eliminating choices in a multiple-choice exam), divergent thinking involves expanding the range of possible alternatives by generating as many possible solutions (such as brainstorming).
Guilford observed that traditional IQ tests did not include divergent thinking in its measuring scale and thus creativity could not possibly be measured by these tests. Years of research on divergent thinking and creativity have proposed that creativity does not rely on one type of cognitive processing skill. Furthermore, psychologists have attempted to develop tests that are specifically designed to measure and understand creative thought processes.