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Predicting Work Activities with Divergent Thinking Tests: A Longitudinal Study
Author(s) -
CLAPHAM MARIA M.,
COWDERY EDWINA M.,
KING KELLY E.,
MONTANG MELISSA A.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
the journal of creative behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.896
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 2162-6057
pISSN - 0022-0175
DOI - 10.1002/j.2162-6057.2005.tb01256.x
Subject(s) - creativity , intellect , divergent thinking , convergent thinking , test (biology) , creative thinking , psychology , torrance tests of creative thinking , work (physics) , critical thinking , mathematics education , social psychology , engineering , epistemology , mechanical engineering , paleontology , philosophy , biology
This study examined whether divergent thinking test scores obtained from engineering students during college predicted creative work activities fifteen years later. Results showed that a subscore of the Owens Creativity Test , which assesses divergent thinking about mechanical objects, correlated significantly with self‐ratings of creative work activities and number of patent submissions. An overall divergent thinking score obtained from the Structure of the Intellect Learning Abilities Test (SOI‐ELCT), however, did not correlate significantly with either creative work activities or patent submissions. Practical and theoretical implications of the results are discussed.