Many parents are shocked by the idea that one might be able to “test” for creativity; how, they wonder, can such a magical and intangible quality possibly be measured and quantified? The answer, of course, is “imperfectly”, but emerging neuroscientific research has given us a fairly accurate glimpse into both the regions of the brain responsible for producing creative thought and the process of spontaneously generating new ideas seemingly from the ether. As such, it's possible to gain insight into a child's base level of creativity through the use of academic testing.
Giftedness and Creativity
Many parents are aware of testing for giftedness, children who pass the test can be placed into government-funded gifted programs or special schools for gifted children, both public and private. There is a number of screening tests for giftedness available online, these tests typically assess common traits present in highly gifted students. We always suggest trying a free gifted screening test prior to arranging a formal giftedness assessment. Yet, contrary to popular belief, creativity is not always synonymous with high intelligence; a child need not be gifted to take (or excel at) the creativity test such as Torrance Test. Children may be of average intelligence yet highly creative, and sometimes children are profoundly gifted without being exceptionally creative in nature. This is why testing for creativity in its own right is so important: It may identify an extreme aptitude in an otherwise academically “normal” child.
Gauging Creativity in Children: The Torrance Test of Creativity
The Torrance Test of Creativity has a long history behind it; first developed by psychologist Ellis Paul Torrance in 1966, this test has been continually revised and updated over its 45 year lifespan, keeping abreast of all the latest research and trials. Many educators recommend the Torrance Test as an accurate (within reason) test of a child's current creative ability (note the use of the word current; as is the case with most aptitudes observed in children, the trait of creativity is usually plastic rather than static.)
The Torrance Test assesses creativity through measuring the following areas:
Fluency: The total number of responses a child is able to generate when presented with a question.
Originality: How unlikely the child's responses are, as measured against relevant statistics.
Elaboration: How detailed the child's responses are.
Abstractness in Titles: Abstract titles show a grasp of metaphor and symbolism, key components of creative thinking.
Resistance to Closure: How easy is it for the child to “close” the issue vs. remaining curious about it?
What to Expect From the Torrance Test of Creativity
The first thing that parents should be aware of is how difficult it is to achieve a high score on the Torrance Test of Creativity; as mentioned prior, testing for creativity is still an imperfect science, and the test is therefore rigorous while at the same time unable to entirely overcome psychosocial factors such as the influence of a child's upbringing.
In general, what might appear akin to a “B” level grade should be considered extremely impressive when viewing the results generated by the Torrance Test. Few children will ever score higher than this, and a child who attains a “B” type of grade should therefore be viewed as an innately creative individual.
Parents must also keep in mind the limitations of the test, as mentioned above; over the course of the test's 45 year history, many educators have observed that children often score either higher or lower depending on how they have been raised. Children who come from families of artists, for example, have frequently earned the highest scores of all—even if they themselves were not yet identified as prodigal artists. It would appear that being encouraged to “think outside the box” has a clear impact on how creative a child appears to be.
Similarly, often those children who scored relatively poorly despite being otherwise highly gifted originated from homes with strict, rigid-thinking parents, where a strong emphasis was placed on perfectionism and rule following. These students often become so invested in trying to get the “perfect” or “correct” result when taking the Torrance test that they miss the point entirely: Creativity is truly about original thinking, not technical aptitudes.
Likewise, it's believed that almost all school-aged children score somewhat lower than they would have were they tested at a younger age; most children lose at least some creativity around age five, when they enter the school system and must adapt to a much more structured way of living and thinking. The only exceptions to this rule seem to occur when children have been lucky enough to have a teacher or teachers who actively encourage creative thinking within the classroom.
Regardless of how your child scores, you must remain aware of the fact that creativity is not something which is set in stone, something a child is either born with or without. Like most abilities, it can be nurtured and thereby increased over time—remember, our brains form new neurons each time we push them to think in novel ways, and the cumulative effect of “training” a child to think creatively over the span of many years can therefore be profound.
If we both teach our children directly how to become original thinkers and, better still, model the behaviour of original thinking ourselves, it is very likely that they will grow up to be creative adults regardless of how they scored on the Torrance Test. The test should be used as a barometer which gauges where a child is currently residing in terms of overall creativity, allowing parents to recognize those gifts which are already present and analyze their own behaviour for negative traits (such as rigidity) which may be affecting their child's willingness to experiment with original thought.
In essence, every child is a creative child, but through testing and measuring creativity, we can shed light on the path to honing this oft-neglected skill.
“Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. The experience is one of heightened consciousness: ecstasy.”
Rollo May, The Courage to Create
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons (Child_and_mother_with_Apple_iPad.jpg)
