The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Theory, Research, Practice

1
The Torrance Tests of Creative ThinkingTheory,
Research, Practice

• Verbal and Figural Measures of
• Creativity
• Presented by
• Dr. Bonnie Cramond
• Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent
  Development
• UGA

2
Origins and Purpose

• Recognizing and nurturing something valuable in
  the students who were usually seen as difficult
• Survival training for jet aces shot down behind
  enemy lines
• Director of the Bureau of Educational Research at
  the University of Minnesota

E. Paul Torrance
3
Misconception 1-- There is one test.

• Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement
• Thinking Creatively in Sounds and Words
• Sounds and Images
• Onomatopoeia and Images
• Khatena-Torrance Creative Perception Inventory
• Something About Myself
• What Kind of Person are You?
• Your Style of Learning and Thinking or Human
  Information Processing Survey
• Creative Motivation Scale
• Abbreviated Torrance Tests for Adults

4
2-- The tests purport to measure the entire
global construct of creativity

• The tests measure creative thinking
  abilities--intellectual abilities that are used
  in creative achievements
• They dont measure motivation, skill, or any
  other of the many components that may impact an
  individuals ultimate creative productivity (nor
  do IQ tests)

5
3--The verbal and figural forms measure the same
abilities in two different formats

• The verbal and figural forms together make up the
  complete battery of the TTCT
• Performance on the verbal and figural measures
  show very little correlation (r.06)

6
4--The TTCT Have Not Been Updated

• Since the Verbal and Figural forms were created
  in the 1960s, the scoring has undergone several
  refinements
• They are re-normed every few years, for example
  the Figural was renormed in 1998.

7
5. They only measure divergent thinking

• Actually, the TTCT complete battery, verbal and
  figural, measure many types of creativity
  thinking, including
• curiosity
• hypothetical thinking
• imagination
• emotional expressiveness
• humor
• boundary breaking and more

8
Activities 1-3 Ask and Guess are based on one
picture...
B
A
9
Activities 1-3

• 1. Asking questions about the picture
• 2. Guessing Causes of the action in the picture
• 3. Guessing Consequences, immediate or long-term
  about the picture
• 5 Minutes Each

10
Act 4 Product Improvement
The task is to improve a toy so that it is more
fun to play with
10 Minutes
11
TTCT Verbal Responses by 7th Grader with
Reading/Writing LD

• Alter it to make it a warrior elephant with lots
  of accessories to defend Earth from the orangutan
  pack
• Give it bigger ears, call it Dumbo, and write a
  sequel
• Make it come with an elephant circus--tight-rope
  walker elephants, lion tamer elephants, ...

12
Act. 5 Unusual Uses

• The task is to think of alternative uses for a
  common object like a brick.
• Uses for parts of the objects are acceptable--eg.
  Crush the brick to make a powder for coloring
• Fantastic or impossible uses beyond all possible
  reality are not counted.

10 minutes
13
Act. 6 Just Suppose

• Hypotheses about an improbable situation
• Example
• Just Supposewe could transport ourselves
  anywhere we want with just a twitch of the nose
  or blink or the eye. What would be some
  problems, benefits, etc. of this situation?

14
Scoring Components

• Fluency--the number of relevant ideas
• Originality--the unusualness of the ideas
• Flexibility (Shifts)--the variety of ideas
  different categories of ideas

15
Verbal Activity Scoring Example

• How many uses can think of for old tires?
• Cut and make sandal soles Fl, category--clothes
• Use for obstacle course F2, cat--physical
  activities
• Shred for insulation of houses F3,
  cat--insulation
• Put in lining of clothes to make warmer
  cat--insulation
• Shred for playground padding F4, cat--padding
• Burn to make bad smell to get rid of bugs O, F5,
  cat--smell
• Make a homework machine
• Melt to recycle into tires F6, cat--environmental
• Cut sections and make planters F7, cat--planter
• Put around small gardens or trees cat--planter
• Hang from tree for swing cat--physical activities
• Float in water for tubing cat--physical
  activities
• Cut shapes for stamps O, F8, cat--art and craft
• Paint to make art cat--art and craft

F12 O 2 Fl 8
16
TTCT--Figural

• Thinking Creatively with Pictures
• Alternate forms A B K- adult
• 3 activities, 10 minutes each, multiple responses
• 1) One large stimulus figure
• 2) Ten incomplete figures
• 3) 2-3 pages of repeated figures

17
Scoring Components

• Fluency
• Originality
• Abstractness of titles
• Elaboration
• Resistance to Premature Closure
• Checklist of Creative Strengths

18
Fluency--a count of the number of relevant ideas

• Fluency is the gatekeeper score.
• The stimulus must be used
• Exact repetitions are not counted
• Scribbles, abstract designs, incomplete, or
  completely unrecognizable responses are not
  counted

Sun
Flower
book
snowman
19
Originality

• A count of the number of statistically infrequent
  ideas
• Based upon what the stimulus was used as.
• Bonus points are given for combinations

Bike
Not original response Originality bonus for
combination
wheels
20
Abstractness of Titles

• 0 simple class title girl
• 1 class title with descriptor(s) little girl
• 2 imaginative title that goes a little beyond
  the picture I really like him.
• 3 abstract but appropriate title Happiness

21
Elaboration--a count of the number of ideas added

• Beyond the minimum details that would be
  necessary for the basic response

22
Elaboration
smoke
ash
more
shape

• One point for each additional idea added to the
  basic response and in the surrounding space
• Additional ideas include decoration, details,
  shading, body position, etc.

Roof detail
chimney
outline
sun
panes
Varied rays
Additional tree
tree
knob
branches
petals
Colors12
flower
Stepping stone
leaves
Different shapes
23
Resistance to Premature Closure

• Degree of openness
• Based on Gestält psychology
• Scored on incomplete figures only

24
Checklist of Creative Strengths

• 13 criterion referenced indicators, including
• Emotional expressiveness
• Storytelling articulateness
• Movement or action
• Synthesis of figures
• Expressiveness of titles
• Unusual or internal visualization
• Humor
• Richness or colorfulness of imagery
• Boundary breaking
• Fantasy

25
1.Emotional Expressiveness

• Can be shown in drawings or title

26
2.Storytelling Articulateness

• Theres a story implied, or there is a
  relationship between or among objects drawn

27
3. Movement or Action

• May be illustrated through
• Motion lines
• Title implying action
• Position of body

28
4. Expressiveness of Titles

• A title that goes beyond simple description to
  express emotion and feeling (overlaps with
  Emotional Expressiveness, Humor and Abstractness
  of Titles)

29
5.Synthesis of Incomplete Figures--scored on
activity 2 only

• This is rare, and one combination gets a , two
  or more combinations get a

30
6.Synthesis of Lines or Circles--only scored on
activity 3

• This is scored by the number of occurrences, not
  the number of stimuli, BUT if all of the stimuli
  on a page are combined it gets a

31
7.Unusual Visual Perspective

• A view other than the one we would ordinarily
  see Above, Below, At an unusual angle, At
  different distances, In an unusual position

32
8. Internal Visualization

• Showing something inside or in cross section

33
9. Extending or Breaking Boundaries Scored on
Act 3

• For Form A, Parallel lines
• Extend the lines up, down, or out
• Split the imaginary rectangle

34
9. Extending or Breaking Boundaries-- Scored on
Act 3

• For Form B, CirclesDepth perception, circle as
  base extended upward or outward, hole cut in
  circle

35
10. Humor

• Scored for the intent of humor word plays,
  satire, silliness, absurdities, etc.

36
11. Richness of Imagery

• Fresh visual images--different from the banal
  even when not scored as original
• Lively, vivid, memorable images
• There must be 4-5 such images to get 6 or more
  for

37
12. Colorfulness of Imagery

• Exciting in appeal to the senses
• Flavor, earthiness, spookiness, touching
• Nature, nudes, fantasy figures, emotional scenes,
  etc.

38
13. Fantasy

• Includes both fantasy from literature, tv, and
  movies as well as original fantasy

39
Creative Strengths

• Storytelling articulateness
• Emotional expressiveness
• Movement or action

40
Creative Strengths

• Unusual visualization
• Fantasy
• Movement or action

41
Creative Strengths

• Synthesis of figures
• Movement or action
• Storytelling articulateness

Gun sounds scare the birds.
42
Differences between theFigural
Verbal

• Verbal responses
• 6 activities
• 45 minutes test time (3 x 5) (3 x 10)
• 3 scoring components

• Drawn responses
• 3 activities
• 30 minutes test time (3 X 10)
• 5 norm-ref and 13 criterion-ref components

The verbal and figural measure different creative
thinking abilities!
43
Evidence of Creativity--Figural for James
Stevenson
44
James Stevensons Verbal Scores
45
Comparison of Verbal Figural Scores on TTCT
46
Similarities Between Figural and Verbal TTCTs

• Both are standardized measures of creative
  strengths
• Both are culture fair
• Both provide a comprehensive score, grade norms,
  and national percentiles the figural also has
  age norms.
• Both have had 40 years of trial and research

47
Efficacy of TTCT for Measuring Creativity

• Do not measure the entire construct of creativity
• BUT
• IQ tests do not measure the entire construct of
  intelligence, either
• A high degree of these abilities (usually
  designated as fluency, flexibility, originality,
  and ability to sense deficiencies, elaborate, and
  redefine) does not guarantee that the possessor
  will behave in a highly creative manner. A high
  level of these abilities, however, increases a
  person's chances of behaving creatively
  (Torrance,1974, p.9).

48
40-Year Study of Elementary Students-- 1959
Predictors and 1998 Criteria
p lt .05 p lt. 01
49
TTCT IQ 54 of variance in Creative
Achievement
50
Cramond, B., Matthews-Morgan, J., Bandalos, D.,
Zuo, L. (2005). A report on the 40-year follow-up
of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking
Alive and well in the new millennium. Gifted
Child Quarterly, 49, 283-291.
51
Efficacy Compared to Other Methods

• Products and Performances
• Traditional inaccuracy of judges
• Good for assessing achievement in an area, but
  not as good for assessing potential
• Not all children have the same opportunities
• Many famous creators would have been missed as
  children

52
Efficacy Compared to Other Methods

• Other tests
• None have the 40 year history of research and
  examination
• None have better reliability and validity
• Checklists and rating scales
• Tend to have poor inter-rater reliability
• Some dont have norms
• Raters should be trained
• Some built on traits and biographical information

53
What is the Answer?

• Creativity is multidimensional, so why not use a
  variety and combination of methods
• Some children could show creativity through
  products and performances
• Some could show creativity through a test such as
  the TTCT
• Some could be screened for further assessment by
  a checklist

54
GA Eligibility Criteria

• Mental Ability
• Achievement
• Creativity
• Motivation
• Information shall be gathered in each of the four
  areas.
• A student must meet criteria in any three of the
  following four areas.
• At least one must be a standardized test.

55
Gifted Program Participation by Ethnic Group
Since Implementation of Multiple-Criteria Rule

• 1996 2004 ( growth)
• White 51,022 79,803 (56)
• Black 5813 16,210 (179)
• Asian 2093 5916 (183)
• Hispanic 432 2340 (442)
• American Indian 80 161 (101)
• Multi-Racial 366 2166 (492)

56
Population Percentages By Ethnic Group
General and gifted populations are more similar.
57
Gifted Program Participation by Ethnic Group,
1-Yr Growth

• 2003 2004 ( growth)
• White 79,492 79,803 (.4)
• Black 15,880 16,210 (2)
• Asian 5413 5916 (9)
• Hispanic 1817 2340 (29)
• American Indian 143 161 (13)
• Multi-Racial 1560 2166 (39)