Evaluating The Alternative Uses Test of Creativity

Abstract

The Alternative Uses Test is a means of evaluating divergent thinking abilities. The test requires subjects to list non-obvious uses for a common object.  In our studies, participants were given three minutes to take this test using a paper clip as the object.  There are several objectives of this research.  Firstly, we are testing the hypothesis that the subjects who list more responses will have more creative responses.   Similarly, we hypothesize that as one lists alternative uses, the items suggested first will be less creative/novel than the items towards the end.  This data should provide insight into how people make associations while generating ideas.  A secondary goal of this research is to develop an automated scoring rubric for this specific Alternative Uses Test to allow for a faster evaluation of creativity.